total crash.. heeelp

[susanwells]

I`m using the daughter`s laptop. I have a total crash.. when i try to boot up it goes round and round saying i have a problem, trying to boot, then going back to the problem page.. I rang the shop where i usually take it and they said bring it in and don`t forget the start up discs etc that go with the IBM.. i have ransacked the house for 2 hours .. no discs. God knows why as we keep all those things in one place and everyone else`s are there...however, i rang them and they said can`t do anything without those, you have to buy a new laptop... this CANNOT BE TRUE... :yikes:

can it ? :hearty

[GlosRFC]

No it certainly isn't true. There's absolutely nothing preventing you from installing your own operating system onto the laptop if you wish - why they've told you that you have to buy a new laptop is beyond me. Unless they're that desperate for a sale.

It's a bit difficult to give you more constructive advice without more details though. When you say crash, what do you mean? And what is this mysterious "problem page" you mention? What O/S are you using on the laptop? What had you (or the daughter) done prior to it going wrong?

Best advice I can give in these situations is to take a deep breath, make a cup of tea, calm down, and then approach the problem slowly and methodically. That always works for me.

[Win2Win]

You may have to buy a bootable copy of XP to at least try and repair it, or at worse reinstall it over the top. This means you'll have to reinstall a few other programs, but you lose no data.......unless your hard drive is damaged.

You could always send it to Glos :D

[susanwells]

OK, had tea. Thanks. calmer now. what happened, boringly, was this.
1. was all fine this morning. I have an IBM laptop and use XP.. then the screen and cursor froze. I waited 5 minuites, ten, then went out for an hour.. came back, still frozen, so only thing was press the off button and re-boot.. once I did that I first got a black page with white writing telling me there was a problem and to re-start in Safe Mode.. using up0/down key.. when i did this, the XP start-up page flashed on for about a nano second followed by a blue page with white writing that said I had a problem and the computer couldn`t access windows because I might have a virus (shouldn`t as I update my Norton and recently did a scan and also have anti-spyware...but anything`s possible..)...whatever I do the thing just goes round and round and round on these basic 2 pages, and i can`t get into anything else. I am not a computer buff so don`t like to start fiddling.. I have an XP disc here but the IBM discs to install and etc are the missing ones..
un fortunately, livng in the middle of nowhere, we have the one small computer firm in Stratford 12 miles away. next door to husband`s office..they`re very good, bought several machines from them, including this one.. so i can`t understand why they say they can`t do anything to it without the discs.. surely people mjust have fires and burglaries etc and lose their discs and don`t always buy new computers each time !!
any advice would be welcome..all networks, other computers in the house etc. working fine, all power, wireless etc fine.. so it`s just mine.
Thanks Glos :hearty

[GlosRFC]

Right. Let's see what we can do. It's unfortunate that you're not a little more computer-savvy as most problems can be solved in Safe Mode but it requires a tad more knowledge to do stuff in that mode.

First thing I'd do is record exactly what the error message says. You won't be the first to have seen it so a quick search for that text will usually provide a cause and solution. Without knowing what it says I can only guess that perhaps something has happened to either the core Win.com program itself or to the Master Boot Record. It is possible that a virus has done that but I wouldn't jump to that conclusion just yet. Turning a PC off (i.e. a forced cold boot) is probably the worse thing you can do to a PC nowadays particularly with XP installed. Far better to do a warm boot using the CTRL-ALT-DELETE and then the Shut-Down menu or pressing the Reset button on the PC itself. Even a laptop has one although they're normally very small and you have to use the tip of a pen or pencil to prod them in.

When you go into Safe Mode do you reach Windows at all? If not, have you tried using one of the alternative options if available such as Restore Last Known Good Configuration?

[GlosRFC]

If you don't get the Last Known Good Configuration option reboot the laptop again, only this time press the F8 key when the computer starts to reboot. You might have to press it a few times but it normally kicks in when the computer has done it's first set of power up tasks, e.g. checking memory etc. This should bring up the Boot Selection Screen and one of them will be Last Known Good Configuration. You can then go into Windows and run a virus check from there. You should also be able to do a System Restore to get you back to a point at which the laptop was working fine.

If you're unable to access the Boot Selection Screen you can try to boot from your Windows XP disk. Insert it into the CD drive and reboot and you will get the option to Repair Windows. This link provides further information http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm
or this user-friendly version
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-gb;842893

[susanwells]

Right. Let's see what we can do. It's unfortunate that you're not a little more computer-savvy as most problems can be solved in Safe Mode but it requires a tad more knowledge to do stuff in that mode.

