Continuous reboot in Win 7

>>  When I tried F8, the system would start booting into safe mode and then immediately reboot.   <<  this does not look like a virus, but a corrupt OS, or a bad disk drive
i would run a diag on the disk drive first; i use UBCD for this :
Hardware diagnostic CD    UBCD

go to the download page, scroll down to the mirror section, and  click on a mirror to start the download
Download the UBCD and make the cd   <<==on a WORKING PC, and boot the problem PC from it
Here 2 links, one to the general site, and a direct link to the download

since the downloaded file is an ISO file, eg ubcd527.iso - so you need to use an ISO burning tool
if you don't have that software, install cdburnerXP : http://cdburnerxp.se/

If you want also the Ram tested - run memtest86+ at least 1 full pass,  - you should have NO errors!
 
For disk Diagnostics run the disk diag for your disk brand (eg seagate diag for seagate drive)  from the HDD section -  long or advanced diag !  (runs at least for30 minutes)

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/                        ultimate boot cd
http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/download.html             download page

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you can also try running a repair as shown : http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/681-startup-repair.html

I agree with the experts above... Boot with a Linux based CD and run it's anti virus.  That should stop the virus from going active and allow a full scan without any interruptions.

I've tried both Anvira and AVG rescue CD's now.  I tried Anvira first and it said it found something, but I couldn't see any details on it.  It got rid of it, but still continuous boot.

I then tried AVG, and it didn't find anything. I did a scan on everything, including boot records but no luck.   Still continuously reboots in safe mode.

AVG allows me to edit the registry.  I changed something in Windows before the continuous reboot to automatically reboot into safe mode.  That was a problem.  Does the registry affect whether it automatically boots into normal or safe mode?

After many attempts, I managed to get F8 to bring up the normal boot menu, and selected 'start normally', but it STILL booted into safe mode (with networking).

Can I edit the registry through AVG to force it into normal mode?

Try this process:

Click Start, type MSCONFIG.EXE

Hit Enter on your keyboard

Go to the BOOT.INI tab and uncheck /Safe Boot

Click Apply and OK

Here is a step by step guide to stop it from booting into safe mode.

http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-1820767/windows-starts-safe-mode-fix.html

How am I supposed to get into msconfig when my PC won't even boot?

I thought you could boot into safemode. if so, run the process from there.

No, the point is the system won't boot at all, it continuously reboots. I need to know how to stop it.

ugeb, i gave you a lot of info for testing; did you use the UBCD yet?

Did that solution work?

nobus:

You've given me that exact same response on another question I had, but I don't think it applies.  I've read through it before.  This is not a memory or disk problem.  

TG-TIS:

I need time to try it out first, thanks.

None of these solutions worked, and I had to reinstall, so share the points.