hi i have a HP and i am very knowledgeable about computers but I cant figure out wat is wrong with this, maybe virus, dont know. Every time i click for update and it starts the comp restarts after a blu screen flashes. wen i do certain things it will happen too. i have checked it for viruses and i have non at this moment but before i had a crap load. can this be fixed if i re format my HD. HP pavillion a151On
Try a "non-destructive reinstall of xp", google it and look for Fred Langa or The Langa Letters. He used to work for MS and has a tutorial on how to reinstall windows without loosing all your data. Since it reinstalls the XP system you will loose all your critical updates so if you want to save yourself from downloading over 50 critical updates you might want to make a slipstreamed disk before you start.
Google "Ryan's VM" its a large download and an Integrator that will allow you to copy your XP disk to the hard drive then use the integrator to slip all the critical updates from the large file, up to the point of Ryans last updated version, into the hard drive files automatically and then burn the hard drive files to a bootable disk.
If you decide to try it I should mention I had some problems figuring out the cd burning part and the forum there was little help so your welcome to send me a personal message and I'll walk you thru it.
Remember If you choose to reinstall from scratch, disconnect from the net and don't reconnect until you at least have a firewall installed. I like to use ZoneAlarm free version at least to get started, XP's firewall sucks.
1st. When you get the "blue screen of death" does the system do an immediate reboot or does the screen stay blue long enough to read. If so it will give you a general cause for the crash.
2nd. Have you installed or removed any software around the same time frame of this issue first occurring.
3rd. Is your antivirus up to date. What are you using? What software vs. is it. Has it done updates on a regular basis in the past?
4th. How old is the pc. Most computers will begin to see hardware failure after 3-4 years on average depending on use and care of the hardware.
5th. Before doing a "Second Repair" which is what Ken was suggesting make sure you make a backup of all important data prior. Although this repair generally does not harm your system if you have a hardware issue causing data to write or save incorrectly you may lose some or all information.
Without more info that about all I will offer at this point.
Nope no moving around anything; started to crash lightley at first here and there but now its just crazy somtimes i start and it will re boot right away i think the previous viruses i had, have currupted some files. the pc is not old the model number is HP Pavilion a15 10n it came with xp media center. but im thinking about upgrading to vista.
kirmoney if you have your XP disc try to run the system file checker. To do this click on start, run, and type in sfc /scannow and click ok. Then it will ask you to insert the XP disc.
You won't be able to do this if your comp keeps rebooting but it is worth a try since you cannot run sfc in safe mode and it seems to me that you corrupted some .dll files with all of the virii you had. If this fails to fix the problem you can either A) Run chkdisk on all drive volumes or B) system restore to a date before (if there is one listed) the problem started. If all of this fails, your last resort is to do exactly what Ken Bokman described.
Not sure what you mean by "every time I click for update" but don't do that.
sorry for the delay in the reply but its not restarting every second only when the computer thinks too much i guess, pretty much restarts when it wants to i got 98% of the viruses outit barely restarts now but still does crash.
If it only reboots when the computer is loading or processing, It could be an overheating issue. A Blue Screen Of Death usually points towards an error with the RAM. If you've overclocked recently, Try setting the clocks back to the factory defaults. Frequent rebooting could also symbolize Power Supply failure (The power supply not supplying enough power).