Endless loop as 2000Pro starts

o4ahammock · 12-23-2007, 10:52 PM

Startup gets through the "starting windows" screen with the progress bar along the bottom, then flashes a blue screen briefly, then starts everything from the beginning again. The windows 2000 cd won't boot up, so I can't use the Recovery Console, and the Emergency Repair Disk won't boot up either - in both cases, NTLDR can't be found. When I use a boot disk with boot.ini, ntdetect.com, and ntldr on it, I get an error message "Disk I/O error."

I have Windows 2000 Pro with SP4, and have applied the automatic updates from Microsoft as they came out.

Shortly before this problem appeared, I had applied a MS update, and later installed AVG AntiVirus, which deleted 5 trojan files when I ran it. I then disabled Norton AntiVirus automatic startup, and used Norton Clean Sweep which purged the internet cache. Right after that I restarted the computer because the DSL connection had failed. That restart attempt resulted in this endless loop of almost-but-not-quite starting Windows.

The MS update I had most recently installed was for MDAC 2.8 RTM, which is the version I have. The MS automatic updater had been trying for a long time to install an update ending in 7779 (I think), but the error when it wouldn't apply said that the MDAC version wasn't the right one for the update. I searched MS knowledge Base for MDAC 2.8 RTM, and installed a security update I found that was for that version. I don't remember what the number was.

I have checked BIOS to make sure the boot order was floppy then CD, and that's OK. Any ideas on how I can get windows to actually load, or else be able to run the boot disk or Recovery Console?

hitech · 01-09-2008, 07:18 AM

the erd is not bootable.go to bootdisk.com and get the 4 2000 boot disks. see if they will boot to get to your 2000 cd.also can you get to safemode?

12-23-2007, 10:52 PM	#1 (permalink)
o4ahammock Registered User Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 3 OS: Windows 2000 Pro SP4	Endless loop as 2000Pro starts Startup gets through the "starting windows" screen with the progress bar along the bottom, then flashes a blue screen briefly, then starts everything from the beginning again. The windows 2000 cd won't boot up, so I can't use the Recovery Console, and the Emergency Repair Disk won't boot up either - in both cases, NTLDR can't be found. When I use a boot disk with boot.ini, ntdetect.com, and ntldr on it, I get an error message "Disk I/O error." I have Windows 2000 Pro with SP4, and have applied the automatic updates from Microsoft as they came out. Shortly before this problem appeared, I had applied a MS update, and later installed AVG AntiVirus, which deleted 5 trojan files when I ran it. I then disabled Norton AntiVirus automatic startup, and used Norton Clean Sweep which purged the internet cache. Right after that I restarted the computer because the DSL connection had failed. That restart attempt resulted in this endless loop of almost-but-not-quite starting Windows. The MS update I had most recently installed was for MDAC 2.8 RTM, which is the version I have. The MS automatic updater had been trying for a long time to install an update ending in 7779 (I think), but the error when it wouldn't apply said that the MDAC version wasn't the right one for the update. I searched MS knowledge Base for MDAC 2.8 RTM, and installed a security update I found that was for that version. I don't remember what the number was. I have checked BIOS to make sure the boot order was floppy then CD, and that's OK. Any ideas on how I can get windows to actually load, or else be able to run the boot disk or Recovery Console?

01-09-2008, 07:18 AM	#2 (permalink)
hitech Tech Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Kansas Posts: 615 OS: Windows	Re: Endless loop as 2000Pro starts the erd is not bootable.go to bootdisk.com and get the 4 2000 boot disks. see if they will boot to get to your 2000 cd.also can you get to safemode?