Looping into Managed Boot Agent at reboot (WinXP)

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One of my PCs (running WinXP SP2) has, for no discernible reason, started running “Managed PC Boot Agent (MBA) v4.00” (a Lanworks Tech utility) when rebooted. During the boot sequence, after searching the floppy and CD drive for boot record, the MBA programme starts then goes into “Pre-Execution Environment” (PXE v2.00), hangs, then reboots and restarts the same sequence.

Has anyone got any ideas what’s going on and how I can stop it?

Thanks

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Have you installed anything udpated or new programs recently? Can you boot into safe mode? Is this on a business network? Seems as though some adminstrative activity like a scheduled backup or update is trying to run.

Joe

--Joe

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nothing’s been updated or installed recently. The PC just runs WinXP, office, acrobat, winzip, etc. i.e. nothing unusual. I don’t seem to be able to boot into safe mode (though can get into BIOS setup). The PC’s on a small home network (2 PCs, laptop), there’s no problem with anything else.

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Can you boot into the recovery console from CD?

Joe

--Joe

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Can you boot into the recovery console from CD?

Joe

--Joe

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nothing’s been updated or installed recently. The PC just runs WinXP, office, acrobat, winzip, etc. i.e. nothing unusual. I don’t seem to be able to boot into safe mode (though can get into BIOS setup). The PC’s on a small home network (2 PCs, laptop), there’s no problem with anything else.

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Have you installed anything udpated or new programs recently? Can you boot into safe mode? Is this on a business network? Seems as though some adminstrative activity like a scheduled backup or update is trying to run.

Joe

--Joe

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Can you go into your BIOS setup and check the boot order. PXE boot should only be enabled if you want to boot to a network image.

StuartR

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I don’t really understand BIOS setup that much but I assume this is where the problem lies. I’ve had a look and PXE does not appear anywhere. What does seem strange to me is that the Pri Master is set to disabled (Sec Master to CDROM). Surely Pri Master is the HDD? The autodetect option doesn’t come up with anything. I’ve been googling for BIOS help sites but haven’t found a useful one yet. If anyone can recommend a good one, that would be a help.

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Some PCs are configured to automatically try a PXE boot if there is no bootable local disk. I wonder if your main hard disk has failed. Try reseating it’s cable – just in case.

StuartR

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by “reseating its cable” do you mean opening up the box and checking everything’s plugged in securely?

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Yep

Joe

--Joe

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by “reseating its cable” do you mean opening up the box and checking everything’s plugged in securely?

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I’ve disconnected and reconnected all the cables inside but with no result

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Sounds like your hard drive has gone to lunch, although it could be a faulty motherboard or cable at a push. I think it’s time to buy a new one, do you have a recent backup?

StuartR

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Yep. You’re right. Upon firther investigation, the noise it’s making is just the fan. The disc is not spinning. Fortunately, it’s backed up.

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That’s not fortune, it’s planning and preparation. That puts you in a minority of less than 1 in a thousand PC users.

StuartR

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That’s not fortune, it’s planning and preparation. That puts you in a minority of less than 1 in a thousand PC users.

StuartR

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Can you move the drive to another PC to see if you can access it as a secondary (non-boot) drive?

Joe

--Joe

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Can you move the drive to another PC to see if you can access it as a secondary (non-boot) drive?

Joe

--Joe

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I’ve disconnected and reconnected all the cables inside but with no result

Reply | Quote

Some PCs are configured to automatically try a PXE boot if there is no bootable local disk. I wonder if your main hard disk has failed. Try reseating it’s cable – just in case.

StuartR

Reply | Quote

I don’t really understand BIOS setup that much but I assume this is where the problem lies. I’ve had a look and PXE does not appear anywhere. What does seem strange to me is that the Pri Master is set to disabled (Sec Master to CDROM). Surely Pri Master is the HDD? The autodetect option doesn’t come up with anything. I’ve been googling for BIOS help sites but haven’t found a useful one yet. If anyone can recommend a good one, that would be a help.

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Can you go into your BIOS setup and check the boot order. PXE boot should only be enabled if you want to boot to a network image.

StuartR

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