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MOTH
Wild Woman
Registered: 06/06/03
Posts: 23,431
Loc: In the jungle
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I desperately need help with my computer
#2941924 - 07/29/04 07:15 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
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My husbands computer is freaking out. (it's a Toshiba laptop) Whenever we try to turn it on, it just goes through the windows start up screen and then looks blank and then restarts itself, over and over again. No matter what we do, it will not pull up Windows.
Any advice? We both have material on there that we need to retrieve. We're kinda worried...
What is going on???
truly,
*me*
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vampirism
Stranger
Registered: 03/14/04
Posts: 8,120
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Re: I desperately need help with my computer [Re: MOTH]
#2941943 - 07/29/04 07:18 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
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It sounds like a virus to me that boots at startup
Have you tried loading in Safe mode?
If that doesn't work, you may have to re-install windows...
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MOTH
Wild Woman
Registered: 06/06/03
Posts: 23,431
Loc: In the jungle
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Re: I desperately need help with my computer [Re: vampirism]
#2942006 - 07/29/04 07:36 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
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It won't pull up a screen to load in safemode...not even the reboot disc inserted will pull up a screen.
AGHH!
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Le_Canard
The Duk Abides
Registered: 05/16/03
Posts: 94,392
Loc: Earthfarm 1
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Re: I desperately need help with my computer [Re: MOTH]
#2942662 - 07/29/04 11:24 PM (19 years, 7 months ago) |
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Are you running win '98? Try holding down the Ctrl key when re-booting. That should bring up the boot menu for safe mode. Try here and here for help in solving this problem. Hope that helps!
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Worf
Lt. Commander
Registered: 07/04/04
Posts: 15,663
Loc: Final Frontier
Last seen: 11 years, 1 month
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Re: I desperately need help with my computer [Re: MOTH]
#2942678 - 07/29/04 11:28 PM (19 years, 7 months ago) |
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Press f8 on bootup and you'll get the windows advance options menu. Try safe mode, if that doesn't work then do it again and try last known good configuration. If you can get into safe mode use system restore (answer no to the question it will ask you) and restore to an earlier time.
If that doesn't work you may just need to get an external enclosure and take your HDD out to backup your data.
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fredthetree
Stranger
Registered: 09/29/02
Posts: 473
Loc: Canada
Last seen: 18 years, 7 months
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Re: I desperately need help with my computer [Re: MOTH]
#2948867 - 07/31/04 02:01 PM (19 years, 7 months ago) |
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any luck with safe mode?
i'm not sure why windows is doing that; could be hardware, could be a virus, who knows. i'd suggest downloading a knoppix live-cd (it's a complete operating system & desktop environment that runs off a cd... http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html -- burn it, put it in the drive, reboot)
if it starts fine then we at least know it's just a problem with your windows setup..
the knoppix cd won't touch your harddisk filesystems unless you ask it to. if your system is b0rked, you could use the knoppix cd to retrieve your data...
there's a /lot/ of unknown variables at the moment..
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baraka
Registered: 07/15/00
Posts: 10,768
Loc: hyperspace
Last seen: 2 years, 2 months
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Re: I desperately need help with my computer [Re: MOTH]
#2953990 - 08/01/04 10:02 PM (19 years, 7 months ago) |
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My friend had a desktop machine that was doing this. I figured it was a virus and helped him save data then reinstall..
If you must boot off the xp cd then reinstall.
-------------------- This is the only time I really feel alive.
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MOTH
Wild Woman
Registered: 06/06/03
Posts: 23,431
Loc: In the jungle
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Re: I desperately need help with my computer [Re: baraka]
#2959101 - 08/03/04 04:58 AM (19 years, 7 months ago) |
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Thanks guys...we actually ended up calling Toshiba and asking them and they said that we need to take it to a professional who will look it over and access it for us. Who knows how much that will cost, but it's worth it.
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Phluck
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 04/10/99
Posts: 11,394
Loc: Canada
Last seen: 5 months, 5 days
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Re: I desperately need help with my computer [Re: MOTH]
#2962917 - 08/04/04 01:48 AM (19 years, 7 months ago) |
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Before taking it to a professional, there are lots of other things you could try. The professional will probably just reinstall Windows and then charge you too much. If you really can't boot from a CD or floppy, then it might be worth taking to a tech, but if you're able to access the BIOS or boot from a floppy, it's nothing that you can't fix yourself without much effort. I work in tech support, telling the customer to take their computer to a technician is just an easy way to get them off the phone.
-------------------- "I have no valid complaint against hustlers. No rational bitch. But the act of selling is repulsive to me. I harbor a secret urge to whack a salesman in the face, crack his teeth and put red bumps around his eyes." -Hunter S Thompson http://phluck.is-after.us
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astralasia
UK_shroomhead
Registered: 07/17/04
Posts: 119
Loc: UK
Last seen: 17 years, 2 months
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Re: I desperately need help with my computer [Re: Phluck]
#2966917 - 08/05/04 05:14 AM (19 years, 7 months ago) |
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It sounds to me like you have the Blaster virus. Are you running xp and getting a error message saying the computer will shut down in 30 seconds? If so you have the Blaster, you can download the patch from Microsoft.
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