Computer help anyone?

[XD in SC]

Hey gang, my HP laptop is about 3 years old. It is running XP and until last Thursday I have had 0 problems from it.

I had an icon(yellow shield w/ 0% in it) in the start panel that said windows updates 0% complete. I clicked it, and it did nothing. I then went to windows update online, and it said there were a few and some .net frame gibberish that was 298m. I allowed all of it except the .net stuff, as I wasn't going to wait for it. It finished the installs, and asked to reboot. I said later and went on with checking emails and my normal sites. (XDTalk, DefCarry, LEO related stuff)

Well one of my emails was from Wiley X. It was the new price list and catalog. I d/l the pdf files and tried to open the price list. Yahoo said the file was ok to d/l.

BLUE SCREEN of death. At first I didn't think much about it since I am running Prevx, and it has caught something and done that before, but that was from Limewire. Normally if Prevx catches it, when it restarts Prevx pops up with a warning and starts to work on clearing out whatever it was.

Well, this time the computer just restarted, and everything seemed to go back to normal. So I start Firefox, and wait to see what happens. It comes up with the restore previous session or start new. I restored and sites started opening like normal.

I didn't think anything was wrong. I went back to the .pdf from Wiley X and it opened right up. I chalked it up to electronic quirk. Well, I tried to open the catalog.pdf from Wiley X, and it started all over again. Blue Screen..... restart no PRevx, this time I tried opening FF and it opened to a new page. Lost all my previously opened sites.

Shortening this story... yes I know it's long..I am trying to avoid too many questions....

I now have an injured hard drive or atleast some window file is missing. If I start the QuickPlay without firing up the computer, it will start the player,and even shows a Windows startup screen, and then I can find all of my music files, and they will play.

I know the hard drive is working. This computer does not use the F10 recovery. I tried and it just comes upto Phoenix BIOS. I reset the date, but no use.

I do not have startup discs for this as I bought it as a Demo unit from BB back in 07. They handed me the laptop and the power cord. That was all. They throw the boxes away, and all accessories apparently. At least that is what I was told by the manager.

Ok so I see some chance of recovering this drive. Or atleast the data from it.

HOW????

I also got a call from a friend yesterday and he described the same scenario, except he only did the Windows Update and a restart. THEN, my GF told me 2 computers at her work (govt) have been rebuilt this week after the same thing happened. Windows Update to death.

BTW, if Ihave to buy a new laptop, or hard drive, my AR15 purchase that was ordered in Aug 2008 will have to be passed over forever. Do I have to tell you all how much that will hurt?

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[highvoltage]

Try restoring from a known good point. In other words, restore the operating system to a date when you know it was working well.

This is from the XP help center on my Dell:

To start the computer using the last known good configuration
1. Print these instructions before continuing. They will not be available after you shut down your computer in step 2.
2. Click Start, click Shut Down, and then, in the drop-down list, click Shut down.
3. In the Shut Down Windows dialog box, click Restart, and then click OK.
4. When you see the message Please select the operating system to start, press F8.
5. Use the arrow keys to highlight Last Known Good Configuration, and then press ENTER.
6. If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot system, choose the installation that you need to access using the arrow keys, and then press ENTER.

Notes:

Choosing Last Known Good Configuration provides a way to recover from problems such as a newly added driver that may be incorrect for your hardware. It does not solve problems caused by corrupted or missing drivers or files.
When you choose Last Known Good Configuration, only the information in registry key HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet is restored. Any changes you have made in other registry keys remain.
NUM LOCK must be off before the arrow keys on the numeric keypad will function.

[alfack]

Good advice from highvoltage.

Does the blue screen say anything that would indicate what the problem is? More often than not, some third party application or device driver is the cause of these blue screens. Less often, it is an actual hardware problem.

Also, when you press F8 to get to the boot loader menu, if "last known good" doesn't work, you might be able to boot into "safe mode" and attempt a system restore from a date earlier than your last update.

Good luck.

[nlax2011]

So it won't boot up into Windows at all now? When you start up does it mention a specific windows file that's missing? Does safe mode work?

[archer51]

With computer running, you should be able to click on Start, then Programs, then Accessories, then System Tools. Find System Restore and open it. Select a date prior to when you started having trouble and run system restore. Be advised, you will loose anything you have downloaded after that date.

