Stuck in a crash/reboot cycle

I'm using Vista Home Premium 32bit. The installation is about 3 weeks old.

I've run into a bit of a problem after installing the latest round of
Windows Updates.
Firstly, after they installed, I was busy so I didn't reboot immediately. In
Windows I kept getting a Windows Installer window popping up saying
"Preparing Installation" (or something along those lines), but didn't get any
further than that. If I cancelled from that a new one would spawn straight
away - and if I left it going it seemed to time out and respawn anyway.

So I did eventually reboot - but now it's stuck in a reboot cycle - the
computer appears to start Windows normally - I see the glowing Windows Orb
logo, then it says "Please wait..." for about 5 seconds, then that changes to
"Configuring Updates..." for about 10 seconds. After that, I will
occasionally see a flash of my user picture and the password box, but whether
or not I see that it then changes to "Shutting down..." and reboots. And then
the whole process repeats indefinitely.

Booting into Safe Mode and Last Known Good configuration have no effect.
I've tried all the system repair tools on my Vista DVD, again to no effect.
Even System Restore doesn't work (it comes up with an error about
transactions or something). I ran chkdsk from the command prompt on the DVD
and that said it had fixed some errors, but it doesn't seem to have made a
difference.

I'd recommend that you...

Start a free Windows Update support incident request:
https://support.microsoft.com/oas/de...spx?gprid=6527

Support for Windows Update:
http://support.microsoft.com/gp/wusupport

Customers in the U.S. and Canada can receive technical support from
Microsoft Product Support Services at 1-866-PCSAFETY. There is no-charge for
support calls that are associated with security updates. When you call,
clearly state that your problem is related to a Security Update and cite the
update's KB number (e.g., KB931678).

In other countries, see
http://support.microsoft.com/default...r=securityhome > "No-Charge
Support...for virus and other security-related" issues in right-hand menu
for localized contact information.

For more information about how to contact Microsoft for support issues,
visit the International Support Web site:
https://support.microsoft.com/common/international.aspx
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE, OE, Security, Shell/User)
AumHa VSOP & Admin; DTS-L.org

Jono1 wrote:
> I'm using Vista Home Premium 32bit. The installation is about 3 weeks old.
>
> I've run into a bit of a problem after installing the latest round of
> Windows Updates.
> Firstly, after they installed, I was busy so I didn't reboot immediately.
> In
> Windows I kept getting a Windows Installer window popping up saying
> "Preparing Installation" (or something along those lines), but didn't get
> any further than that. If I cancelled from that a new one would spawn
> straight away - and if I left it going it seemed to time out and respawn
> anyway.
>
> So I did eventually reboot - but now it's stuck in a reboot cycle - the
> computer appears to start Windows normally - I see the glowing Windows Orb
> logo, then it says "Please wait..." for about 5 seconds, then that changes
> to "Configuring Updates..." for about 10 seconds. After that, I will
> occasionally see a flash of my user picture and the password box, but
> whether or not I see that it then changes to "Shutting down..." and
> reboots. And then the whole process repeats indefinitely.
>
> Booting into Safe Mode and Last Known Good configuration have no effect.
> I've tried all the system repair tools on my Vista DVD, again to no
> effect.
> Even System Restore doesn't work (it comes up with an error about
> transactions or something). I ran chkdsk from the command prompt on the
> DVD
> and that said it had fixed some errors, but it doesn't seem to have made a
> difference.

I'm having the exact same problem and I tried the same things wrt safe mode
and the repair CD; only differences are that I'm using Vista Ultimate 32 bit
and I did reboot the first time Update requested to do so.

Please post if you find an answer and I will do likewise.

Wondering if we share system configs, maybe something common will fall out...
P4-3.0GHz
2 GB RAM
Intel 975 mainboard
80GB SATA boot disk
200GB PATA disk
Sony DRU710 DVD-RW drive
ATI Radeon 300 (PCIx16)
I did notice that one of the updates (released 12/7?) was an ATI driver
update... I'm always suspicious of video driver updates.

