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Please help! My computer won't run

A

astondg

n00b
Joined
Jul 24, 2004
Messages
33
Hello,

I have a problem and I am not sure if this is the right place for it but I really need help.

I just got home today and found out that the power in my area had been off and back on a few times today but I thought it wouldn't be a problem because my computer was off and I have a UPS with power spike protection. Anyway I try to start my computer and it won't start, it has lights on the front but nothing happens. I checked the UPS and it had no lights on so I turned it off and back on again but it beeped (meaning it was overloaded) so I unpluged everything and turned it on again but it still beeped so I think something must have happend to it and I find a powerboard and plug my computer back in. Now when I turn my computer on it says Windows XP failed to boot properly last time and asks me how to boot this time (Safe Mode, Normal, etc.) so I choose Normal and it shows the "Windows XP" screen with the loading bar. When this screen is finished the monitor goes black like it normally does just before it gets into Windows but this time it stays black for a few seconds and then the computer restarts. I have tried choosing Safe Mode and Last Good Config but the same thing happens.

What should I do? I come home from work to find a dead UPS and Computer that won't start :( . Any help would be very much appreciated.

Thank you,

Aston
 
Cry like a baby! Really.

Make sure everything inside the computer is still running, try a repair reload of Windows, if all else fails, format and reinstall. And get a better UPS.
 
Yeah I know :) , but there is some very important information on my HDD :) . I also need some help and on a lot of forums no one seems to reply unless it sounds important.

Everything is still running. What do you mean by a repair reload? Do you mean install again over the top? I am leaving format and reinstall until the very end because I have some stuff on the HDD I want, and not just files but also the settings for some programs that I can't just copy off the HDD easily.

Thanks,

Aston
 
Yes, repair over the top. If you boot off the Windows CD, it will go through about the first 5 minutes of the install, then prompt you if you want to repair the Windows installation (look for choice "R"). It will reinstall the core windows files, but maintain programs, user preferences, etc. You will have to reinstall any service packs/hotfixes/drivers, though.
 
Another thing I'd look into is your BIOS settings. I know that on more than one occasion, I've been hit with random occurrances of changes in these settings. I would just double check everything and make sure that everything is as it should be.

Dark Assassin
 
Thanks for the replys.

I checked my BIOS but everything seems to be ok. I started in Safe Mode again and watched the messages, the last line it displays is "\WINDOWS\system32\DRIVERS\gagp30kx.sys". Is this the problem and what is it?

If this isn't the problem then I think I will try the Windows restore.

Aston
 
I just tried to repair my Windows XP installation and it copied files over etc. but then it said something about cannot setup Windows XP, cannot read from drive C:\ possible disk failure or something.

So does this mean the HDD is broken? It is not very old (about 3 months) and some of it can still be read from the "Recovery Console" and the fact that it starts to load XP. It is SATA and I don't have another computer to connect it too (they are all only IDE) to try to read from it. How did this happen and what can I do?

Thanks,
Aston
 
Well I just realised that my other computers don't support SATA but the broken computer supports ATA so I managed to get one of the HDDs from another computer and put it into the broken computer thinking that I could boot from the working HDD and at least get Windows running (minus drivers and stuff) enough to copy all my files from the SATA drive. But it also gets to the same place at startup and then flashes a blue screen with writing for half a second and reboots. I can't see what the screen says, it all happens too fast.

I did manage to turn off rebooting with the SATA drive and it displays a c0000218 message that means the registry is broken according to the Microsoft Knowldge Base. I can't seem to find the same option to turn off "reboot on system error" with the ATA HDD, it is normally at the F8 menu for Windows XP.

I can go without the program settings if I have to and try reformatting my SATA HDD but I really need to get the data. Also I want to leave formatting until last. Are there any other ideas? I tried the recovery console but it wouldn't let me create directories or copy files, even in the \Windows\ directories.

I also want to know how a 3 month old HDD can go from perfect condition (including defraging every week) to unreadable in a day when the computer was switched off the whole time and connected to a surge protector.

Thank you,

Aston
 
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