Boot up problems

[Hitch]

Computer won't boot properly..... starts on system details screen, then black XP screen, then goes to the screen where you can select to start I'm safe mode etc....

None of these options make a difference. Just starts the cycle of the three screens again.....

I'm not concerned about the cpmpiter, new one well over due. But don't really want to loose a lot of the stuff on it....

Any advice on getting it to startup properly?

 

[Luke]

The simplest way, if you have another computer, is to take the hard drive out of the broken one and put it in a USB caddy. You should then be able to copy your files off.

Alternatively, you can try downloading and using a boot-from-disk OS such as knoppix, to access the hard drive without using the windows installation.

 

[Windy Miller]

Sounds as if the registry may have a corruption. Unless you have loaded any new drivers recently?
If you're thinking about getting a new machine anyway the data can be pulled off easily enough using a USB hard drive caddy.
I can let you have a windows PE disc that you can boot off and I can tell you how to do a quick and dirty registry restore but I'd have to do it over the phone as it's too complex to describe on here! Pm me if you want some phone advice! It'll be tommorrow now as I'm just going to bed!

 

[the snooper]

have you used the repair option i think on some machines its f8 or ctrl + f8 while booting then choose from the menu

 

[Welderpaul]

My laptop had the same problem, just wouldn't fire up properly.
Took it to a computery shop and the fella took all the information off it and put it on a usb hard drive caddy thing. Lost the programmes, but had the files which was the main thing. Cost about 50 quid all in.

 

[Sean]

if you have another computer in the house ( guess you do to post the question)

You could try downloading the Ubuntu OS (go for 10.4 ) copy it on to usb or burn a"iso disk" and then boot the computer with that ( use the "try Ubuntu" option)you will still be able to accsess all the files and be able to copy them over to a usb stick

You may even find that the laptop runs better on it and you can install it over windows ( it will guide you through the process) it will sit quite happily alongside windows and prompt you to choose which OS each session.
Sean

 

[Hitch]

I think a new one is in order then, and get me one of these caddy things to rescue the files.

She's old, 512mb RAM, 80gb hdd. Must have had it nearly 7 years......

Think I will go down the lap top route now.

 

[Robotstar5]

Get yourself one of these adapters to pull the info off the HDD, I got one a couple of years ago and it's a good bit of kit, although I paid a lot more!

 

[keith19]

She's old, 512mb RAM, 80gb hdd. Must have had it nearly 7 years......

The hard drive has done very well, if that's the original. Most only last 4-5 years.
The problem is that Windows has lost some start-up files. This can be because of recent software changes, as mentioned above, but considering the age of that drive it is quite likely some surface areas are starting to break up. Windows can 'repair' these by shunting information elsewhere, but it is only temporary.
All advice re taking off your required data is good, so no need to elaborate. I often use a Linux disk for this if the operating system won't start; just copy the data to a flash drive or plug in a USB hard drive caddy and use that.
There are other options, but I don't think you'll need them.

 

[boydy1989]

turn it on, and bash f8 repeatedly.

when it presents you with the list, select (i think) disable restart on system fault

Then, make a note of the 0x error code

This can lead to the problem somewhat.

Failing that, all of the ideas above are also good - 7 years is good for a hard drive, if it is failing then the longer you have it switched on for the more data you risk losing.

For the price, personally i would buy a new PC and also a caddy at the same time.

 

[Windy Miller]

Get yourself one of these adapters to pull the info off the HDD, I got one a couple of years ago and it's a good bit of kit, although I paid a lot more!

That's a pretty good shout actually - probably better than a USB caddy, as it covers both IDE and SATA. Hitch's machine could have either at that age, so certainly worth covering all bases!

 

[rtbcomp]

You could always restore your data off your backup onto the new machine

 

[Hitch]

Ordered a new machine this afternoon.
Been thinking about it for a while anyway.

Rog, tis quite annoying, I had dug out some cd-rs with the very intention of doing backups over the next week or so.

 

[rtbcomp]

I use a USB HDD for backups, so convenient for swapping between machines.

Cobian do a very good backup program BTW. Amongst other features you can specify a drive volume label rather than the drive letter for the target. Very convenient because with USB you can't guarantee to get the same drive letter each time you plug it in.

 

[Robotstar5]

I use a NAS drive connected to router running 2 HDD in raid1 so if one crashes the other still has all the data, just a case of replace the duff drive and copy

 

[Hitch]

Got me a lead thing and power supply. After a lot of fiddling with access settings, and taking ownership of the old documents, i'm in the middle of copying a load of stuff across.
Thanks for the advice