Thanks,
Erik


"Jono1" wrote:

> I'm using Vista Home Premium 32bit. The installation is about 3 weeks old.
>
> I've run into a bit of a problem after installing the latest round of
> Windows Updates.
> Firstly, after they installed, I was busy so I didn't reboot immediately. In
> Windows I kept getting a Windows Installer window popping up saying
> "Preparing Installation" (or something along those lines), but didn't get any
> further than that. If I cancelled from that a new one would spawn straight
> away - and if I left it going it seemed to time out and respawn anyway.
>
> So I did eventually reboot - but now it's stuck in a reboot cycle - the
> computer appears to start Windows normally - I see the glowing Windows Orb
> logo, then it says "Please wait..." for about 5 seconds, then that changes to
> "Configuring Updates..." for about 10 seconds. After that, I will
> occasionally see a flash of my user picture and the password box, but whether
> or not I see that it then changes to "Shutting down..." and reboots. And then
> the whole process repeats indefinitely.
>
> Booting into Safe Mode and Last Known Good configuration have no effect.
> I've tried all the system repair tools on my Vista DVD, again to no effect.
> Even System Restore doesn't work (it comes up with an error about
> transactions or something). I ran chkdsk from the command prompt on the DVD
> and that said it had fixed some errors, but it doesn't seem to have made a
> difference.

Interesting idea Erik - here's my specs

Gigabyte P35-DS4 motherboard
Intel E4400 Core 2 Duo - 2.0Ghz
2GB DDR2-800 Corsair RAM
Galaxy NVidia 8800GT (PCIex16)
80GB SATA Boot Disk
200GB IDE (PATA) Disk
Pioneer DVR-112D DVD-RW Drive

I've sent off a support request using the first link PA Bear mentioned, so
hopefully we'll get an answer soon.

Jono, please let us know what MS has to say about this and how they've
advised you to resolve it. Thanks.
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE, OE, Security, Shell/User)
AumHa VSOP & Admin http://aumha.net
DTS-L.ORG http://66.39.69.143/

Jono1 wrote:
> Interesting idea Erik - here's my specs
>
> Gigabyte P35-DS4 motherboard
> Intel E4400 Core 2 Duo - 2.0Ghz
> 2GB DDR2-800 Corsair RAM
> Galaxy NVidia 8800GT (PCIex16)
> 80GB SATA Boot Disk
> 200GB IDE (PATA) Disk
> Pioneer DVR-112D DVD-RW Drive
>
> I've sent off a support request using the first link PA Bear mentioned, so
> hopefully we'll get an answer soon.

Jono, PA Bear,

I was able to work around the problem using the following steps:

- Boot to repair mode via the Vista install DVD
- start a command prompt
- go to the system drive (C \windows\winsxs
- rename pending.xml to something else (like old_pending.xml.old)
- reboot

I'm not sure why yet, but this worked.

I think you will find that there are lots of copies of pending.xml in that
folder with timestamps for each automatic reboot.

Of course, Windows Update just prompted me that it needs to reboot to finish
installing updates... I'll see where that leads and maybe I'll post some more
info later.

Good Luck,
Erik



"PA Bear" wrote:

> Jono, please let us know what MS has to say about this and how they've
> advised you to resolve it. Thanks.
> --
> ~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
> MS MVP-Windows (IE, OE, Security, Shell/User)
> AumHa VSOP & Admin http://aumha.net
> DTS-L.ORG http://66.39.69.143/
>
> Jono1 wrote:
> > Interesting idea Erik - here's my specs
> >
> > Gigabyte P35-DS4 motherboard
> > Intel E4400 Core 2 Duo - 2.0Ghz
> > 2GB DDR2-800 Corsair RAM
> > Galaxy NVidia 8800GT (PCIex16)
> > 80GB SATA Boot Disk
> > 200GB IDE (PATA) Disk
> > Pioneer DVR-112D DVD-RW Drive
> >
> > I've sent off a support request using the first link PA Bear mentioned, so
> > hopefully we'll get an answer soon.
>
>

Nice work Erik! Thanks heaps, I can use my computer again!
I'm still interested to hear what Microsoft have to say about this though.

