need computer assistance

kviper_ns3 · Post by **kviper_ns3** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 2:24 pm

ok for all of you who havent looked on the HA forum here is the deal

a couple of days ago my mother called my cousin to look at our ocmputer to help her figure out how to allow her to check her email... Well what happened after he couldent fix it was that he ran a anti virus progrom that seemed to erase some of the windows file

so when ever i try to start it up what actually happeneds is that it goes to the screen that says windows is starting up and then goes into a black screen....

Now i have done pretty much everything that people have suggested but since this is help and support i thought that i could perhapes get new suggestions...

So far i have tried reinstalling windows however when ever i start redownloading windows an error comes up that says thiers an error that thier is a corrupted file and it forces me to restart the computer

So i have checked trying to reinstall windows

the next thing that i tried was to put the computer in safe mode and when doing this it seems to be loading everything as usual but then a blue screen apprears that says the program has been terminated...

Then i went to try and set it on the last known good configuration and this does the saemthing as it does when i try and start up the computer normaly.

So these are all of the thigns i have tried some one made a suggestion that i run the computer in safe mode and then reformat the computer but i dont know exactly how to do this....

Every suggestion will help.....

would removing the hardrive and then putting it back into place have any effect on the computer. Cause i know that when my cell phone goes into a dark screen that only thing i have to do is to remove the battery and put it back in and it works...Just a wild thought but i really want this machine to start working again...

mainly cause i want to level my AA and my DD before next week cause im going on vactation

thank yall and god bless

~CN~ETH0S_ns3 · Post by **~CN~ETH0S_ns3** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 3:36 pm

Ok, heres a shot. There is a program (I think it is called Partition Majic) that you can use. This program will generally run from a usb key, or the cd-rom drive. Hopefully you have the 'bios' settings on your system set up in such a way, to have your computer check the cd-rom drive first for operating parameters.

The bios is that flashy stuff that goes by really really fast before you see that quad-color gates-ware icon. (sorry, stabbin at gates). The bios is what turns your computer from a 15lb paperweight into an object that was designed to only run Neversummer. I mean, NWN.

. In any case.

If you have your bios configured to boot from CD-Rom first, it will look there for instructions. If it finds Partition Majic, it will run that first without trying to start windows. You can then, completely delete all the partitions on your hard-drive. This will kill, destroy, and supposedly delete anything on it. (Some Linux installations won't listen, and keep themselves on some of the cylinders)

Then you can put the Windows Install CD back in and start up from there. XP will generally repartition the un-partitioned space, and you should be good.

If you do not have the bios/cmos properly configured to boot from cd-rom first, then you will have to edit this. All computers are different, but when you see that 'flashy-stuff' before your OS boots, hit "ESC" or "DELETE", I believe on Dell systems its "F3" and you will be immediately pushed to the bios/cmos settings. From here navigate your way to the 'Boot Sequence' area, and select (usually done with 'page-up' or 'page-down' keys) the option that says 'CD-ROM, Hardrive, A:'. Then save the settings, put in Partition Majic or other disk partitioning programs (Disk Druid for Linux users) and restart your computer.

Now, if you cannot get into your bios/cmos settings because there is a password on it, and you do not know the password, try leaving the password blank the first time around and hit 'enter'. If this doesn't work, ,then you will have to 'flash' the bios. But this works only sometimes. Let me know if it gets that bad, and I'll try to come up with something for you.

Let me know if this helps.

kviper_ns3 · Post by **kviper_ns3** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 5:46 pm

how do i get that program....?

~CN~ETH0S_ns3 · Post by **~CN~ETH0S_ns3** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 6:41 pm

Ok, before i give you the link I want to give my super-disclaimer. I do not take reponsibility for anything you do to your cmos or bios. The thing is that if you get in there and turn something off, or turn something on, or look at it with a smirk, your system could get worse than it is now. While booting to the cmos is easy, making changes in there write those instructions to a copper-coated hunk of metal and its PERMANENT. well, for the most part.

You could easily run a good search for "run a disk partitioner from cd-rom"
You will come up with a lot of hits, but it will be your decision. Here is one I found from just such a search. I don't know the company, i dont know the people, i dont know the product. This is only what the search brought up.
http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

Now, for the good part. I am not, NOT a certified computer technician. I have learned alot cause I myself have alot of computer problems. Taking my advice is like taking a baby seal to a Loisville Slugger convention. (that was bad!) That is to say if you take my advice, which isnt really advice at all, your computer system could spiral uncontroallably till it hits the brimstone covered floor of the ninth circle of hell. You may have to buy a new computer.

