"Help me if you can" Computer crash !

elliebe

Okay to cut a long story short my yteenage son was trying to upgrade windows ep to download service pack 2, needed for itunes apparently and the download apparently stopped about three quarters way through so he oressed cancel and my son turned off computer in the wall before it had cancelled updates . When I turn on the computer now i have a black screen with writting aasking me to insert disk/floppy, I have pressed reboot button but no joy. Is there any hope. My original discs are lost as computer is about six years old but i can get access to other disc if needed. It a hewlet packard ( crap) computer that incidentally has given me nothing but grief since acquired. There is a light coming on in the hard drive .

aidan_walsh

Depending on what stage it actually stopped it, it could well have been cancelled while it was updating required system files, and this could be causing Windows to no longer be able to boot up. What exactly is it asking for on the screen? Do you ever see a menu, or the option to try to start the computer a different way? Does the Windows logo appear on the screen at all?

Of course thats just one potential cause.

MunsterCycling

Press F8 during start up and select last known good config and then when (or if) it lets you in you can roll back the bad update by using system restore (provided it was turned on, normally is)

If it doesn't let you in post again and we can try some other stuff

MC

elliebe

ok thanks I will try that this evening when i get home. No sign of any windows logo on screen , just grey with white writing asking to insert disk and try aagin , will get the exact wording this evening .

elliebe

no it does not give me any other option to start up the computer no menu or logo except hp screen sometimes with esc / reboot option which I have tried to no avail

elliebe

I tried pressing f8 during start up and it did not have any effect at all .This message is on the screen "Searching for boot record from floopy....ok, Non system Disk or disk error replace and strike any key when ready " Help please

NullZer0

elliebe wrote: »

I tried pressing f8 during start up and it did not have any effect at all .This message is on the screen "Searching for boot record from floopy....ok, Non system Disk or disk error replace and strike any key when ready " Help please

Have you got the original disks that came with your PC?

If so you may get away with a repair install of XP to fix the system files.

1.Boot the computer using the XP CD. You may need to change the boot order in the system BIOS so the CD boots before the hard drive. Check your system documentation for steps to access the BIOS and change the boot order. To get the boot menu (where you can select to boot from CD), you usually need to press F4 or F12 while starting your computer. This will depend on your computer/BIOS make.

2.When you see the "Welcome To Setup" screen, you will see the options below

This portion of the Setup program prepares Microsoft
Windows XP to run on your computer:

To setup Windows XP now, press ENTER.

To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R.

To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.

3. Press Enter to start the Windows Setup.

To Repair Install, press ENTER
To setup Windows XP now and Repair Install , press ENTER. do not choose "To repair a Windows XP installation using the Recovery Console, press R"

4. Accept the License Agreement and Windows will search for existing Windows installations.

5.Select the XP installation you want to repair from the list and press R to start the repair. If Repair is not one of the options, END setup.

6.Setup will copy the necessary files to the hard drive and reboot. Do not press any key to boot from CD when the message appears. Setup will continue as if it were doing a clean install, but your applications and settings will remain intact.

7.Reapply updates or service packs applied since initial Windows XP installation. (Advised)

That should pretty much do it for you

If you are having any problems please post back here

iRock

roryq

Looks like it is missing some of the system files to boot. I would try to get ERD.. I've included a link to a 30 day trial

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=5D600369-0554-4595-8AB4-C34B2860E087&displaylang=en

Burn the iso image to a disk and boot it from the disk. There is an option to repair system files. Select that and see if it finds files and repairs them.

Worth a try before a full re-install.

NullZer0

roryq wrote: »

Looks like it is missing some of the system files to boot. I would try to get ERD.. I've included a link to a 30 day trial

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=5D600369-0554-4595-8AB4-C34B2860E087&displaylang=en

Burn the iso image to a disk and boot it from the disk. There is an option to repair system files. Select that and see if it finds files and repairs them.

Worth a try before a full re-install.

+1

Didn't think this was still available since it was acquired by Microsoft

roryq

Yeah that is a demo of the software.. It was rebranded and was included in a sysinternals package. I believe you now have to purchase it.. I use it a lot of the time for system repair.

elliebe

thanks for all of the suggestions, i will give it a go this evening .

elliebe

just to says a huge thank you to irock for the concise and simple instructions for a techno fobe like me , they worked a treat and we are up and running again . Thanks a million.

NullZer0

elliebe wrote: »

just to says a huge thank you to irock for the concise and simple instructions for a techno fobe like me , they worked a treat and we are up and running again . Thanks a million.

No problem