Have you ever had this happen to you? You try to start your computer. Everything seems fine until it gets to the Windows logo screen and then restarts again. If you let it go it will possibly go on forever.

From my experience with repairing computers I have found two main causes for this problem. Not saying that these are the only answers for this problem, however these are the most common for me.

Faulty random access memory (ram)

Having faulty memory can cause a number of symptoms including a continual restart of Windows. I have tested this theory in a number of computers, including Acer and Dell computers. The computers were working fine until I installed the faulty memory. As soon as the bad memory is removed and the working memory is replaced the computer is fine again. Faulty memory can also cause your computer to show a complete black screen or even the blue screen of death. Also see Computer has a black screen and will not Boot or Startup

If you have two sticks of memory in your computer, remove one and then start your computer. If this doesn’t work then swap them over and try the other one. If the computer still restarts after loading the Windows Logo screen, then try the next option.

The hard drive is dead or the boot sector is destroyed

The computer will not boot or start if there is no hard drive to go to. I repaired a computer with exactly this problem. It loaded the windows logo screen and then kept restarting. I first thought it was a memory problem, however it turned out to be the hard drive. I removed the hard drive and placed it in an external case, and still could not access it. I fitted a new hard drive to the computer and put a Windows Xp disc in the cd drive. And away it went, formatting and installing Windows XP. The odd thing is that you always presume that the computer will come up with an error message saying that there is no disk present. But this doesn’t always happen.

So next time your computer loads the Windows Logo screen and then restarts be sure to check for these two common problems before investigating the problem further.

Notes:

• Hardware problems seem to be the most common cause for a computer to continually restart.
• If it is a software problem it can sometimes be a bit harder to pin point the problem. After trying to repair with a Windows cd, or trying the Windows restore feature, the final option is to format.

• Sometimes it can get past the Windows Logo Screen and the computer will work for a short time, then shut down or restart itself.