System restarts constantly when logging on

My son's e-machine running Windows XP had a brief power failure last evening. The computer was running at the time. Ever since then, it will go to the log in screen like normal. After putting in his password, it states "loading personal settings" and then the screen freezes for about 10 seconds, it restarts and brings you right back to the login screen.

He can't get into the operating system at all.

Does anyone have any recommendations? Thanks for your input!

Mark

 

Have him go in Safe Mode by hitting F8 while the computer's booting. There may be a corrupt program in his startup routine.

 

Safe Mode

Shadowhawk.....

Thanks for the input.

I'll tell him to try Safe Mode. If it does allow you to go into Safe Mode, what would you recommend at that point to try to correct any corrupt program in Startup?

Thanks.....

Mark

 

If Safe Mode is Available

The first thing I would do is turn off the auto restart.

Control Panel/System/Advanced/Startup and Recovery
uncheck auto restart

Then I would attempt a System Restore back to a known good working date.

Start> Accessories> System Tools> System Restore

Johanna

 

Safe Mode

Shadowhawk.....

Thanks for the input.

I'll tell him to try Safe Mode. If it does allow you to go into Safe Mode, what would you recommend at that point to try to correct any corrupt program in Startup?

Thanks.....

Mark

 

rcknrbn - curious why you ignored the items/suggestions Johanna posted.

The first one, setting the PC to not autoboot after an error will force a blue screen with lots of specific information about the exact cause of the crash that would help in diagnosing this or future problems.

And if the cause is a fairly new problem with a system file, picking a system restore point from before the issue started is by far the easiest way to correct the problem.