computer not booting up

rocksolid

Hey guys in the last 2 days iv had 2 friends ask me to have a look at their desktop and laptop

Both will not start up. I get 2 options on start up

1 -Launch startup repair (Recommended)
2 -Start Windows Normally

iv tried going into Windows Error Recovery (by repeatedly hitting F8) but none of the options work in it either.....

Doing a bit of research on the net people reckon its a hardware prob, but if this is true how do i know exactly what it is....

Any help would be greatly appreciated as this is wrecking my head now....

Captain Commie

what error message do you get when selecting to start windows normally, without the full error message then we cant really help

fear corcaigh

download Ubuntu and burn it to a disk and see will it load. Make sure you select the try Ubuntu option after loading the disk, if this loads then you dont have a hardware problem

rocksolid

well thats the funny thing when i select start windows normally on both the laptop and desktop i get to the 'windows loading' page then they just restart all over again, no error messages at all...

FloatingVoter

Check the order of boot-up media in the BIOS (normally pressing F2 on a Dell shows you this). It can have changed and produces a scary looking message. Generally you boot from the hard drive or for a re-install a CD/DVD.

johndoe99

there is a virus/spyware that can do this, cannot remember the name. Could both your friends have shared a file between themselves recently.

rocksolid

FloatingVoter wrote: »

Check the order of boot-up media in the BIOS (normally pressing F2 on a Dell shows you this). It can have changed and produces a scary looking message. Generally you boot from the hard drive or for a re-install a CD/DVD.

Boot menus are all in order....

im downloading ubuntu at the moment to see if that will work....

My friends dont know each other so sharing files is out of the question....

I wonder is it harddrive related?

Torqay

If you want to test the hardware, grab UBCD. A great variety of diagnostic tools all on one bootable CD.

Captain Commie

if you have a windows disk for the correct version of windows (vista or 7), boot from the disk and then chose start up repair, should solve the issue, would try that first before messing around with things like ubuntu

rocksolid

Tried Ubuntu and UBCD but they wouldnt load on the either laptop or desktop...

Doubled checked boot list to make sure that cd drive was first on list and it was....

Dont have original recovery disks for either also

So where from here??


Just got a message on the laptop with the UBCD in it after it trying to load that 'files needs to be checked for consistency' and it started a checkdisk then just restarted.............

Captain Commie

you need a windows dvd for whatever version is installed, not the original restore disks

Torqay

NoelDoran wrote: »

Just got a message on the laptop with the UBCD in it after it trying to load that 'files needs to be checked for consistency' and it started a checkdisk then just restarted.............

Did you get UBCD or UBCD4Win???

rocksolid

Torqay wrote: »

Did you get UBCD or UBCD4Win???

should have been ubcdwin4 (for windows i presume)

i used ubcd5.1.1

Torqay

No, UBCD is fine.

It does come with a script to prepare a bootable USB stick, if the computer has no optical drive or if it is dodgy.

rocksolid

still nothing even from usb stick on either......

Torqay

So you can boot from HDD into the Windows Boot Menu but you cannot boot UBCD (or Ubuntu) from CD or USB???

Most intriguing... ^^

fear corcaigh

can you get into the bios and do a memory test

rocksolid

fear corcaigh wrote: »

can you get into the bios and do a memory test

How do i get into bios??

Captain Commie

NoelDoran wrote: »

How do i get into bios??

The same place where you confirmed that the boot order was correct.

However, for most machines now days, the bios is flashed from within windows.

Br4tPr1nc3

try disconnecting the hard drive and removing the ram on the pc, and then replacing them.
see if that allows it to start up.

rocksolid

Br4tPr1nc3 wrote: »

try disconnecting the hard drive and removing the ram on the pc, and then replacing them.
see if that allows it to start up.

WTF, just plugged out the harddrive and the ram like you said and bingo the desktop worked first time....

any ideas what the problem was??

Gonna try the laptop now....

NO Such joy with the laptop..........

WillyFXP

RAM can, by many untold reasons, become "unseated". If I'd read this thread earlier it would have been my first suggestion to reseat the RAM. Anyhoo, desktop sorted. I'd wager that the HDD on the laptop has developed bad sectors, and I also bet it's a toshiba drive. The other possibility is a bad stick of RAM. If it has 2 then try each one individually, if only one then try to get another to test it with.

Br4tPr1nc3

NoelDoran wrote: »

WTF, just plugged out the harddrive and the ram like you said and bingo the desktop worked first time....

any ideas what the problem was??

Gonna try the laptop now....

NO Such joy with the laptop..........

