Naked Science Forum
General Discussion & Feedback => Just Chat! => Topic started by: neilep on 28/07/2007 18:24:21
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I have a really serious PC problem. (XP Home Ed)
....I am here using my laptop .My desktop boots up Ok then goes to the WELCOME screen , pauses for a few seconds then I get a black screen, and then it attempts to reboot..There is for a brief moment a blue screen with a whole page of stuff on it but it only displays for a second...pushing ' pause ' does not retain it !..........it then goes through the whole procedure again and again and again !
I can boot up in safe mode fortunately and am in the process of transferring vital files from there to my laptop...fortunately I have backed up vital docs on an external hard drive.
I can't even export my Outlook Express messages in says an error occurred whilst initialing MAPI !!...but I can export the address book !!.....this really really hurts as I have very important email messages...so..I have been forwarding them to myself and receiving them on my laptop...but...is there another way to export the messages ?....there are just too many to keep forwarding to myself !
Is my pC dead ?...is the hard drive corrupted...?..if so..why can I still use it in safe mode ?
Your help/advice is greatly appreciated.
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Without knowing what the blurb is that you get on the screen it's a bit difficult to say what's wrong. However, usually, the error screen will stay there for a while. The fact that the error screen you get disappears quickly & the PC re-boots says to me that there's a corruption in the actual Windows software.
As you can boot in safe mode I'm willing to bet that the error message is along the lines of Access Violation at address XXXX:XXXX followed by a few critical values from certain memory locations or registers.
You may need to re-install your Windows software. Have you been taking regular backups? Actually, forget that. An organised person such as you is bound to have taken appropriate precautions against system failures. (https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fbestsmileys.com%2Fcomputer1%2F10.gif&hash=59b211b6834ac63caa9ed078f4370463)
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Booting in safe mode does not install any drivers so it sounds like a driver problem.
It could be that an automatic update has trashed a driver somewhere, had a similar problem a while ago on a friends computer. I ended up uninstalling a windows auto update and reinstalling the drivers that came on a disk. I think it was a graphic card problem in that case.
Do you use "system restore"? if so restore to an earlier restore point.
Or, you could try repairing XP from the XP disk, this may help.
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm
Hope you get it fixed soon!
Bee
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Thank you both very much.
The text on the blue page is a whole page of stuff and I just can not read it fast enough...however...I may try to photograph it !!...I think I've done it before and I could read it !
All system restores have failed..ie: it reports that it's unable to restore each and any one I choose.
Trying to repair from the XP disc actually reports that there no hard drive !!..and therefore fails to progress....however...as mentioned , I can boot to safe mode !
I am beginning to think it's a little more critical than a software issue...
I did in fact manage to get through to my PC support centre !!....the wise advice I received was......Take out your hard drive ..take it to a store who can recover the data and buy a new hard drive/computer !!
I wonder if I should take this seriously now.....the PC is about three years old (ancient by computer standards)......
.....
Bee...the link you provide was very useful....but as I said...trying to repair it,the pc thinks it's baron ...without disc !!
Oh well......considering the use this pC has had...in that it's been on at least 20 hours a days for the last three years....perhaps it's time to say bye bye to it !!
THANKS again for your help....it's really appreciated.
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I could be a hard disk failure (partial failure causing corruptions).
Run a chkdsk on the disk (after you have got off everything you want).
Recently, I had a similar problem with OE files (not on my machine - I do not use OE), and was offered the following advice (in the end, we decided the main items were not that important).
I will try and give one possible solution, the emails are held in files with the extension .dbx in the following folder (in Win98):
windows / application data / identities / { <<long garbled ID code>> } / microsoft / outlook express
There is a <<long ID code>> for each email address in the "accounts" section.
