How to Troubleshoot a Windows Computer That Reboots on Startup
Having a computer that reboots every time it starts up can be very frustrating. Without the ability to log on to your computer, it is very difficult to isolate and resolve the problem that is causing the continuous cycle of shutting down and rebooting. Fortunately, computer owners can use a number of steps to break the reboot cycle and get logged on to their machines for troubleshooting.
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Instructions
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Remove any recently installed hardware from the computer. A corrupt driver on a printer, scanner or other external device could cause the computer to continuously reboot.
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Watch the screen carefully as the computer reboots. Tap the "F8" key repeatedly as soon as you see the Windows logo.
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Wait until the Windows start-up menu appears, then choose the "Safe Mode" option. This will load Windows with the minimal set of drivers needed to start the program.
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Log on to the computer in safe mode and choose the option to run System Restore. The System Restore process does not destroy any of your data, but it does take the computer back in time, hopefully to before the reboot cycle problem began.
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Choose a restore point that is before the date the continuous reboot first happened. Click "Next" to confirm the restore point. Your computer will automatically restart when the system restore process is complete.
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References
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