Guest Andrea Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!! My computer at home will not come on. Well, it comes ON, but Windows does not open at all. It keeps rebooting over and over again. A black screen will come on that tells me to either open in Safe Mode or "open windows normally". Neither one works. SUGGESTIONS??? ( Before I get out my hammer???) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: Calling all computer geeks Get a hammer!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry, but I can't help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSGB Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: Calling all computer geeks What type of computer is it? Make/model? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muggs Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: Calling all computer geeks sounds like a virus. did you get prompted to make any changes, or delete any files by a window? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Andrea Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: Calling all computer geeks It's a COMPAQ. Not prompted to make any changes or delete any files. Come to think of it, it said some files were unreadable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParrotHead Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: Calling all computer geeks If it's a laptop - remove the battery for a couple of minutes and then reinstall and try to boot it up. It's just kind of "hung-up" right now and the operating system isn't kicking in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSGB Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: Calling all computer geeks Do you see the Compaq screen when you first boot up? If so, press F2 while it's in this screen to enter the BIOS. Here, you can see if the hard drive is being recognized by the computer. It will be listed as Primary Drive 0, or HDD 0. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Andrea Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: Calling all computer geeks [ QUOTE ] Do you see the Compaq screen when you first boot up? If so, press F2 while it's in this screen to enter the BIOS. Here, you can see if the hard drive is being recognized by the computer. It will be listed as Primary Drive 0, or HDD 0. [/ QUOTE ] Yes, I see the COMPAQ sign when it first comes on. How will I know if it is being recognized?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSGB Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: Calling all computer geeks Sorry, you may have to press F1 to enter the BIOS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M00N Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: Calling all computer geeks Sounds like a problem with an important Windows file or driver/hardware issue to me. The screen with the safe mode option does it have another option to restore to last good configuration? Sometimes that will restore the file(s) that got damaged and allow you to boot up and then repair what caused the problem to start with, which could be a numerous amount of things ranging from virus/trojan/worm, hardware conflict, software conflict, corrupt hard disk, corrupt operating system files, etc. Otherwise sometimes problems like these results in reformatting the system, meaning all data on the HD will be lost unless you take the time to gather the data by finding another working system with a similar OS and an open slot for your HD to piggyback it to the working harddrive and pull the personal and important data off the bad one. Serial ATA drives it's much easier to do it on than IDE or ATA drives. If the system is under warrenty call the warrenty company make them walk you through possible ways to get the system working again. They will not walk you through recovering data, so if they get you to any step that talks about boot disks or reformatting that means they're going to erase it and your data, so best bet is to get the data you want off before calling them. Just make sure in the process of recoving data you don't cause more damage to the system otherwise it'll void a warrenty. I know my systems their warrenty allows me to pull the HD and place it in another system to recover data as long as I place it back in the same condition it was in when I took it out without any addional damage done to it. Some warrenties are more strict and don't allow this, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Andrea Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: Calling all computer geeks [ QUOTE ] When you see the screen, press F2 to enter the BIOS. [/ QUOTE ] Then what??? ( I am computer-illiterate for the most part) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSGB Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: Calling all computer geeks You should get a screen similar to this. The hard drive is listed as First Channel Device 0 for this particular model. If it is not being recognized, it will say "none." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Andrea Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: Calling all computer geeks And if it IS recognized then what? If it ISN'T then what does that mean, a virus??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSGB Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: Calling all computer geeks If it is not recognized, then you may have a bad hard drive and/or corrupt files, which may or may not be caused by a virus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Andrea Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: Calling all computer geeks [ QUOTE ] If it is not recognized, then you may have a bad hard drive and/or corrupt files, which may or may not be caused by a virus. [/ QUOTE ] How do I fix it? Take it to a repair guy? Or is there something I can do on my own?? ( You're being very helpful, thanks so much!!!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSGB Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: Calling all computer geeks What is the model #? Is this a desktop or laptop? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Andrea Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: Calling all computer geeks I'm not at home, don't know the model #. It's a desktop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSGB Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: Calling all computer geeks How old is it? Still under warranty? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSGB Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: Calling all computer geeks This should help you identify the computer and possibly give you some solutions to your problem. Hp and Compaq support - where to find model number Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSGB Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: Calling all computer geeks This should help, as well. Startup Problems Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Andrea Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: Calling all computer geeks Thanks a ton, DSGB. I am printing all this out and will take it home and see what works. I just had the hard drive replaced over the summer after lightning fried it. It's not under warranty, I'm sure of that. It was a computer handed down from my parents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newarcher Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: Calling all computer geeks You may have to boot with the recovery disk that Compaq gives you. If so, I hope you have been studious about your backups! New Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leo Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: Calling all computer geeks Sounds like your boot sector got blistered. Either a virus or a power surge/drop. Honestly, I've seen way more computers get this condition from a power surge/drop than any other reason. An APC battery backup is worth it, especially if your area has "dirty" power. (this is what makes the VCR clock blink 12:00 all the time) The good news is if it was a power surge/drop the boot sector is likely where the majority of the damage is. That means you got a good chance at getting your data back and it may only cost you a new hard drive. Moon is right you can probably get the data you want off the hard drive by piggy backing it in another system. But if you're not particularly computer savvy that's gonna be real tough to walk you through. Don't try and tackle this if you're scared of opening the case and poking around in there. Most towns have computer stores with their own resident "GURUS". Seek them out. It'll cost you, but less than a new computer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Andrea Posted November 30, 2006 Report Share Posted November 30, 2006 Re: Calling all computer geeks [ QUOTE ] You may have to boot with the recovery disk that Compaq gives you. If so, I hope you have been studious about your backups! New [/ QUOTE ] Fortunately my computer at home is used for nothing more than browsing the net and being on RT. I don't even have a printer for it. So there isn't anything stored on that computer that I would be afraif of losing. I tried all that stuff that DSGB showed me and nothing helped. So it's going to the repair guy tomorrow. Thanks anyway y'all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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