In the past I have only had success with moving emails by creating a folder in the new Outlook Express with the same name as the old
folder on the old hard drive, exit OE, exit Windows, then use DOS or Fastlynx or similar file transfer program to put the old folder
dbx file in place of the new one (with EXACTLY the same name, only the size should change). Then when you restart Windows and OE
the email contents of the folder will miraculously appear.
I have tried moving all the old dbx files in the place of the new blank ones on installing, but they are not found, so the
folder/index list of OE must be held somewhere else. A sub-folder still has a dbx file, the name is the important thing.
If someone has a better way of doing this I would be VERY grateful (I have 133 email folders....), this is the way I have discovered
to do this, there may be a *much* better way...
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I dont think its the drive as it boots in safe mode!
Do you know how to use the bios?
On most machines you press the Del key on boot to enter it. If you can do that then have a look at the hard drive settings and see if the hard drive is being recognized. If it shows up then its probably a windows thing. Some trojans and malware can cause the hard drive not to show up under windows.
If it don't show, but caution not when switched on! try the cable settings for the hard drive. Give them a small push and reboot!
Good luck.
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I dont think its the drive as it boots in safe mode!
Do you know how to use the bios?
On most machines you press the Del key on boot to enter it. If you can do that then have a look at the hard drive settings and see if the hard drive is being recognized. If it shows up then its probably a windows thing. Some trojans and malware can cause the hard drive not to show up under windows.
If it don't show, but caution not when switched on! try the cable settings for the hard drive. Give them a small push and reboot!
Good luck.
THANK YOU BEE,
I have played around withe bios...the hard disk is there.... and earlier today I did manage to disconnect it....attempt CPR then reconnected it...
To no avail at the moment !!.......*how frustratingly infuriating*....(understatement of the millenium)
At this precise moment I am awaiting for it to boot up....camera at the ready to take a piccy of the blue screen of death !!
THANK YOU BEE ,
Thanks also to George who has also provided valuable incite and also to Paul.Fr for his great suggestion also.
My personal suggestion is akin to Dr Beavers smiley gif in his post above but with the added bonus of SHT (Sledge Hammer Therapy)
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Hmmmmmm...it has automatically run chkdsk and has been stuck at '4% of Verifying File Data (stage 4 of 5) ' ever since I started typing the post before this one !!
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Hmmmmmm...it has automatically run chkdsk and has been stuck at '4% of Verifying File Data (stage 4 of 5) ' ever since I started typing the post before this one !!
stage 4 can take quite some time. patience and virtues spring to mind [;)]
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Yours was doing exactly what mine was doing .about a month and 1/2 ago.. I lost everything and had to get another computer. I have my mother board and old hard drive I need to take to a shop and see if they can save my things. My computer friend said it was motherboard! Part of it burnt stopped working anyway the symptoms were identical to yours!
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Good Luck Neily!
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Well I sure hope you are able to fix it.. Hows it going so far?
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I have persevered trying various routes and options and now it won't even boot into safe mode...so I can not even do that now.....it's dead in the water...
*le ho hum*
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I have a really serious PC problem. (XP Home Ed)
....I am here using my laptop .My desktop boots up Ok then goes to the WELCOME screen , pauses for a few seconds then I get a black screen, and then it attempts to reboot..There is for a brief moment a blue screen with a whole page of stuff on it but it only displays for a second...pushing ' pause ' does not retain it !..........it then goes through the whole procedure again and again and again !
I can boot up in safe mode fortunately and am in the process of transferring vital files from there to my laptop...fortunately I have backed up vital docs on an external hard drive.
I can't even export my Outlook Express messages in says an error occurred whilst initialing MAPI !!...but I can export the address book !!.....this really really hurts as I have very important email messages...so..I have been forwarding them to myself and receiving them on my laptop...but...is there another way to export the messages ?....there are just too many to keep forwarding to myself !
Is my pC dead ?...is the hard drive corrupted...?..if so..why can I still use it in safe mode ?
Your help/advice is greatly appreciated.
