instalation of IE8 killed XP machine HELP!

Soundguy · Sep 8, 2009

Many of the websites I browse continually complain about my old IE6 browser, and a few are even dropping support for it.. so I downloaded IE8.. did the setup.. etc.. and then afterwards it needed to reboot ( this is on a compaq desktop xp-home edition machine.. 1.5g ram, amd sempron 3100 processor.. older but useable machine for email and whatnot.. has nvidia 7600 512mb graphics.. etc.

upon reboot it bluescreened, and now is in a continous reboot cycle.. I tried safe mode with network support.. that reboots too.. same as regular safe mode... even tried booting with 'last known good configuration'.. that reboots too.

am out of ideas... I see on the bios screen (f10) has a recovery option.. and one time I thought I saw a microsoft recovery manager when i hit f8 at bootup.. but I don't seem to be able to get back to that option.

any advice??

soundguy

Soundguy · Sep 8, 2009

ok.. if I hit f8 2x real fast I can get to the menu with the microsoft recovery console

will this help me any?

Scooby074 · Sep 8, 2009

At boot screen (f8). Do you see an option for Last known Good?

Try that.

If that doesnt work try safe mode, without networking.

post back

I would avoid the actual recovery console and BIOS unless you have to go there.

If you get a bluescreen. Take note of the 0x error number, it can help alot.

What AV are you running? Any firewall? Last malware / spyware scan?

Im almost willing to bet its something installed either intentionally or unintentionally (spyware etc) causing your boot issue. But it could be other things so the stop (BSOD) error would help tons.

Soundguy · Sep 8, 2009

as per my first message I already tried the safe boot no network and with network, and the last known good.

The blue screen only flashes for a second before reboot... is the microsoft recovery console of any use?

did a malware scan right before the ie8 upgrade

soundguy

Scooby074 · Sep 8, 2009

What AV you running?

On reboot, on the boot screen, look for the "disable automatic reboot" option. This should enable you to read the stop screen and write down the info on the next boot.

Booting into recovery console is the next step.

You can try booting in and running CHKDSK /P. This will verify the contents of the HD. then reboot. How to install and use the Recovery Console in Windows XP

Start with the basics then we can work from here. Such as rebuilding the Boot.ini. or running system restore.

Then theres always the Nuclear option. Format / clean install. How long have you had this install of windows running?

Soundguy · Sep 8, 2009

off the top of my head, not sure what the AV is

what did IE 8 do to that poor machine?

right now I have an old dell optiplex pentium 4 from 2003 that has winxp on it.... it had 1 hdd in it.. I split the case open and popped my hdd in as a second hdd using cable select .. and am copying my most needed files off in case of 'nuclear option'

didn't see any option for disabling the automatic reboot.. but will look again when I get the hdd back into the machine.

what a bummer...

soundguy

Soundguy · Sep 8, 2009

I just read up on the recovery console.. jeesh.. looks a lil intense.. especially since I havn't a clue what ie8 specifically did to kill that poor machine..

soundguy

Scooby074 · Sep 8, 2009

Thats why i was trying to dissuade you from going into Recovery Console unless we had to. Its a little "intense". Not too bad really, just need to be carefull.

Backing up is definitely the proper thing.

Any problems ive had with IE8 were caused by spyware or other installed programs / ad-ins. if the owner wanted to believe me or not

Truly Clean machines had no issues in my experience. Do you have WeatherBug or anything similar installed?

Same install of xp since 2003? Hmm thats a long time, it might be time to go Nuclear. Your machine will likely perform 10x better when all is said and done. Typically i reformat every 2-3 mths.

About the auto reboots, you may need to go into the advanced boot menu. You might have to press F8 again at the boot screen. Its been a while since i had to use it But it should be there. You may have to look after the crash for this option.

MossRoad · Sep 9, 2009

The recovery console is worthless.

Boot from an XP install CD.
It will give you three choices.
1. To set up Xp.
2. To repair a windows installation using recovery console (worthless)
3. To quit setup.

Choose option 1.

Accept the licensing agreement.
You will get more choices.
It should find an existing installation of XP.
You can choose to repair it with R (this is the one I think you should try)
You can choose to overwrite it without trying to repair it. (you will wipe out your system and lose data if you choose this option).

Try the R to repair it and follow the prompts. It will attempt to repair the existing install of XP. You may have to re-install service packs, updates, etc... but you should not lose any data.

MossRoad · Sep 9, 2009

If that works, then after the repair of XP, see if you can boot up into safe mode and uninstall IE8 if it is still there.

I'm not sure if you can do a system restore after you do the repair of XP, but it is worth a shot.

To do system restore go to START and choose help/support. In there you should find your system restore option. Choose that and then choose to restore your computer to an earlier time. When that opens, see if you can find a restore point at an earlier date than when you got hosed by the IE install. Then restore to that date. System restore keeps all of your data, so you should not lose anything.

The only problem is as I mentioned, I am not sure if repairing XP will wipe your system restore info. Good luck.

MR