Sometimes when you're working with XP, things happen that you can't every anticipate, predict or outright just plan for. Sometimes a feature or function of XP will be working right and then in the morning when you wake up the same feature or function for whatever reason doesn't work or your computer just won't boot, or it boots and then reboots continously.

This Section assumes two things are present:

1. You have an original XP Operating System Disk. Not to be confused with a System Restore Disk. If your computer is a Dell, changes are you have the original OS disk, anyone else may have nothing more than restore disks. You cannot use these disks, they must be the original OS disk.

2. You have some time to kill, seriously.

Running the recovery console is probably one of the easier ways to make sure that windows is healthy, but the process can be quite time consuming depending on the extent of damage to the files. Insert your original OS software into the CD tray and reboot your computer. When it restarts, press the appropriate key to opt in for the Boot Menu and select your computer's CD/DVD to boot from. Windows Setup will now take over, you'll see a huge list of files being copied back and forth from the CD to the drive. Once that's complete, you'll be at the Windows Setup Screen and you'll have three options, Set up Windows, Repair Windows or Quit. Select the second option by pressing R. This will cause the screen to blank out and come back up in a DOS screen at a DOS prompt asking you which instance of Windows do you want to log in to. Generally you're going to choose the first option. Then it's going to ask you for the Administrator's password. Here's where it gets tricky. If you didn't set up the windows software yourself or had a shop or Black Tie guy install your XP, there was a prompt for an Administrator's password to be set, you need to know that password. If you don't, there's a way to recover it. For the time being, let's assume you have it. Type it in and you will now be sitting at:

C:\Windows

From here, type the following command, press enter and sit back and wait for it to complete:

chkdsk /f /r

What you're telling the computer to do is to check all the system files on the hard drive against all the original files from the disk, and make corrections as necessary. Again, this can be a lengthy process. Once it has completed, you'll receive a roll up report displayed on the screen. Type exit and restart your computer and remove the disk and Windows XP should now operate better. I suggest running this process anytime you have a major spyware/malware or virus infestation that you remove. Also, an alternative to running the Recovery Console can be found HERE, however you still need to have an original OS disk available.

This has been known to fix quite a bit of boot/rebooting issues and even in some case has been known to improve system performance when done immediately following a large spyware/malware removal session. Your use and mileage will vary. However, if the above process DOESN'T work, your alternative is a Repair Installation otherwise known as a soft install.