PC restarts at "preparing network connections..."

I have a problem and it sounds like this: i have a pc at work what is included in a domain. Until yesterday it worked just fine. today when i wanted to start it a have observed that the pc is restarting itself over and over at the same thing: it boots up..passes BIOS chekings, then starts to load the OS(it has Windows XP professional SP2) and then at the "preparing network connections..." screen stays a few second and after it restarts itself. I tried last know good configuration, but the same thing happens. If i enter safe mode without networking it enters it and starts it just fine. I haven't tried the rest of the options: safe mode with networking an command prompt. I tried to find something similar to my situation but didn't find anything.
Some help please..i would really apreciate it.10x

 

Hi,
If you try starting in Safe Mode with Networking and it reboots, I would suspect the Network (Ethernet) adapter drivers. In Safe Mode, you can go to Device Manager, open the branch for Network Adapters. Write down the model numbers of any adapters listed, BUT these may not actually be the correct drivers.

You can uninstall any adapters, when you reboot the New Hardware wizard may be able to automatically reinstalll the (correct?) drivers. Otherwise use the selection of "...installing the drivers from a list..." to find those drivers you identified originally.

If the network adapter worked well in the past, it should just be a matter of reinstalling the drivers. If Windows does not seem to be able to identify it correctly using Plug and Play, you may need to identify the adapter correctly and find drivers for it on the internet.

Matt

 

I messed up things

Thank you Matt for the advice,but there is a problem: i tried to repair the windows by doing a repair install from the CD(i thought that this way i wouldn't lose any data and the problem will be sloved, but i was wrong). Anyway when it finished the repair installation and at the final it asked for the resolution(press ok if you can read this) thing...ok....after this it comes with the screen applying network settings...and it showes a BSOD screen with the following: Page_fault_in_nonpaged_area.....and a STOP x 00000050 (0 x F70600000, 0 x 00000000, 0 x F6FEEB9E,0 x 00000000) error. I've searched the error in google and found this: "Requested data was not in memory. An invalid system memory address was referenced. Defective memory (including main memory, L2 RAM cache, video RAM) or incompatible software (including remote control and antivirus software) might cause this Stop message, as may other hardware problems (e.g., incorrect SCSI termination or a flawed PCI card). " I tried to enter safe mode with networking, but since i did a repair install it says I can't enter safe mode because i have to activate windows by entering in normal mode, but i can't do that because of the error. I have tested the memory(2 dimm's: one is 512mb ddr400 and the other is 256mb ddr400) and found no errors. There is crucial data on that pc and i need it like....yesterday..please help if you can. 10x

 

I would redo the reinstall of Windows, but only use one of the RAM modules. If the network adapter is a removable PCI card, I would remove it until Windows was reinstalled (or say, disable the adapter in the BIOS settings if it was in-built on the motherboard). Something may be trying to access the internet, so I would check for malware or disable the antivirus when Windows was running to identify a software problem.

Matt

 

I solved the problem partially like this: i installed another HDD and installed windows on that drive. I put the old one as slave and now i'm trying to recover as much info as i can from it.(e-mail, project stuff...). Hopefully this solves a great part of the problem. Now i'm trying to recover mail messages from Outlook and import rules and everything on the new location. Thanks for your support Matt. I really appreciate the help i can get on this forum. Thank you.

 

That's great that you were able to work around it . Thanks for letting us know.

You may want to try using the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard, Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools. I doubt it will "transfer" whatever was causing the problem, but you should make a Restore point prior to using it.

Matt