Windows XP stuck in reboot loop

[_SomeGuy_]

Hi. So I went trough a LOT of ******* trouble to get here. So recently I've been trying to fix my fathers precious laptop. There are a lot of files in it even though it is an antique and still runs windows XP. Now there was a trojan virus that affected his system and it changed his date and it runs a lot slower. It also gets it to shut down every 20 minutes

Now I looked up a method online which was to disable system restore and restart in safe mode and install an anti virus (I have malwarebytes) and scan.

However, as I clicked on apply to apply the change to disable system restore, a prompt came up saying the computer was gonna shut down in an exact minute while system restore was still applying the change. I'm not sure if that wrecked my computer because as soon as I restarted, I tried to boot in safe mode with networking.

However when I did, it went to a blue startup screen and it goes to a black safe mode screen then a prompt comes up saying:
E:\WINDOWS\system32\presetup.cmd - FILE NOT FOUND!
E:\WINDOWS\system32\setupORG.exe - FILE NOT FOUND!
(setupORG.exe ->Original windows Setup.exe)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
POSSIBLE CAUSE:
1."Preset.cmd" not exist in the i386 folder in UXPCD
"setupORG.exe" not exist in the i386 folder in UXPCD
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2. Check your "txtsetup.sif" in the i386 folder on UXPCD
---Txtsetup.sif---------------------------
[SourceDiskFiles]
setupORG.exe=1,,,,,,,,2,0,0 ; must exist
prestup.cmd =1,,,,,,,,2,0,0 ; must exist
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SETUP ABORT


I clicked ok on all the prompts and it restarts. I booted on all safe mode options and normal yet it comes to the set up screen then the safe mode prompts then it KEEPS restarting.

What have I done wrong? I am not trying to install or reinstall XP. I just wanted to boot in safe mode and now whenever I restart in normal or safe this keeps coming up.

I depend on you guys because yahoo answers is sh*t and everyone stops reading after two sentences.

 

[_SomeGuy_]

Okay. Disregard everything I just said. It works now.

The problem is that it is still affected by the virus. Opening the installer or transferring malwarebytes to it via USB and opening mbam.exe gives some error about memory not found or something. I'm guessing this is a virus tactic.

I'm thinking of installing a newer OS since XP support has ended and thats why it got the virus.

BUT the problem is that the CD drive is not working so we can't install an OS that requires a CD to install.
Is there a way to install a new OS without a CD? I might get windows 8.1 or windows 7 on it but it is a really old laptop model. (Probably made around 2005 or older).


.. is anyone even reading this thread?

 

[carnageX]

Best thing to do in this case is going to be either to try and wipe it and install clean, or perform a repair install. For either option, I recommend copying all of his important files off of the laptop first onto an external HDD or flash drive. You can do this by burning a Linux LiveCD (such as Ubuntu) to a CD, and boot off of it. This will give you access to the HDD and it's files so that you can copy them off. That way, there's no risk of losing files.

So, after backing up all the important files, you will need an XP disc. Do you have an XP disc? Also, is the XP key on the bottom of the laptop still readable? If not, then you'll have to extract it (but I'll give the instructions if you can't see the key).

So... like I said.. 2 options:

1) Repair Install: How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install
2) clean installhttp://www.wikihow.com/Clean-Install-Windows-XP

 

[carnageX]

Ok, since you got it working, and you want to install a newer OS... this is what you can use to install from USB:
Microsoft Store

 

[-RockMan-]

Okay. Disregard everything I just said. It works now.
BUT the problem is that the CD drive is not working so we can't install an OS that requires a CD to install.
Is there a way to install a new OS without a CD? I might get windows 8.1 or windows 7 on it but it is a really old laptop model. (Probably made around 2005 or older).

Can I have your laptop model number please ? it can be found on the back or bottom side of the laptop.