i'll make this briefish since i'm at work.

at the weekend, started the pc up and windows wouldn't start. it keeps stopping at the screen that says windows failed to start, what do you want to do?

safe mode
safe mode with networking
safe mode with command prompts
iirc
or
start from last known good settings
or
start windows normally

none of the options do anything, it just loops back round.
i don't know what's been done previous to its demise as i'm not the only user.

is it fubar? is it something obvious?how picky are the bigger names in computer repair about miscellaneous mp3 files, or photo editing/cad software?

i didn't know what to do with myself all weekend. had to go out and strip the new sierra. it's got a 3.92 diff at least!

someone help. i need locostbuilders!

cheers
tom

Sounds like your hard drive has go walkies... try altering BIOS to startup using Windows CD (if you have one) Good luck...

You obviously backed up all of the data on your drives didn't you?

As hellfire says its probable that your HDD has gone tits up.

Worth checking the connections inside. Then check in the bios to see if its picking the drive up at all, and see how big it thinks it is too.

Either that or your MBR or MFT has been corrupted somehow. In either case its reformat time.

David

The Hard Disk Must be there as that menu is part of Windows not the BIOS so it is still seeing a disk.

Does sound like something that windows needs has been pulled.

I would ask if anybody using the computer has either deleted some files
or installed new software which may have messed up windows.

Still does not look good though.

Just thinking out loud.........is it possible to boot from windows XP CD (may have to change BIOs settings for this) and then repair the existing Windows installation?

I have a vague memory that there was an email spoof going around a while back, getting people to check for some dll/exe in the windows folder and delete it because it was a virus. Needless to say it was something vital.

Repair CD sounds like the next step.

Certainly sounds like someone has deleted some mission critical Windows files.

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is it fubar? is it something obvious?how picky are the bigger names in computer repair about miscellaneous mp3 files, or photo editing/cad software?

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Ask Gary

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MkIndy7 - 3/4/06 at 05:40 PM

Even if it won't boot, you can save the Data off it buy connecting it to another computer and copying the info you want to save over.

As people have suggested, was anything installed b4 it was shut down?

Any new hardaware etc?

(a long shot might be to remove all hardware thats not vital, sound cards, USB devices printers, modems etc just to simplify things and try and get it working and then plug them back in when it does)

It does sound like a windows problem, if it was hardware it probably wouldn't recognise the disk at all.

Keep trying cos it can be a pain having to start over again,
You know me number if you need anything, Ian

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