Cheers,
Jono

"Erik" wrote:

> Jono, PA Bear,
>
> I was able to work around the problem using the following steps:
>
> - Boot to repair mode via the Vista install DVD
> - start a command prompt
> - go to the system drive (C \windows\winsxs
> - rename pending.xml to something else (like old_pending.xml.old)
> - reboot
>
> I'm not sure why yet, but this worked.
>
> I think you will find that there are lots of copies of pending.xml in that
> folder with timestamps for each automatic reboot.
>
> Of course, Windows Update just prompted me that it needs to reboot to finish
> installing updates... I'll see where that leads and maybe I'll post some more
> info later.
>
> Good Luck,
> Erik
>
>
>
> "PA Bear" wrote:
>
> > Jono, please let us know what MS has to say about this and how they've
> > advised you to resolve it. Thanks.
> > --
> > ~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
> > MS MVP-Windows (IE, OE, Security, Shell/User)
> > AumHa VSOP & Admin http://aumha.net
> > DTS-L.ORG http://66.39.69.143/
> >
> > Jono1 wrote:
> > > Interesting idea Erik - here's my specs
> > >
> > > Gigabyte P35-DS4 motherboard
> > > Intel E4400 Core 2 Duo - 2.0Ghz
> > > 2GB DDR2-800 Corsair RAM
> > > Galaxy NVidia 8800GT (PCIex16)
> > > 80GB SATA Boot Disk
> > > 200GB IDE (PATA) Disk
> > > Pioneer DVR-112D DVD-RW Drive
> > >
> > > I've sent off a support request using the first link PA Bear mentioned, so
> > > hopefully we'll get an answer soon.
> >
> >

I have the exact same problem. I spent about 90 minutes on the phone with
Microsoft and HP, the only answer I received was to wait for an installation
disc and re-install my operating system. The acted like they were doing me
this huge favor by not charging me for the installation CD. I will try what
was listed above. I hope it works.

Thank You

"Jono1" wrote:

> Nice work Erik! Thanks heaps, I can use my computer again!
> I'm still interested to hear what Microsoft have to say about this though.
>
> Cheers,
> Jono
>
> "Erik" wrote:
>
> > Jono, PA Bear,
> >
> > I was able to work around the problem using the following steps:
> >
> > - Boot to repair mode via the Vista install DVD
> > - start a command prompt
> > - go to the system drive (C \windows\winsxs
> > - rename pending.xml to something else (like old_pending.xml.old)
> > - reboot
> >
> > I'm not sure why yet, but this worked.
> >
> > I think you will find that there are lots of copies of pending.xml in that
> > folder with timestamps for each automatic reboot.
> >
> > Of course, Windows Update just prompted me that it needs to reboot to finish
> > installing updates... I'll see where that leads and maybe I'll post some more
> > info later.
> >
> > Good Luck,
> > Erik
> >
> >
> >
> > "PA Bear" wrote:
> >
> > > Jono, please let us know what MS has to say about this and how they've
> > > advised you to resolve it. Thanks.
> > > --
> > > ~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
> > > MS MVP-Windows (IE, OE, Security, Shell/User)
> > > AumHa VSOP & Admin http://aumha.net
> > > DTS-L.ORG http://66.39.69.143/
> > >
> > > Jono1 wrote:
> > > > Interesting idea Erik - here's my specs
> > > >
> > > > Gigabyte P35-DS4 motherboard
> > > > Intel E4400 Core 2 Duo - 2.0Ghz
> > > > 2GB DDR2-800 Corsair RAM
> > > > Galaxy NVidia 8800GT (PCIex16)
> > > > 80GB SATA Boot Disk
> > > > 200GB IDE (PATA) Disk
> > > > Pioneer DVR-112D DVD-RW Drive
> > > >
> > > > I've sent off a support request using the first link PA Bear mentioned, so
> > > > hopefully we'll get an answer soon.
> > >
> > >