I HAVE A COMPAQ EVO510SFF YESTERDAY IT FROZE SO I UNPLUGGED IT FROM THE MAINS,UPON SWITCHING IT ON I GOT A BLACK SCREEN SAYING THAT WINDOWS WILL START IN 30 SECONDS,BUT IT KEEPS REPEATING ITSELF OVER AND OVER AGAIN.I HAVE TRIED SAFEMODE AND LAST KNOWN CONFIGURATION AND STILL IT RETURNS TO REPEATING ITSELF.I THEN WENT TO THE BOOT UP ORDER AND CHANGED THE SETTINGS(BY THE WAY I,M A COMPLETE NOVICE)AND I,M STILL GETTING BACK TO THE BEGINNING,CAN SOMEONE HELP ME,PLEASE ???I should have mentioned that i do not have a recovery disc,please excuse the capitals a complete oversightBoot to the XP CD and choose the SECOND repair option, allowing XP to install on top of itself. After completion you'll need to go to Windows Update and download & install all updates (except for hardware & driver related updates, which should never be downloaded from Windows Update - only from the OEM websites). Here is a clear tutorial on how to perform a repair install: http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/topic/138-how-to-repair-windows-xp/

Also, please do not post in all CAPS - it's the forum equivalent of SHOUTING.sorry for posting in caps,i forgot to MENTION that i do not have a recovery disc,as i said i am a complete novice to this,many thanks to you,can i be advised more pleaseI checked the specs of your computer and don't see that it has a recovery partition (though I guess it may). So without either a recovery cd or an XP cd I'm not sure what else to tell you.You could try BORROWING the same disks or OS that came with your PC from people you know to perform the repair option.