RAM is a strange thing. it can cause all sorts of problems, and some times all it takes is basically turning it off and back on again

then again it could have been the hard drive needing the same thing, if ya done it one at a time youd know which was the problem,
but its working now so thats the good thing.

if it doesnt work with the laptop, and if there is more than one stick of RAM, try taking all of them out and replacing only 1, and if it doesnt work, try the other one on its own, while keeping the harddrive plugged in.


if that doesnt work then there could be as the lad says there, bad sectors, could just be a ****ty problem with windows install.
if you have the original windows disc available, or the same version on another disc, just try a repair installation.

me33

Hello Everyone,

I've the same problem as NoelDoran:

"well that's the funny thing when i select start windows normally on both the laptop and desktop i get to the 'windows loading' page then they just restart all over again, no error messages at all..."My computer keeps turning off/on again and again.Sometimes it boots windows normally, or sometimes it takes a several times to boot for it. As I have bought the insurance plan together with a computer, so the first time KNOWHOW team checked it, but they couldn't find a problem (it was back in June). But the same problem is still on, so at the end of July and recently in August I brought it down to PC World store in Sligo, so the guy just reinstalled the windows, but the problem still appears, and they keep telling me that they cannot find the problem. Yesterday I've rang back to KNOWHOW team, and they suggested me to disconnect everything that is connected to computer, but it still keeps turning off/on again.I'm not sure what to think and what to do, it seems that the someone is playing tricks on me.Have I to take any legal actions in my case, cause in a period of 3 months I had computer at home only for 6 weeks,it was always away for repair and it's not fixed :(I cannot work with such computer, and I'm not an IT specialist I'm just an ordinary user Thanks

WillyFXP

me33 wrote: »

Hello Everyone,

I've the same problem as NoelDoran:

"well that's the funny thing when i select start windows normally on both the laptop and desktop i get to the 'windows loading' page then they just restart all over again, no error messages at all..."My computer keeps turning off/on again and again.Sometimes it boots windows normally, or sometimes it takes a several times to boot for it. As I have bought the insurance plan together with a computer, so the first time KNOWHOW team checked it, but they couldn't find a problem (it was back in June). But the same problem is still on, so at the end of July and recently in August I brought it down to PC World store in Sligo, so the guy just reinstalled the windows, but the problem still appears, and they keep telling me that they cannot find the problem. Yesterday I've rang back to KNOWHOW team, and they suggested me to disconnect everything that is connected to computer, but it still keeps turning off/on again.I'm not sure what to think and what to do, it seems that the someone is playing tricks on me.Have I to take any legal actions in my case, cause in a period of 3 months I had computer at home only for 6 weeks,it was always away for repair and it's not fixed :(I cannot work with such computer, and I'm not an IT specialist I'm just an ordinary user Thanks

It's either the memory or the hard drive. PC world should be banned permanently from selling extended warranties and "knowhow" packages, they are the biggest shower of money grabbing box moving cvnts and know fvck all about computers, and I mean FVCK ALL. if you're not competent to check the HD or memory yourself then take it to a proper technician.

me33

WillyFXP wrote: »

It's either the memory or the hard drive. PC world should be banned permanently from selling extended warranties and "knowhow" packages, they are the biggest shower of money grabbing box moving cvnts and know fvck all about computers, and I mean FVCK ALL. if you're not competent to check the HD or memory yourself then take it to a proper technician.

Thanks Willy FXP for your suggestion, yeeeeesssss I totally agree with you, the guys working at PC World and KNOWHOW have no any F....clue what they are doing. I'll probably, ring them one more time and give them one last chance to fix it, or I'm not sure WTF I'm gonna to do with that peace of ****.I have some footage taken while my computer tried to boot the windows, I might leave it on the computer for KNOWHOW team to look at it, and to see that I'm not joking with this. Otherwise I was suggested at the store to collect as much info as it's possible about my computer's bad work and turn to customer services, to take legal action, I know that this would be the last I would like to do, but I'm not gonna to send it every single month for repair.

yoyo

If the machine is within warranty just bring it back and get it dealt with. A startup repair loop can be caused by a number of reasons. Corrupted Windows (from a incompleted Windows update/machine switched off during update), failing hard disk, bad memory amongst others. You could try doing a complete system format/rebuild which will wipe your data and reload the os. If a bad update caused the issue, this will likely sort it. This would not sort hardware issues

Nick

kc66

As said above, check the RAM. I have seen the exact same symptoms a couple of times before- a dodgy memory module being the cause. Removing/replacing one of them fixed it.

fear corcaigh

Use this to test your hard drive http://download.cnet.com/Data-Lifeguard-Diagnostic-for-Windows/3000-2086_4-10972008.html

Use this to test your memory http://download.cnet.com/Memory-Diagnostic/3000-2094_4-10629429.html?tag=mncol;3

WillyFXP

fear corcaigh wrote: »

Use this to test your hard drive http://download.cnet.com/Data-Lifeguard-Diagnostic-for-Windows/3000-2086_4-10972008.html

Use this to test your memory http://download.cnet.com/Memory-Diagnostic/3000-2094_4-10629429.html?tag=mncol;3

And how is he supposed to use those when his computer wont boot?