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Dell Desktop restarts continuously. Win XP

Dell Dimension 5100C.  Windows XP.  Turn computer on.  Get as far as the screen that displays the "Dell" name and then it restarts again and again...etc.  Same happens when try to boot in Safe Mode.  My plan is to run chkdsk /p and fixboot from Recovery Console.  I started running chkdsk /p about 1.5 hours ago and it is only at 25% complete.  I'd hate to wait several hours and have this not be the solution.  Am I on the right track or is there another solution?  Thank you!!
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bdids
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bdids
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3 Solutions
 
FriarTukCommented:
chkdsk /p is doing a surface scan & depending on how large your drive is, may take all night.  best to let it finish otherwise it could corrupt your partition table.

as for rebooting, have you checked your hardware: cpu or ram overheating, all cables & cards connected securely, tried resetting your cmos by using the reset jumper on the mobo per manual, or removing the battery for an hour or two.
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bdidsAuthor Commented:
thanks FriarTuk.  This MAY take all night.  I'll let you know tomorrow how it went.
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FriarTukCommented:
no problem, I had to wait on one for 2.5 hrs & it was 40gb, then i was able to do the fixboot, fixmbr commands successfully.
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nobusCommented:
it is probably taking so long because of bad sectors.
i suggest testing your drive with any of these : http://www.disk-utility.com/hard-disk-low-level-format.html
Then you'll be sure about it's status.
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bdidsAuthor Commented:
It got 50 % done with chkdsk and this message appeared.."The volume appears to contain one or more unrecoverable problems".  Is the HD toast?
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nobusCommented:
that depends. if you do not need the data, i would test it, as suggested
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bdidsAuthor Commented:
....and then it returned to a command prompt.  No other message.  I then tried fixboot and fixmbr commands.  Now when I reboot PC I get  "No boot device available - strike F1 to retry boot, F2 for setup utility."
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jalilthe1Commented:
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bdidsAuthor Commented:
User decided to get new system before I could finish testing.  Thanks for your feedback.  I split points evenly between those who responded.
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