First thing I'd do is record exactly what the error message says. You won't be the first to have seen it so a quick search for that text will usually provide a cause and solution. Without knowing what it says I can only guess that perhaps something has happened to either the core Win.com program itself or to the Master Boot Record. It is possible that a virus has done that but I wouldn't jump to that conclusion just yet. Turning a PC off (i.e. a forced cold boot) is probably the worse thing you can do to a PC nowadays particularly with XP installed. Far better to do a warm boot using the CTRL-ALT-DELETE and then the Shut-Down menu or pressing the Reset button on the PC itself. Even a laptop has one although they're normally very small and you have to use the tip of a pen or pencil to prod them in.

When you go into Safe Mode do you reach Windows at all? If not, have you tried using one of the alternative options if available such as Restore Last Known Good Configuration?

can`t get in at all.. have tried both safe mode and restore last known.. just goes back to trying to boot, windows page flashes up, round and round again.. didn`t know there was another way of shutting down.. will remember that. i will try and tell you what the pages say but they flash by so quickly i can`t really read them...
I do have an XP disc here but Keith says it has to be a re-bootable one ? (see his message on this thread.. no idea if it is or not..)

[Win2Win]

Now you have to change the BIOS to find out :yikes: over to Glos I'm updating the site :)

[GlosRFC]

The original XP disk should be bootable.

[GlosRFC]

What Keith means by that last post is that a PC can be configured to boot up in a certain order. The default is for it to try to boot from the CD then floppy drives just in case this kind of problem occurs but sometimes they're setup to boot just from the C: hard drive first, followed by any other hard drives as this can speed the process up by a few milliseconds!

If you find that your laptop isn't reading the CD drive when it boots, you'll need to hit F2 to get into your BIOS settings. One of the options in here allows you to determine the drive order in which the PC boots so you need to set it to whatever is your CD drive, probably D: I would think.

[Win2Win]

Wouldn't it be better of you both chatted in the chat room :D

[GlosRFC]

It might be better if you just stuck to updating the site :D

Good point though, I didn't realise there was such a place and I suppose it's easier than pressing refresh every 5 minutes waiting for a reply although the other half might not be enamoured at the thought of my being enticed off to a chat room!! Of course, if I lived in Shakespeare Country I would've offered to sort it out but distance precludes that option.

[Win2Win]

Don't forget to give her your address for the cheque :)

[GlosRFC]

Yeah - I really should do this kind of thing for a living, I suppose.

[susanwells]

It might be better if you just stuck to updating the site :D

Good point though, I didn't realise there was such a place and I suppose it's easier than pressing refresh every 5 minutes waiting for a reply although the other half might not be enamoured at the thought of my being enticed off to a chat room!! Of course, if I lived in Shakespeare Country I would've offered to sort it out but distance precludes that option.

thought you lived in Glos, Glos :hearty

[susanwells]

Wouldn't it be better of you both chatted in the chat room :D
how do we get into the chat room to chat please ? :D

[sparkyminer]

oops is that for members only?

[GlosRFC]

thought you lived in Glos, Glos :hearty

I do...Soo!
I thought you said you lived in Stratford though? I guess you must live in that half of Gloucestershire on the other side of the Birdlip escarpment...somewhere all twee and touristy like Much-Fiddling-In-The-Bushes :D

[sparkyminer]

I've PM'd you the chat address Susan.

[GlosRFC]

Grrrr...I opened that chat window and I'm talking to an automated Vegy!!!!

Welcome! You have entered [Win2Win Chat] at 9:41 pm
[glosrfc] 9:42 pm: Good grief...I try to get away from Vegy and here he is!!
[Vegyjones] 9:42 pm: Thanks for the compliment. That is a very original thought. Do you speak German?I'm not sure if I
would like to try . What's it like?
[glosrfc] 9:42 pm: What the....??
[Vegyjones] 9:42 pm: Are you surprised?
[glosrfc] 9:44 pm: That you can construct basic sentences now? Yes, very much so!
[Vegyjones] 9:44 pm: Right now? "Are you surprised" you can construct basic sentences ? Makes sense to me."Are you
surprised"? Yes? Somewhat. My brain contains more than 22,000 patterns, but not one that matches your last input.
Have you ever been to Europe?

Now why am I not surprised by that last comment AutoVegy said? :D :D

[GlosRFC]

oops is that for members only?

I don't think so although I did have to register again.