Windows failed to start.

X

Xipetotec

Hello,

Today I have had the unfortunate luck of running into this much hated error
message at computer start up; "Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or
software change might be the cause." This happened after my computer crashed
big time. I'm talking about the type of crash where the only thing you can
do is physically unplug the machine's power supply from the wall and plug it
back into restart it. I have tried pretty much every option given at the
error screen, Start in Safe Mode, Start in Safe Mode with Networking, Start
in Safe Mode with Command Prompt, Restart using your latest settings that
worked, Start Windows normally. Nothing works. The last two choices,
Restart using your latest settings that worked and Start Windows normally try
and boot the OS and get to the XP loading screen but instead of initializing
the OS the screen goes black for a second and then starts booting from
scratch, eventually returning to the error screen. The first three options
show a listing of files but do not actually start in any of the modes after
the files are listed off the screen goes black for a second just like for the
last two choices and the system boots again returning to the error screen.
After trying all of these options I went into Bios to make sure that my PC
was trying to load of off its internal drive and not my external because it
has tried to do that before after crashing while running programs off of my
external. The Boot menu confirmed my fear that, yes my PC was booting off of
its internal drive.


I have searched the internet for about an hour and pretty much everything I
found on this matter was for systems running Vista, which would advise the
owners to use the Vista Startup Repair. However, that is not an option for
me as my computer is running Windows XP. I only have the options listed in
the first paragraph, none of which are a Startup Repair. I also do not have
access to a installation disc and if I did it would do me no good because my
cd-drive is dead. :(

My PC is a four year old Gateway machine of the series 5310 running Windows
XP with service pack 3. I have had minor problems with this machine in the
past but nothing like this and I can't really complain because it lasted me
through college. But now I am attending graduate school so I ask you, please
help me, starting graduate school without a working computer will be a
nightmare. At this point the only thing that I could think of is that my
internal hard-drive has died. But that usually is obvious because it makes
noise if something is up with the disk. Nothing sounds wrong with my system
and so I ask humbly for your help.
 
M

Mark Adams

Xipetotec said:
Hello,

Today I have had the unfortunate luck of running into this much hated error
message at computer start up; "Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or
software change might be the cause." This happened after my computer crashed
big time. I'm talking about the type of crash where the only thing you can
do is physically unplug the machine's power supply from the wall and plug it
back into restart it. I have tried pretty much every option given at the
error screen, Start in Safe Mode, Start in Safe Mode with Networking, Start
in Safe Mode with Command Prompt, Restart using your latest settings that
worked, Start Windows normally. Nothing works. The last two choices,
Restart using your latest settings that worked and Start Windows normally try
and boot the OS and get to the XP loading screen but instead of initializing
the OS the screen goes black for a second and then starts booting from
scratch, eventually returning to the error screen. The first three options
show a listing of files but do not actually start in any of the modes after
the files are listed off the screen goes black for a second just like for the
last two choices and the system boots again returning to the error screen.
After trying all of these options I went into Bios to make sure that my PC
was trying to load of off its internal drive and not my external because it
has tried to do that before after crashing while running programs off of my
external. The Boot menu confirmed my fear that, yes my PC was booting off of
its internal drive.


I have searched the internet for about an hour and pretty much everything I
found on this matter was for systems running Vista, which would advise the
owners to use the Vista Startup Repair. However, that is not an option for
me as my computer is running Windows XP. I only have the options listed in
the first paragraph, none of which are a Startup Repair. I also do not have
access to a installation disc and if I did it would do me no good because my
cd-drive is dead. :(

My PC is a four year old Gateway machine of the series 5310 running Windows
XP with service pack 3. I have had minor problems with this machine in the
past but nothing like this and I can't really complain because it lasted me
through college. But now I am attending graduate school so I ask you, please
help me, starting graduate school without a working computer will be a
nightmare. At this point the only thing that I could think of is that my
internal hard-drive has died. But that usually is obvious because it makes
noise if something is up with the disk. Nothing sounds wrong with my system
and so I ask humbly for your help.

Sounds like you are having a lot of problems with this machine, and you are
going to need a CD/DVD drive to save your data, diagnose, and repair your
machine. Buy a new drive, and since you have an external drive already, you
no doubt are using backup software to save an image of your install. Just use
the software's boot disk to restore an image to your hard drive, and you'll
be up and running in about a half hour.

If you don't have the backup software and images; well, be prepared for days
of recovering your data and reinstalling everything from scratch. You might
be done before classes begin.
 
D

Daave

Xipetotec said:
Hello,

Today I have had the unfortunate luck of running into this much hated
error message at computer start up; "Windows failed to start. A
recent hardware or software change might be the cause." This
happened after my computer crashed big time. I'm talking about the
type of crash where the only thing you can do is physically unplug
the machine's power supply from the wall and plug it back into
restart it. I have tried pretty much every option given at the error
screen, Start in Safe Mode, Start in Safe Mode with Networking, Start
in Safe Mode with Command Prompt, Restart using your latest settings
that worked, Start Windows normally. Nothing works. The last two
choices, Restart using your latest settings that worked and Start
Windows normally try and boot the OS and get to the XP loading screen
but instead of initializing the OS the screen goes black for a second
and then starts booting from scratch, eventually returning to the
error screen. The first three options show a listing of files but do
not actually start in any of the modes after the files are listed off
the screen goes black for a second just like for the last two choices
and the system boots again returning to the error screen. After
trying all of these options I went into Bios to make sure that my PC
was trying to load of off its internal drive and not my external
because it has tried to do that before after crashing while running
programs off of my external. The Boot menu confirmed my fear that,
yes my PC was booting off of its internal drive.


I have searched the internet for about an hour and pretty much
everything I found on this matter was for systems running Vista,
which would advise the owners to use the Vista Startup Repair.
However, that is not an option for me as my computer is running
Windows XP. I only have the options listed in the first paragraph,
none of which are a Startup Repair. I also do not have access to a
installation disc and if I did it would do me no good because my
cd-drive is dead. :(

My PC is a four year old Gateway machine of the series 5310 running
Windows XP with service pack 3. I have had minor problems with this
machine in the past but nothing like this and I can't really complain
because it lasted me through college. But now I am attending
graduate school so I ask you, please help me, starting graduate
school without a working computer will be a nightmare. At this point
the only thing that I could think of is that my internal hard-drive
has died. But that usually is obvious because it makes noise if
something is up with the disk. Nothing sounds wrong with my system
and so I ask humbly for your help.

Without a CD drive *and* an installation CD, you are in bad shape!

Assuming this is a desktop and you can use the same peripherals, a
slightly used PC from a reputable dealer with limited warranty might
make the most sense (unless you want to purchase a new one).

Otherwise, you will need to purchase a new CD drive and install it. Boot
off a live Linux distro like Knoppix or Ubuntu to determine if your
problem is hardware-related or not. If booting off the Linux CD works,
then you have a software problem and the method listed here *might*
work:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545

Since you do not have an XP installation CD, you may create your own
rescue CD that has the Recovery Console:

http://tips.vlaurie.com/2006/05/23/recovery-console-for-those-without-an-xp-disk/

Then again, it might be more prudent (assuming you have backed up *all*
your data, including e-mails and IE Favorites) to use Gateway's method
for returning your PC to its original brand-new condition. Check your
documentation. Or go to their Web site for instructions. It might
involve using a keyboard combination as soon as you boot up to access a
hidden recovery partition on the hard drive. Or might you have a Gateway
recovery CD?
 

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