Windows boots, then computer restarts

This morning, when I booted up the computer, Windows began to load, then the computer restarted. Then Windows began to load again, and the computer restarted again. Then Windows....you see where this is going. I restarted it manually as Windows was booting, and it loaded up just fine. A warning window came up that said 'Windows has recovered from a serious error' (listed below). The computer functioned fine throughout the day until this afternoon when I played a music DVD with Windows Media Player. That worked fine too until, upon pressing the 'skip' button, the computer rebooted, then Windows began to load, then the computer restarted, then....
So I started it up in safe mode, which came up fine, and ran AVG Anti-Virus, which found nothing. I restarted using the Windows menu in normal mode and it came right up. What's going on?

I'm using Windows Pro SP3

The 'error signature' is this series
BCCode:1000007e BCP1:80000003 BCP2:804E256 BCP3: F7D24CAC BCP4: F7D249A8 OSVer: 5_1_2600 SP: 3_0 Product: 256_1

Technical information: The following files will be included in this error report:
C:\DOCUME~1\ADMINI~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\WER4d4d.dir00\Mini020409-07.dmp
C:\DOCUME~1\ADMINI~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\WER4d4d.dir00\sysdata.xml

HDD Bad or antivirus 2009 hit you.?

Well...it appears to me that we should start by assuming it's a driver problem. It's one of those STOP error codes that can be a million different things setting it off.

Sometimes...it's really exasperating to read some of the posts at other forums when searching for prospective answers. I just read a series of posts where self-appointed knowledgeable personnel wandered from "the problem" to defending Vista over XP and on into the sunset .

Might as well start with the premise of corruption in video drivers...I would boot into safe mode, uninstall the current video driver...and reboot and see what happens.

System manufacturer and model?

Louis

I'm using a Vaio PCG 6C2L with an external sound card and desktop monitor. Wouldn't uninstalling the video driver mean no images at all?
I've had virus issues in the past, but to the best of my knowledge there's been nothing within the last couple months.

If you uninstall the video driver it will use the default windows driver which will give low resolution and low bit depth.

I don't think it's a virus issue, based on what you state (although malware certainly can create STOP errors)...but that phrase..."to the best of my knowledge"...has been uttered or thought by many who did not bother to properly defend their systems or avail themselves of all the opportunities presented to know with a greater degree of certitude.

If it boots, you may want to try a couple of these free online scanners to see if anything has slipped by your protection:
(Be advised that some of these scanners will pickup things in "quarantine" from other anti-virus programs - so review the results carefully)

http://www.pandasecurity.com/homeusers/solutions/activescan/
http://us.mcafee.com/root/mfs/default.asp
http://housecall.trendmicro.com
http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.html
http://support.f-secure.com/enu/home/ols.shtml
http://onlinescan.avast.com/
http://ca.com/us/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx
http://www.eset.com/onlinescan/

http://www.kaspersky.com/virusscanner Scan Only - no removal


If you find that you're infected (or the scan doesn't complete or closes unexpectedly), post in the Am I Infected forum located here: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/f/103/am-i-infected-what-do-i-do/

Louis

Ok,
Scanning with one online scanner found a worm. I have posted in the 'Am I infected' forum.

Please excuse the question (computers are basically 'what's going on in that magic box?!?), but if I remove the video driver, a) can I see anything, how do I get it back?

Video drivers are loaded by users separately...not to provide video (because XP will do that since it will load default video drivers which provided actual video)...but so that users aren't stuck with one resolution option (800 x 600 is the default) and limited in color combinations possible.

When a system goes into safe mode, it boots into this default resolution and there is minimal color. Safe mode is a boot choice where many of the normal system drivers are not loaded, even if they have already been installed. The default video drivers are loaded.

Sooo...the only way that a system can boot without any video drivers...is if there is no onboard video and there is no appropriate video card sensed as being installed. Then the default drivers won't load (because Windows detects no device and sees no need to install drivers for nonexistent devices).

Louis

Ok then. Having uninstalled my Mobility Radeon 9200 driver the computer seems to boot fine. The problem is now that I can't seem to REinstall the driver - the drivers I download from ATI and Sony keep telling me that, though they're of the same model, they are not for use on my computer. What do I do?

EDIT: Disregard, it was put in the virtual corner but now the reboot problem seems fixed, video driver working fine. Thanks again for your help with this infernal machine. If something goes wrong once more I'll be back.

Edited by CannibalZ3, 17 February 2009 - 08:31 PM.

We'll be around, happy computing .

Louis

Nevermind, same issue continues. Computer boots, Windows loads, computer reboots, Windows loads, ad infinitum. But this only happens sometimes - sometimes it'll load up OK and give me that error message. WTF?!?

Did you complete the analysis/suggestions in the Am I Infected forum?

Louis