[Mitch Pelley]

Good Morning All, My friend is having troubles with her computer and I was wondering if you can give me some advice. She is using Windows XP home edition. When she turns on her system it gets so far as the Windows XP screen then it just reboots over and over. Cannot boot up from floppy or cd rom drive. Please email and let me know as soonas possible. Thanks

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Have you changed the boot order in BIOS set up to CD ROM Drive then Hard Drive

[Retired Tech]

Have you changed the boot order in BIOS set up to CD ROM Drive then Hard Drive

[Mitch Pelley]

Hi Keith, We have not changeed any of the settings on her computer. She just went in and turned on the computer and this started happening. Do you think that she could have a virus of some sort? I have some computer experience and have seen alot of different problems, but I have never seen this one before. I am not able to do anything. Cannot even boot from the Windows XP disc.

[Retired Tech]

The usual boot order, hard disc then CD ROM Drives / floppy drives will mean it look first on the hard drive and possibly present the error when it doesn't find what it requires to proceed

If you boot the PC and keep tapping the delete key (possibly F2) until it enters set up you will have the option to change the boot order to CD ROM Drive then Hard Drive, press F10 to save, type Y to confirm, load the XP CD and then press enter, as it reboots, look for press any key to load from CD and press enter

What you describe can be this

Windows XP logon screen does not appear and the computer continuously restarts

SYMPTOMS

When you start your computer, the Microsoft Windows XP startup screen appears, and then the computer may restart. The Windows XP logon screen does not appear.

CAUSE

This issue may occur if the Kernel32.dll file is missing or damaged.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, use the Windows Recovery Console to extract a new copy of the Kernel32.dll file from the original Windows XP CD. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Start the Recovery Console. If you do not have the Recovery Console installed, start it from the Windows XP CD.

To do this, follow these steps:

a. Insert the Windows XP CD, and then restart the computer. If you are prompted, select any options that are required to start from the CD.

b. When the text-based part of the Setup program starts, follow the instructions that appear on your screen. To select the repair or recover option, press R.

c. If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot computer, select the installation that you must access from the recovery console.

d. When you are prompted, type the Administrator password.

2. At the command prompt, type cd system32, and then press ENTER.

3. Type ren kernel32.dll kernel32.old and then press ENTER.

4. Type map, and then press ENTER.

5. Note the drive letter that is assigned to the CD-ROM drive that contains the Windows XP CD. It is appears in a format that is similar to the following format:

D: \Device\CdRom0


6. Type the following command, and then press ENTER:

expand drive\i386\kernel32.dl_

Where drive is the drive letter of the CD-ROM drive that contains the Windows XP CD).

For example, type:

Expand d:\i386\kernel32.dl_

Note Include the underscore character after the "L" in Kernel32.dl_.

You receive the following message: Kernel32.dll
1 file(s) expanded.


7. Type exit. The computer restarts.

8. Remove the Windows XP CD, and then start the computer as you regularly do.

APPLIES TO

Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition

Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition


Though this would cover it as well and is more straight forward but involves replacing quite a bit from Microsoft Update

You can use this guide to repair XP

Possibly, you will need to press the start button and keep tapping the delete key until the PC enters set up. Change the boot order to CD ROM Drive then hard drive, press F10 then press enter, load the XP CD then type Y then press enter, as it reboots, look for press any key to load from CD, press enter

You will need the XP product key to complete this

If you have audio / video files which are subject to DRM you should check with the provider for known issues with performing an XP repair install

XP Repair Install

Windows XP repair feature won't delete your data, installed programs, personal information, or settings. It just repairs the operating system

After running XP Repair you will need to install all Windows Updates

Microsoft Update