Repairing the boot sector

[DaveJ]

I think I might have a boot sector virus, never tried fixing one, and have a pretty specific question I can't find the answer to....

It's a Compaq PC with a recovery partition that reinstalls XP. Will trying to fix the boot sector get rid of that partition, or my ability to boot to it?

What happens is, XP continually restarts during the boot sequence, even after I do a full reinstall from the recovery partition, but only after installing SP3. So I'm thinking either a boot sector virus, or bad hardware, probably the former since teenagers are using it.

[DaveJ]

1. Another thought...

I just realized it may not be a boot sector or hardware issue, but a SP3 compatibility issue. Maybe I need to look into updating drivers and turning off auto restart on system errors.

[Gore1FL]

2. Does windows try to start?

if you hit f8 after the boot-up hardware tests, you'll get a menu to get into safe mode. run a virus scan from there.

[DaveJ]

5. I didn't find any viruses

My initial thought that it was a virus was mistaken I think. More likely it's an SP3 compatibility issue. Sometimes I could get into safe mode, and even then I couldn't figure out how to fix it. For now I'm keeping it on SP2.

[JPettus]

3. Yes, SP3 does have issues with AMD processors

And while it's been prevalent in HP computers, we should also remember that Compaq is owned by HP and if you have an AMD processor, you likely inherited the reboot problem.

[DaveJ]

4. Yeah, it is an AMD.

A 3400 I think.

I turned off automatic updates for now and am keeping it on SP2. Forced obsolescence I suppose.