Neil we had the same exact problem. Are you useing it right now? I'm guessing now. But we had to get all the stuff of it and I don't remember how, but we did and completly install the WHOLE system.
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Thanks Chum,
I'm just using my laptop now... fortunately I have transferred most of my important files.
Glad you sorted yours out....
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fortunately I have transferred most of my important files
Those are the ones that probably have the virus. HAHA. No its seems that your laptop is still working good. Hey did you use a CD or DVD to transfer or just cords?
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I have persevered trying various routes and options and now it won't even boot into safe mode...so I can not even do that now.....it's dead in the water...
*le ho hum*
That is exactly what I expected would happen soon. There was a clear indication of a progressive failure that was coming to its ultimate end, but had been going on for some time.
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I have persevered trying various routes and options and now it won't even boot into safe mode...so I can not even do that now.....it's dead in the water...
*le ho hum*
That is exactly what mine did! I am so sorry....Take it in and have them save all of your information. Thats about all you can do! So sorry!
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Sorry bout the drive but at least you managed to get data off it.
Bee
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fortunately I have transferred most of my important files
Those are the ones that probably have the virus. HAHA. No its seems that your laptop is still working good. Hey did you use a CD or DVD to transfer or just cords?
Fortunately I did back-up..saved files to an external hard disk, a usb stick and emailed them to an online account...so...I have survived........I just hate having to use a pesky laptop when I have been spoiled with my
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pcworld.idg.com.au%2Fim.php%2Fwidth%2F640%2Fim%2F%25202067_7_AcerFerarriF-20.jpg&hash=fb2bcc97a28796599cd51659414106b3)
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I have persevered trying various routes and options and now it won't even boot into safe mode...so I can not even do that now.....it's dead in the water...
*le ho hum*
That is exactly what mine did! I am so sorry....Take it in and have them save all of your information. Thats about all you can do! So sorry!
I will try.....thanks for your sympathetic woes !
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Sorry bout the drive but at least you managed to get data off it.
Bee
THANK YOU BEE....I very much appreciate your kind assistance....it was in fact very helpful.
Thanks to EVERYBODY !!
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Were you able to save everything you needed? I do know how to back things up but I have a zip drive I haven't really learned how to store the information on the thing yet! I should learn..I still have to take my harddrive to the shop and get them to save all my Documents etc. making sure they don't have a virus!
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fortunately I have transferred most of my important files
Those are the ones that probably have the virus. HAHA. No its seems that your laptop is still working good. Hey did you use a CD or DVD to transfer or just cords?
Fortunately I did back-up..saved files to an external hard disk, a usb stick and emailed them to an online account...so...I have survived........I just hate having to use a pesky laptop when I have been spoiled with my
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pcworld.idg.com.au%2Fim.php%2Fwidth%2F640%2Fim%2F%25202067_7_AcerFerarriF-20.jpg&hash=fb2bcc97a28796599cd51659414106b3)
Oh I was wondering because I heard viruses can't live on CD's..And if you did not do that you might have the same problem with your Laptop soon. But it seems like you did good!
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Fortunately I did back-up..saved files to an external hard disk, a usb stick and emailed them to an online account...so...I have survived........I just hate having to use a pesky laptop when I have been spoiled with my
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pcworld.idg.com.au%2Fim.php%2Fwidth%2F640%2Fim%2F%25202067_7_AcerFerarriF-20.jpg&hash=fb2bcc97a28796599cd51659414106b3)
You may be able to plug your desktop VDU and keyboard into your laptop.
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Oh I was wondering because I heard viruses can't live on CD's..And if you did not do that you might have the same problem with your Laptop soon. But it seems like you did good!
I am pretty certain (at least 99.9%) we are not talking about a virus problem - this is a real hardware problem, involving possibly the PSU and motherboard, but ultimately causing a disk failure because of the erratic power supply.
