Windows won't start in any mode

[bkerea66]

I was sitting here at my computer and I could hear something going on inside
the unit..like something cycling on and off. It had been running very slow
for a day or so. I decided to restart the computer. It wouldn't restart so
I turned it off and tried to start it again. At this point I received the
message that Windows did not start successfully and giving me the option to
start in Safe Mode, Last Know config, etc. I've tried them all and Windows
won't start up. I've tried putting my Windows XP installation CD in the
drive during startup but the computer doesn't respond to the CD being in the
drive. The knowledge base is no help and only alludes to configuring your
system so it can boot from CD. Can anyone help????

 

[GreenieLeBrun]

I was sitting here at my computer and I could hear something going on
inside the unit..like something cycling on and off. It had been
running very slow for a day or so. I decided to restart the
computer. It wouldn't restart so I turned it off and tried to start
it again. At this point I received the message that Windows did not
start successfully and giving me the option to start in Safe Mode,
Last Know config, etc. I've tried them all and Windows won't start
up. I've tried putting my Windows XP installation CD in the drive
during startup but the computer doesn't respond to the CD being in
the drive. The knowledge base is no help and only alludes to
configuring your system so it can boot from CD. Can anyone help????

Have you gone into the BIOS and set the CD as the first boot device?

 

[DL]

If you are hearing such sounds then some internal hardware has failed.
How you proceed depends on your capabilities.

 

[talk12]

The same thing happened to me last noght 8/11/08. Did you find out the
solution? Please help.

 

[talk12]

The same thing happened to me. How do you go into BIOS and if I put in the
CD will I lose my files? Please help.

 

[talk12]

I had the same thing happen to me. I know a little about computers. What
should I do? Please help.

 

[Olórin]

The same thing happened to me. How do you go into BIOS and if I put in
the
CD will I lose my files? Please help.

To get into the BIOS: check your computer's handbook, or just watch as it
starts up for a message like "F2 = Setup" or "Press DEL to enter Setup".
Pressing a certain key soon enough will get you in. What did you plan on
doing in the BIOS? If it was checking the CD drive was earlier in the boot
order than the hard disk, then what?

"If I put in the CD will I lose my files?" - no, not by just inserting an XP
installation CD. However, if you put it in, restart and it boots to the CD
instead of to Windows, and you tell it to go ahead and delete a partition or
install Windows then yes, you will lose your files. That aside, you need to
be in a position *anyway* where it wouldn't matter if something *did* happen
to your files, because you've been taking backups of them as regularly as
necessary. So that, while it might be a nuisance and cost you time if your
computer totally failed, at least you wouldn't have lost your valuable data.

Have you tried going into Safe Mode? What happens if you do?

As DL said, "How you proceed depends on your capabilities." No offence, but
it sounds to me from your flurry of posts that you would really struggle
trying to fix this yourself and that you might be better off getting a
knowledgeable friend to take a look at your computer if that's at all an
option open to you, or maybe taking it into a reputable shop. I think your
"I know a little about computers" statement in your following post was maybe
optimistic to the tune of the word "a". But we all started somewhere, so if
you want to roll up your sleeves and hit the learning curve, please prove me
wrong!

 

[Xandros]

It is impossible to accurate diagnose the problem with such limited
information. However the problem sounds hardware related given the few
symptoms you mention. It is possible that the power supply is the problem.
I'd suggest you take the system to a qualified repair service.