Windows crashed again...

[jimbob12]

Hiiii does anyone have an explanation as to why my windows does not want to start anymore?
I turned it off as normal, the next day i switched it back on and it gets to the windows xp logo then gives a quick blue screen then resets... Grrr it's so fustrating!!!
Would it be a virus maybe? Or just windows being windows as usual?
Could it possibly be repaired using the repair disc?
Any help/suggestions would be muchly appreciated

[ricktas]

have you added a new device to your system recently? It could be that this device is the cause, whether it be a new card atttached to the motherboard, or a new external (USB) or other device. or an old device that is on its way to device heaven. Try unplugging everything that is connected, except the monitor, keyboard and mouse and boot it.

[Kym]

Start in SAFE mode, or try the recovery mode.
If they don't work then you have big issues, else its sortable.

[ScottM]

Agree with the above; blue screens are most commonly driver related, software compatibilities, and then sometimes drive corruption.
Start by removing any new or other devices - one by one. Unplug and also uninstall the device drivers.
Uninstall any new app that might have been installed.
XP can also have restore points you might be able to roll back to as well.
Then as Kym says, boot to Safe / Recovery mode (usually by hitting F8 while the initial messages are coming up during a boot).
And locate your original Windows disk

[jimbob12]

Hmmm I havnt added anything new in last 12 mths I think.. But il give it a try n see..
I tried booting in safe mode but the keyboard wouldn't allow me to move the selection off start windows normally.. :s but would allow me to press enter?

[ScottM]

That's odd... Was there a safe mode or recovery mode item in the list, or a 'hit R for recovery mode' or similar?
You could try booting from the CD/DVD too, that'll allow a recovery.

[ameerat42]

ScottM, (Sorry, wrong person.) OK JimBob, STOP! You don't have to consciously "add" anything, some program update (not from Microsoft, though) could be the culprit. You need to try a System Restore first, BEFORE you try any recovery procedures.

Start in Safe Mode: hit the F5 key until the options come up and then select Safe Mode, then:
Accessories - System Tools - System Restore. Then pick a good Restore point, say a day or two before this trouble started. Follow the steps, including an automatic re-start.

Let it then start up again in Normal Mode and see what happens.

[ricktas]

Note re not being able to select safe mode. USB keyboards are notorious for this. Make sure your keyboard is plugged directly into a USB slot on your computer, not via a HUB. Try different USB slots. What happens is that as Windows loads, during the start-up it loads the drivers for various devices, and it may well be that the USB slot you have the keyboard plugged into is not having its drivers loaded till later in start-up, and therefore, as you found, the keyboard is useless. By trying different USB slots you might come across one that the driver loads sooner in the start-up process and you can therefore use the KBD sooner.

On my machine, I have to plug my keyboard into one of the front USB slots, to get a useful keyboard during start-up, if I use a rear USB slot, the KBD (USB slot) is not registered till after the windows password screen appears.

[jimbob12]

Ok.... I can't access any other option than start windows normally.. I've tried every USB port with keyboard.. It won't let me move cursor... Only enter
I booted the windows cd and ran the repair section, I typed fixboot: it said the boot sector was corrupt and it fixed it.. So I rebooted system and no go.. Still did the same
What else could I try to fix it in the repair section??

[nixworries]

you may have to enable usb keyboard suport in the bios of your computer, it could be under Integrated Peripherals section.

[ricktas]

to get to BIOS, generally you hit DELETE during start-up. You may find you have to hit delete several times as the system starts to get into the BIOS

[jimbob12]

Yes that is already enabled
I can get into bios and all that but just won't let me choose any other option than start normal????

[nixworries]

have you got a non usb keyboard to try?

[nixworries]

reboot the computer and as it's booting booting repeatedly press the F8 Key, which should bring up the "Windows Advanced Options Menu" as shown below. Use your arrow keys to move to "Last Known Good Configuration" and press your Enter key.

[jimbob12]

No

[jimbob12]

Should I try the fixmbr? It says I may damage the partition tables if I proceed....

