Break out of a continuous reboot loop

Break out of a continuous reboot loop

Below are instruction on troubleshooting an XP system that is stuck in a continuous reboot loop. This tip assumes you can start the system and are able to log on. As soon as you log on, the system reboots itself. In many cases, it may not even wait until you are logged on before rebooting itself. By default, Windows XP is configured to deal with a system failure by rebooting and in doing so, should repair the failure. But, in some cases, the system failure is serious enough to cause a continuous reboot loop.

If your system is stuck on a continuous reboot, you can disable the automatic restart behavior. Follow these steps:

1. Press [Windows][Break] to open the System Properties dialog box.
2. On the Advanced tab, click the Settings button in the Startup And Recovery section.
3. In the System Failure section, deselect the Automatically Restart check box, and click OK.
4. To enable the changes, click OK in the System Properties dialog box.

This change configures the system to halt after encountering a system failure error, which allows you to investigate the problem error in more detail. You'll then have to manually restart the system.

Keep in mind that you'll have to work fast in order to make the change before the system reboots. You may have better luck making the change if you launch the system in Safe Mode.