[XD in SC]

OK, I have tried all of the re-boot tricks I can think of.
Safe mode
Last known good

Nothing boots up.

When I powerup the laptop now, I get a black screen that says... "sorry for the inconvenience.... unable to open.... try Safe Mode, Safe Mode w/network, Last Known Good...."

Last known good attempts working, but never does anything more than show the white vertical lines/bars. I let that run for hours last night and nothing ever happened.

[morintp]

Normally when you have a blue screen of death, there will be a file listed that is causing problems. I've had success in the past by just reinstalling the program that uses that file rather than restoring to an old restore point.

[XD in SC]

With computer running, you should be able to click on Start, then Programs, then Accessories, then System Tools. Find System Restore and open it. Select a date prior to when you started having trouble and run system restore. Be advised, you will loose anything you have downloaded after that date.

It won't boot windows at all..... can't do this

[XD in SC]

Normally when you have a blue screen of death, there will be a file listed that is causing problems. I've had success in the past by just reinstalling the program that uses that file rather than restoring to an old restore point.

It flashed the BSofD for a split second, not long enough to read anything.

[Chiller2]

Most Computers sold in the last few years don't come with a windows disc they have a partition on the hard drive that will install windows.Check the HP site for your model laptop to see how to access this and restore your windows files.

[XD in SC]

Even if I could find which partition, how would I get it to re-install? According to HP, my HD is dead, must be replaced. They are no help.

I am trying Last Known again from the f8. I can hear the HD being accessed,but all I have is a black screen with the white vertical lines at the bottom.It's been doing this for about 4 minutes now.

[ErikGr7]

I say its a virus or worm.

Do you get a bunch of pop-up screens wanting you to download the latest and greatest anti-virus programs? Don't do it.

I say you got two choices. I would install the recovery cd that came with my computer...reboot it to start from the cd and erase the whole hard drive. It might say its damaged..but thats because a file is damaged..not the hard drive itself. Thats the best way to make sure everthing is right...erase it and start over.

Option two is to google a program called "HiJackthis" Its free and works better than all those expensive programs put together.

Let me know if this helps.

[Daddy Warcrimes]

OK, I'm looking at the following facts:
1. Windows doesn't start
2. You don't have the recovery disks
3. You want your files back.

Here's what I know about HP: they don't have recovery disks that come with the machine. I have an HP that I bought about the same time (maybe a little earlier), their solution is to give you the option to burn your own recover disks. This is all good and fine if you think of this in advance (I did) and your machine will actually burn the DVDs (mine didn't). If you contact HP, they may be able to send you recovery disks for a fee.

My machine boots with an option to start in recovery mode. This shows up before the OS boots. I have never used it, and can't give you any advice there.

Now, If you want your data, don't use the recovery disks. They will completely erase your hard drive and will allow you no other options.

So, with all this knowledge, what I would do is the following (may require nerd assistance):
1. Get access to an external drive, network attached storage, or a whole mess of CDs.
2.
------option a.
Download a live CD Linux distribution, burn to CD, boot with it, and copy your files to the external storage
------option b.
either resize your main partition or (preferably) format your restore partition using Gparted (or similar tool) and install your favorite Linux distro there. From that point, back up your files on your external media.
3. Format your had drive, reinstall XP or OS of your choosing


Potential costs:
CDs hardly anything, and you probably have them lying around anyway
External hard drive, $20-$100 depending on size and brand
Buying the system restore disks from HP, $20-50 (I think)
Buying Windows XP (if you can't get restore disks) $100-$200 if you can find it. Vista will be more (and might not run)
Linux distro (if you can't or don't want to install Windows) free to download in most cases.

[alfack]

Also, you can take out the hard drive, hook it up to an adapter (2 1/2" drive to USB) then plug it into any other computer and save your data.

[XD in SC]

I just waited 6+ hours for Ubuntu to d/l and burn to CD. I shut downthe laptop and inserted the CD. Tried to power up,and it still comes up to the black screen that says "we apologize for the inconvenience.....Safe Mode, Safe Mode with Networking,...."

I checked the boot list andit should boot from the CD drive 1st.

Now what?


I ejected the CD and now have a message on the screen...

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS\system 32\ntoskrnl.exe

Now I have am message that says Wndowscould not start because the following file is missingor corrupt:
<Windows root>\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
Please re-install acopy of the above file