My Gateway PC is restarting over and over just as the splash screen comes up. The blue progress bars run across under the XP Logo about five times then the system reboots and gives the following message.

We apologize for the inconvenience, but windows did not start successfully. A recent hardware or software change might have cause this.

If your computer stopped responding, restarted unexpectedly, or was automatically shut down to protect your files and folders, choose Last Known Good konfiguration to revert to the most recent settings that worked.

If a previous startup attemp was interrupted to a power failure or because the power or reset button was pressed, or if you
aren't sure what caused the problem, choose Start Windows Normally.

I can't boot into safe mode, safe mode with command prompt or with networking.

I tried to do a system restore with my restore CD. Even this did not work. It stops and tells me that C:\PRELOAD\BASE_01.INP can not be recovered.

I have no Idea what to try next. Thanks to anyone who may have any insight on this issue.

if you can't even boot into safe mode then a repair is required...go here for the how to

This post has been edited by happyrck: Jul 25 2008, 01:39 PM

The only CD I have is my Gateway Operating System Disc. When I boot from the CD I press R as instructed on the screen for Gateway Recovery Options. The system goes to a Recovery console which is were I get a note saying that the Restore Environment is Incomplete. Clicking OK is supposed to reinstall the environment. When it gets to copying files it stops and tells me that C:\PRELOAD\BASE_01.INP can not be recovered as I said in my original post.

you will have to borrow one from friends or coworker...it needs to be the same flavor
of your operating system...if yours is xp pro...the one you borrow has to be xp pro

Okay, Thanks. I'll have to look around. Mine is a media center version so I doubt I will be able to find one. Would I be able to purchase one from Microsoft? Is there someting missing from the Operating System CD that I have? Sorry if these are dumb questions. I am just curious as to why Gateway would send out a CD labled operating system that is imcomplete. Thanks.

This post has been edited by bake: Jul 27 2008, 07:50 AM

In addition to what happyrck says, it might be time to do some diagnostics. It's possible that the site the file is loaded to on the hard drive, or in memory, is damaged. You can download memtest86 to a floppy or a CD and use it to test your memory. Just let it run for a half hour or so till it completes several tests. Also you could go to the hard drive maker's site and get a diagnostic copy and run it.

Thanks Tyger, I have two stick of memory in the PC. I pulled them one at a time to try and determine if one of them were bad. I got the same result even when I switched them into different sockets. I'll try the memory test you suggested and look for diagnostics for the hard drive.

In searching the net I have seen a few threads with the same issue I am having but haven't found one with a useful solution. Thanks for the suggestions here.

One more question. Would the Ultimate Boot CD be a useful tool since I have no access to an XP Media Center Edition CD other than the Operating system CD provided by Gateway?

Also, the Memtest86 ISO image (zip) for creating a bootable disk is the one I need correct?

This post has been edited by bake: Jul 27 2008, 11:22 AM

Okay, I downloaded the memory test and ran it with each of the memory sitcks installed. It passed each time. I downloaded the only tool I could find at Hitachi and booted from it. It found the drive and gave me the specs on it but there was no option to run a test on the drive. I looked but did not find a diagnostic for the motherboard.

I have looked all through the Bios settings but can not find an option to stop it from rebooting on failures.

I checked the voltage on the gray wire from the power supply, which I was told was a turn on or test signal. and it read about 6 volts when connected to the motherboard.

It does flash a blue screen for a fraction of a moment when it starts to reboot but there is no time to see what it says.

I think it is doomed.

This post has been edited by bake: Jul 27 2008, 05:10 PM