Well, I said it would happen and it DID! HELP PLEASE!!!

BROS

I have been preaching to the family about the importance of closing down the PC properly, but of course it’s just easier to hit the Off button on the wall socket!

I Have a Dell Dimension E520 running on XP. However, it failed to load XP to-day and offered me two options:
To run Normally or Launch Start Up Repair.

This brings me to “System Recovery Options” a screen offering me :

*Start Up Repair (Tried this, it runs & just brings me back to this screen)
*System Restore ( Gives me four points, tried all four, says it found The disk OS(C has errors)
*Windows Complete restore (Says it cannot detect a Back Up)
*Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool ( Says it can find no error)
*Command Prompt
*Dell Factory Image Restore

The PC originally came with Vista, and I have those disks, however he loaded XP for me before I collected it and it has been problem free to date.

Any assistance to sort this out and NOT loose my data would be very much appreciated.

Regards,

BROS

calex71

try http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

BROS

Thanks Calex71,
Problem is there is loads of warnings about ensuring all my data is Backed up ... that's the problem, I don't (Think) I have a Back Up, and it is not accepting any of the Restore Points!

Please advise,

BROS

unnameduser

at this early stage i think you are best to boot ot the XP disk, run the recovery console and try chkdsk.

BROS

Thanks unnameduser,
But the guy I bought it from supplied me with the Vista disk, he loaded XP for me, but did not the XP disc. Can I usethe Vista disk, or can I access some "Safe Mode" that would enable me to do a Back Up of my data at this late stage. I have a 500Gb external harddisk available for the job.

Orion

BROS wrote: »

The PC originally came with Vista, and I have those disks, however he loaded XP for me before I collected it and it has been problem free to date.

Whoever 'he' is should have the XP disk - you'd be best advised to use that to attempt a repair. Boot off that CD and do a chkdsk to repair errors. Hopefully not too much is corrupted.

AlmightyCushion

@ .Bob - No advising people to download copyrighted material.

Overheal

You know OP if it makes you feel worse, you could have easily set up the power button on the PC to automatically shut down the computer, rather than reset it, etc.

BROS

Overheal wrote: »

You know OP if it makes you feel worse, you could have easily set up the power button on the PC to automatically shut down the computer, rather than reset it, etc.

Hi Overheal,
You might be good enough to enlighten us less computer-savvy individuals how to do this to avoid such an unnecessary eventuality happening another computer owned and fellow Boards member?

Knowledge is power!

Mena

BROS wrote: »

Hi Overheal,
You might be good enough to enlighten us less computer-savvy individuals how to do this to avoid such an unnecessary eventuality happening another computer owned and fellow Boards member?

Knowledge is power!

Can set it in the BIOS, however you said that they were using the wall socket... get a UPS :pac::pac:

Lazarus2.0

+1 to what Mena says . You can configure the PC's Power switch in BIOS but that wont help if the power cord loses supply - a UPS will help in that situation .

As regards saving your data you could slave your hard drive in another machine and copy over the stuff you want , assuming the drive is still readable and you have access to another PC . I'd also let Windows try to repair the disk while it is slaved . Reinstal the drive in your machine and go for the Dell factory image restore if XP still wont load , though you'll lose all software youve installed yourself using this method .

Another option would be to borrow a Dell XP CD if possible and follow Macros42's advice .

unnameduser

you could try borrow an xp cd as mentioned or try the following

Boot into the Vista DVD,
Vista will start to load the Windows files.
Click ‘Repair’ in the bottom left corner.
Within the repair option there are five choices: Startup Repair, System Restore, Backup Restore, Memory Test and Command Prompt.
Use the command prompt to start chkdsk

Offy

If I were faced with that I would remove the hard drive, pop it in another machine as a slave and copy the data to the second machine. Load the Vista disc on the damaged disk and it the data is still there then great, if not just copy it back over.

BROS

Hi guys, I have a laptop, running on XP. This might sound like a fierce dumb question but:

How can I collect the hard disk of my Dell PC to my Toshiba Equium 100 laptop???

Lazarus2.0

BROS wrote: »

Hi guys, I have a laptop, running on XP. This might sound like a fierce dumb question but:

How can I collect the hard disk of my Dell PC to my Toshiba Equium 100 laptop???

External USB enclosure sounds easiest - make sure to get one with the right interface for your HD i.e. 3.5" IDE or 3.5" SATA .

Deadeyes

You have an external hard drive already hooked up to your PC right? So using your laptop you could download Ubuntu or some other Linux distro which has a live CD facility, try to boot your PC using the live CD then copy important data to your external drive. After that you can try what you want without worry of losing data, a clean install is probably the best option.
Personally I think it's a good idea to have a couple of partitions, one for the OS and one for your data. That way you can reinstall your OS without losing anything.

gamer

try safe mode ,f8.load dos prompt mode,use dos commands to copy to external usb hd,but linux live cd is easier with gui and mouse just drag and drop copy folders to an external drive,or try safe mode,directory restore command ,if its avaidable on safe/boot menu.

gamer

google ,active boot disk demo,download burn iso,it creates boot disk cdrom to allow you to copy files off any winxp hd to an external usb drive ,it has gui with cdrom /usb/mouse drivers built in.run chkdsk c:\ from dos prompt in safe mode.

StillBallygowan

BROS wrote: »

Any assistance to sort this out and NOT loose my data would be very much appreciated.

Give this software a go - http://www.z-a-recovery.com/ (General data recovery with ZAR software)

I accidentally formatted my external hard drive with all my music, movies and photos. I tried before buying but glad I bought it - I got all my data back.

Depending on hard drive size it can take several hours to complete the process.

Overheal

BROS wrote: »

Hi Overheal,
You might be good enough to enlighten us less computer-savvy individuals how to do this to avoid such an unnecessary eventuality happening another computer owned and fellow Boards member?

Knowledge is power!

Just go to the control panel, find the Power Options section, and there should be a button that gives you a drop down box that lets you choose what behavior you want when you press the Power Button on your PC - you can set it to either Sleep, Restart, Shut Down, or Hibernate.

And in special circumstances, get a new faceplate for your wall socket that doesnt have a killswitch, and use an epoxy resin to stop people from pulling the plug

BROS

Many, many thanks fellow Boardies for all your assistance in my time of need.

I've been attending to family matters for the last couple of days and have not actually made any progress in this regard, I intend to tackle it now.

However, in the times we are living in, it certainly restores my faith in human nature to see so many contributors wishing to render assistance.

Take a bow one and all, you're "good" people.

Regards,

BROS