If you still wish to go with my advice, run the google search yourself, weigh the competitors but remember this YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. If the program is FREE?! you must stop and ask yourself 'Why?'.

gandulg_ns3 · Post by **gandulg_ns3** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 6:33 am

have you tried to load windows from the disk? To do this you need to enter your bios settings as you beggin loading up. Then select the boot line. change it to cd from floppy as your primery. Exit that screen then save and exit BIOS..... insert windows switch of your PC and switch it back on again. This should load windows (slowly) from there you can format the HD...

PS i dont mean to offend you if you already know how to do the hole BIOS steps but it is somthing that i have just learnt my self

GOOD LUCK

gandulg_ns3 · Post by **gandulg_ns3** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 6:49 am

another idea that you may want to try is to remove the HD conect another load up reconect the origanal and format the origanal by going to control pannel, admin tools, computer management, disk management, right click on the desiered HD and select format.

as per Ethos
I do not take reponsibility for anything you do to your cmos or bios
and i am not a PC/software technictian ( i just like to tinker)

~CN~ETH0S_ns3 · Post by **~CN~ETH0S_ns3** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 9:55 am

1. In his first post he mentioned trying to re-install Windows, from this I am assuming his computer is already trying to boot from the CD-ROM.

So far i have tried reinstalling windows however when ever i start redownloading windows an error comes up that says thiers an error that thier is a corrupted file and it forces me to restart the computer

2. If you read my post you would have seen that I covered,
<ol>
<li>Changing the BIOS/CMOS settings</li>
<li>Repartioning the Hardrive</li>
</ol>

If you do not have the bios/cmos properly configured to boot from cd-rom first, then you will have to edit this. All computers are different, but when you see that 'flashy-stuff' before your OS boots, hit "ESC" or "DELETE", I believe on Dell systems its "F3" and you will be immediately pushed to the bios/cmos settings. From here navigate your way to the 'Boot Sequence' area, and select (usually done with 'page-up' or 'page-down' keys) the option that says 'CD-ROM, Hardrive, A:'. Then save the settings, put in Partition Majic or other disk partitioning programs (Disk Druid for Linux users) and restart your computer.

Not trying to be stupid, but did you read the entire thread Gandulg? I know I write alot, and what I am thinking is that I bored you with all my text and you quit reading.

I'll try to keep it a little more concise next time.

Charon_ns3 · Post by **Charon_ns3** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 11:55 am

Just so kviper is clear, if he uses any kind of program to delete partitions and reinstall Windows, he'll be starting from scratch...like you just unwrapped your PC straight from the manufacturer. I don't mean to insult, but a surprising number of people don't realize this (I had a couple of summer jobs repairing PCs) and are very upset when it happens.

Your best solution (and one that I've used several times in the past) is to buy a new $30 harddrive and load Windows on that. Then connect your old hdd as a slave and 95% of the time, you can pull important information off of it. In your case it sounds like the old hdd is fine and that the OS is just messed up.

Another option is to use a program like Gnoppix that will load an OS in memory and mount your hdd. You can then plug in a USB key (or whatever) and get the files you need that way. However, this requires some knowledge of unix, so it might be worth the $30 to buy the new hdd to save you that grief.

If you're sure there's nothing you need to recover, then you can just change the bios settings like the other people have said to boot from CD-ROM and load Windows that way. It might even give you the option to try and repair your OS install, but this doesn't always work. Worst case scenario is you use the Windows CD to format the drive and start over.

*edit* I see that you've tried to reinstall Windows already (I re-read the post). Did you go through the whole process to format the drive with the Windows installer? If you did and you're still getting errors on the install, you may have a bum CD... *edit*

FYI, there are many places with better information on this subject than the NS Forums...a quick google search will give you what you're looking for...and then some...

DM FORSAKEN_ns3 · Post by **DM FORSAKEN_ns3** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 1:05 pm

Charon wrote:FYI, there are many places with better information on this subject than the NS Forums...a quick google search will give you what you're looking for...and then some...

Charon!!! but.... but.....

better than NS Forums?

:shock:

NS FORUMS RULE ALL!!!
lol

Charon_ns3 · Post by **Charon_ns3** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 1:41 pm

Sorry, I completely forgot that we have an all-knowing expert around here somewhere. I won't let it happen again!