[Kym]

fixmbr is ok, that's just a standard warning
fixboot as well

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/d....mspx?mfr=true

[jimbob12]

alritey!!! woo hoo!! im back!!
well for now anyhoos i ran the windows repair and after i tried to fixboot i tried the chkdsk which found some errors and fixed them
i then tried the fixboot again... and then again just to make sure and woo hoo it worked!!!!
so now im backin up all the photos i processed yesterday to my other externals and wiping the sweat off my brow... i was in a heap of trouble if i lost those pics :
biiiiiiig thanks to all those who suggested solutions for me

[arthurking83]

I just spent the last weekend trying to fix a PC racking my brains out as to why it wouldn't boot, install, or generally do nothing at all.

If you have a USB key/thumbdrive and access to another PC of any kind, try downloading a USB key OS and run the PC from there.

There are many flavours available and one of the Linux OS'es are quite easy to use and troubleshoot problems.

I used a Linux OS on a USB stick to get the laptop started(but I also have many other PC's available to me) too.
Did disk scans and sector recovery and all that usual jazz, and in the end it turned out that the hard drive had at least one bad sector on it that simply wouldn't allow any install on it.

Popped in another hard drive and all is good, and the original hdd is basically confirmed dead.
Explained this to the owner and they're just waiting for some funds to get a new hard drive for me to replace to get it all going again.

hard drive is possibly recoverable(given time) but with 808 confirmed dead sectors, I recommended that they just get themselves a new one now for the sake of minimising issues later on down the track with getting this one sorted.

If you have another working PC and the means to get the hard drive on the problem PC scanned and checked by the working PC, this would save you a lot of time now, and headaches in the future.
if the disk scan stalls and takes forever, simply stop it and resign yourself to a hard drive that is about to meet it's maker.
If it turns out that the hdd is faulty, then try to recover whatever data that you can from drive as it is and learn from the experience.


For a bit of info on a very usable USB OS system, have a look at LiLi Linux, which is a piece of software that installs all the necessary files onto a USB drive(4gig is plenty).
You install this software onto an already running PC tho.
One more thing you will need is a Linux Distribution, which is basically an ISO image of the OS that is about the size of a CD(650 or so Meg).

You can download Ubuntu(v 11.10 is good) form the local AARNET server and if you have a very fast internet connection you should achieve at least 2Mb/s download speeds). Basically the Linux ISO will download in about 10-15 mins(that's what I get).
The LiLi software simply needs the Linux ISO file and it does it's thing automagically and next thing you know it's creates a bootable USB stick for you.

There a re a few tricks to using the LiLi BEFORE you hit the create button(if you're interested, just holler for more info tho!!)

Once Linux is booted up from the USB drive, it will recognise all the Windows directories and files and data, and you can save it from there.
You will or should get all your services available to you, so if you have a wired/wireless network you will have a remote location to save any data too, or if you have a portable USB drive to conenct you can save data to there.

LiLi

AARNET mirror

You can download a Linux ISO from a few links on the LiLi site, but they link to slow servers. The AARNET site host many open and free software(such as FireFox and other stuff) and the link to them is hyper fast by comparison.

You can download and create a Windows Live USB OS to troubleshoot, but the download files required are much larger(3-4G just for the Windows ISO) and it doesn't run as smoothly and fast as a leaner Linux OS.

If I need to get the troubled PC up and running, I use the LiLi USB OS, but it's just easier to pull the hdd out and work on it from a working PC.
Of course this means openign up a PC and temporarily plugging in the hard drive and all that annoying stuff, but you can get yourself a docking station to plug and play a raw hard drive as an easy option for that(what I have).
Be warned tho!! If you see a convenient use for a docking station, stay very far away from the Vantec NexStar brand of docking stations, they can and do work, but not as advertised!
Mine was the worst product I've ever wasted money on.

if you have data on the drive that you really need to save, the best option is to take it out, save what you can and then work on the hard drive, whether scanning fixing MBR's or whatever you can.
But I'd see this as a warning that the hard drive may be about to completely start to fail.

[ameerat42]

reboot the computer and as it's booting booting repeatedly press the F8 Key, which should bring up the "Windows Advanced Options Menu" as shown below. Use your arrow keys to move to "Last Known Good Configuration" and press your Enter key.

JimBob, and Nixworries. I'll have to eat humble pie after making a blunderbus!!! Yes, it is F8, (not F5 like I said).
Anyway, JimBob, that's good news.