But there is no reason why malicious code (viruses, or whatever) cannot be copied to a CD, if you have written other executable programs (and these days, that can include word and excel documents, since the can contain macros) to the CD.
What is true is that a CD in read only mode cannot have malicious code written to it; but once you start writing to something, you can transfer malicious code to it.
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It does sound like a mother board problem like mine was.
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fortunately I have transferred most of my important files
Those are the ones that probably have the virus. HAHA. No its seems that your laptop is still working good. Hey did you use a CD or DVD to transfer or just cords?
Fortunately I did back-up..saved files to an external hard disk, a usb stick and emailed them to an online account...so...I have survived........I just hate having to use a pesky laptop when I have been spoiled with my
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pcworld.idg.com.au%2Fim.php%2Fwidth%2F640%2Fim%2F%25202067_7_AcerFerarriF-20.jpg&hash=fb2bcc97a28796599cd51659414106b3)
OOOOWEE Neily nice Monitor!..
George good idea about hooking up the keyboard and things to the monitor!
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George..thanks for the suggestion about connecting the laptop to the monitor...I had considered it....and rejected it as (being he spoiled brat that I am) I was enjoying DVI/HDMI picture perfection and there's no way this lap top will be able to come close to that....besides...I am , in a kind of way, enjoying the 'all in one ' aspect of this laptop.
Thanks Though.
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Its no virus? Cuz we had that SAME problem and all we had to do was unstilall the OS and reinstall it. We also had the motherboard go crazy. That was a long time ago. So I can't remember what happened there. :(.
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Hey Neil.. How is going with the computer...have you taken it in or decided to scrap it? Hope all is well!
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Computer trouble i got connections for that. [8D]
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Computer trouble i got connections for that. [8D]
Who would that be Ben?
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Don't make funna me!
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No answer the question. Who would that be. Your "connections".
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I feel its nothing serious that a reformat and reinstall wont fix probably just a bad sector where a few files had become corrupt but if in the future you were to get the same problem boot into safe mode, put your windows CD in the drive ,go to the run command accessed from the start menu and type in SFC /scannow and let windows reinstall all the important stuff.
You can also get the PC to load from the last configuration which worked, this gets round many problems with starting
Also everyone should run chkdsk everynow and again to check for potential data corruption problems and at the same time run a surface scan /preventative measures
Everynow and again everyone should also do a visual check to see if all the fans especially the one on the CPU is turning, I've had to change more fans on friends PC's than any other piece of hardware.
If that don't work boot again in safe mode go into device mananger and and uninstall your video and sound card drivers then restart
As it had intially booted into safe mode i doubt it was anything serious but Now you have transfered everything you need do a reformat and a simple reload and see how it runs.
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I think his laptop might have fried too. :( because he hasn't been on in a LONG time. No one has :(
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I have been having trouble with this same problem this morning.. the page starts to load and then stops, just like Neil described, I refreshed and it seems better now!
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Karen..Wrong thead. LoL, but its OK. LoL.
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Karen..Wrong thead. LoL, but its OK. LoL.
Oh Know I think you are right! LOL i thought I was in that thread whoops!
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HAHAHAHA!!
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LOL...Good thing your here to remind me..LOL! New tag under your name!
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I only remind people when it I who don't need reminded. LoL. And what do you mean "New Tag"
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Oh you removed it! LOL where did your red writing go!
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Oh you removed it! LOL where did your red writing go!
I removed it? I had red writting? Must be a glitch. LoL.
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Oh you removed it! LOL where did your red writing go!
I removed it? I had red writing? Must be a glitch. LoL.
Must be, I cannot remember what it said! LOL!
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Jezze Karen!
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Jezze Ryan! LOL
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JEZZE PEOPLE , [;)] [;D]
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LOL..
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what does jezze mean?
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Like Gee Whiz instead of GEEZE Ryan said JEEZE like "Jeeze Louise" LOL!
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Haha yeah I"misorry I use Jezze.LOL.