Well one of the things safe mode does is limit the "Drivers" that are
loaded, and this makes me wonder about a couple of things.

Older machines with plug in ICs used to suffer a lot from thermal "Creep",
that is a chip would ease itself out of it's socket due to thermal expansion
when turned on and off. To be honest I never turn machines off except for a
reason.

This can also happen with the various plug in modules like memory, video
cards, sound cards and other stuff, although the case manufacturers have
standard clamping mechanisms designed to prevent this. Despite those clamps
it can still happen and you only need one bad pin in a connector to cause
trouble.

Since your video card running with limited drivers in safe mode is probably
not running with everything enabled I'd try re-seating the video card first
if it is a separate card, there's not much you can do if it is built in of
course. Just taking the cover off and pressing firmly home should be enough.
Same applies to all other boards and memory. You can of course remove and
clean but must beware static electricity... keep some flesh in contact with
the metal case when handling cards.

I think I'd at least look before reinstalling an OS. Was it maybe colder
than usual in the room when the machine was off?

Charlie



"guestuser" <guestuser@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:uH0KsKOEGHA.2912@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
>
> <watha@monitortan.com> wrote in message
> news:1136344582.551076.79520@f14g2000cwb.googlegro ups.com...
>> My computer was shut down over the New Years holiday. I'd even
>> unplugged it. Monday night I rebooted and everything seemed fine.
>> Then, I launched Microsoft Outlook and tried to read an e-mail message.
>> The computer screen flickered bright blue and the machine crashed.
>> It tried to reboot. But it won't. I can boot into safe mode, but not
>> otherwise.
>>
>> I did absolutely nothing to cause this. The machine was fine the last
>> time I'd used it, and then this happened. Now I can't get Windows XP
>> to run properly. Would reinstalling the OS help? Can I do that
>> without the risk of losing data? Should I do it? If not, what should
>> I do?
>>
>> Thanks.
>
> Since you can boot into Safe Mode, I would run my anti-virus, adware,
> spyware and other malware scanners as soon as possible. Also ensure that
> your firewall is up and not disabled for some reason. Have you tried a
> full shutdown and a cold start up?
>