Windows XP won't start

  • Thread starter Thread starter Carol
  • Start date Start date
C

Carol

My son just returned to Gainesville for school. Turned on
computer and got nothing but lines across. Not able to do
anything, Is he infected or is this a Windows XP problem?
Says critical files missing, system 32. He went to
Micro.com and was scanning for updates. Came up with
nothing from them to download. Is it possible patches were
automatically downloaded? Also how do you go about
starting in Safe mode. Thanks for your help.
 
Carol said:
My son just returned to Gainesville for school. Turned on
computer and got nothing but lines across. Not able to do
anything, Is he infected or is this a Windows XP problem?
Says critical files missing, system 32. He went to
Micro.com and was scanning for updates. Came up with
nothing from them to download. Is it possible patches were
automatically downloaded? Also how do you go about
starting in Safe mode. Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...

MIght be a virus, but only if you people don't use antivirus software to
protect that PC.
Might be a hacker, but only if you people don't use a decent firewall.
Might be microsoft's lack of intelligent programming in their operating
system: this is more likely since the system was off.
What is micro.com? Uh, I recommend only installing updates from
windowsupdate.
No, if the machine was off, or not in use, it's not likely that patches
were automatically installed.
To start it in safe mode, I believe the button is F2 or F8 as soon as the
windows screen comes up, but if you're not getting that screen then you
cannot do that.
 
F8 will get you to the boot menu so you can choose to boot into Safe Mode
but if the system files are missing then the machine won't start in any
mode. If your son traveled with the PC or moved it around, there is a
possibility that the IDE wires inside the PC are loose and that's what's
making the files inaccessible. Otherwise, that's usually of a dying hard
disk. ...of course, it could be a virus too - the possibilities are endless
here.
 
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