Started having a strange problem with my home desktop

(P4 2.56, 1gb PC2700, Geforce 4 Ti4200)

I left it on downloading one night last week. When i woke up i saw it had rebooted (into linux). So i assumed it had crashed overnight some time.

When i restarted, it displayed the XP loading screen - but when it tried to show the login screen, the monitor went off (kinda like when you set an incorrect refresh rate. After a few minutes, it rebooted into linux automatically.

So...i booted up in safe mode, removed the driver via devie manager, rebooted until the add new hardware dialog appeared. Downloaded new drivers, installed them, set it all up (resolution refresh ets) and it ran fine. Then i rebooted and it reverted to the problem up above. Seems the only way i can use my PC is to so the safemode reset of the drivers every reboot...

Anyone had/seen this and can shed any light ?

Thanks very much,

P

Check if you have installed windows update KB 890859.

That update makes the machine to reboot in some configurations. Microsoft is evil.

phazey - Assuming your running XP-Home, have you tried "restoring" XP to a previous point where everything was operating OK?

More info here

(If your running XP-Professional, check the following link, paying particular attention to the additional links shown in the left-hand Appendix column.)

Once you have the system up and running, do a complete virus scan. Suggest you use one of the free online antivirus scanners (Trend Micro, Symantec, McAfee, etc.) to eliminate possibility any antivirus utility you have installed, has been compromised.

If none of the above work, post back with more details on following:

. version of XP installed? (Home, Professional or Media Center)

. have you updated to SP2?

. is main hard disk drive (HDD) partitioned; if so how many partitions?

. is Linix installed in a partition on the main HDD, or on another HDD?

. is your XP's file system set to FAT-32 or NTFS?

-also-

. ISP connection type (dial-up, dsl, wifi, etc.)

. firewall type - software or hardware (make/model )

. browser(s) installed

. repair type utilities installed, if any (Norton, FixIt, Commander, etc.)

. description of the overnight download you did (WindowsUpdate, email, pictures, software, etc.)

Finally, do you have either the Microsoft "Upgrade" or "Full" CD for the Windows XP version your running? (Not to be confused with the "system restore" CD that comes with many computers.)

cheers

what boot loader are you using ? and maybe error check the HD.

Thanks for the replys. It gets weirder. I brought the machine into work today and it works fine. Looks my home monitor has given up - but still weird it works when i safe mode boot....piddle