Laptop won't start up

BlackEdelweiss

My hp pavilion will not start up, it starts the process but does not get to the user login page. It runs on vista. Is there anything I can do myself to avoid paying a fortune to a repair shop as I can't afford it right now. I'm typing this on my friends iPhone.

bhickey

Have you tried booting in Safe Mode?

Aodhfinn

search through the net , you will find alot of help there ,

BlackEdelweiss

What can I do in safe mode? It only gave me the option once but the Internet didn't work so I shut it down but it only let's me do a start up repair or start windows normally. Could it be a fan problem, it has been running hot lately?

bhickey

BlackEdelweiss wrote: »

What can I do in safe mode?

Investigate, uninstall dodgy software, remove startup items, check for viruses, all sorts of stuff like that which you can't do otherwise.

keep tapping F8 as the BIOS screen finishes and it will offer you the option.

Try 'Safe Mode with Networking' if you want Internet access.

ricman

try changing the wifi channel on the router.

CCSL

If it will boot into safe mode but not into normal windows try the following.

Before the windows logo comes up press the f8 key to bring up the boot menu

Pick safe mode.

when safemode boots up click on Start Menu then Run
type in CMD

this will open a dos window.

in the window type chkdsk /f

it will schedule a check when your machine reboots.

Shutdown and restart and see if it works now.

Often machines not booting is down to a disk issue and checkdisk will normally
fix it.

If you have no joy then again boot into safe mode and click to accept the restore my system to a previous time option at startup. This will roll back your registry to a date before the problem it wont delete any files you created since then.

Let us know how you get on.

:cool:

sellerbarry

Did you get a disk with vista? Boot then load disk.;)

pboyle12

If it just WONT work at ALL and this is a last resort, press F8 repeatedly at the BIOS screen and after it does the transition to a different menu select SYSTEM RESTORE and it literally just turns your laptop to exactly what it was like when you bought it, only problem is you lose absoulutly everything like photos, songs etc.

BlackEdelweiss

I tried the chkdsk and a restore but no joy. Any other ideas, I can't wipe it, I have too much stuff on it and I have loads of work for college to finish for Thursday.

Go to safe mode then and safe it in an external device, then do a restore or reinstall.

BlackEdelweiss

Thanks for all the advice, I'm going to have to reinstall the whole thing I think. I got all my stuff saved to my external HD, its just a pain in the arse having to reinstall it all again.
What is the average lifespan for a laptop anyway, this one is about 3.5 years old, can I expect to get much longer out of it anyway? It hasent been going well for some time now and a few keys are falling out but its only for home use anyway so I might try to get another while out of it yet. Bad timing for college though, I have a thesis review this afternoon and a big lab to hand in for tomorrow which I was meant to spend last night and today doing. C'est la vie.

thenightrider

If your hp is one of the dv series you are lucky it has lasted this long one sign that it is about to die is it starts to get very hot when useing it

BlackEdelweiss

I was just saying to my wife last night that it was getting very hot, we must have been lucky enough with it, never any problems until now.

BlackEdelweiss

Ok now I am really fcuked! I tried to restore to factory settings but it won't complete the process as it still won't get past the same part of the start up as before. I can't even get into safe mode anymore as the restore needs to complete in normal mode. Is it just for the bin at this stage?

ricman

You could just reinstall windows,
see here ,http://forums.cnet.com/7723-12546_102-278183.html
press f10 on bootup,or f11,this should bring you to recovery menu, choose recover windows,ok, but this this will install windows AND other programs, and delete all mp3s,data , photos from drive c.
you could use a linux livecd ,eg mint cdr 700meg.
Google linux mint os live cd.This boots from cd,allows you to copy data ,from drive c to a usb drive ,run from cd or install to hd, install to hd does not delete any data if theres 800meg free on the drive.
GO TO BIOS ,set boot options, cd=drive 0,1st boot device =cd/dvd .