oh no...help!!!!

encore1

can anyone help me?!

I have an Asus f5r laptop, its about 3 years old but has been working perfectly until today, I went to open an album on it, the album wouldn't open and then I couldn't access anything at all on it, like, the cursor wouldnt even move so after trying ctrl +alt+del and nothing happening, I waited about 10 mins and then I switched it off at the power switch...
turned it back on and now it just wont boot - it gives me a message saying

"we apologize for the inconvenience but Windows did not start successfully.recent hardware or software changes may have caused this.

if your computer stopped responding, restarted unexpectedly, or was automaticcaly shut down to protect your files and folders, choose Last Good Configuration to revert to the most recent settings that worked.

If a previous start up attempt was interrupted due to a power failure, or the power or reset button was pressed, or if you arent sure what caused this problem, choose Start Windows Normally.

Safe Mode
Safe mode with networking
safe mode with command prompt
last know configuration

start windows normally"



I tried the Last know Config option and it restarted but brought me back to the same screen...so i tried them all and the same thing...

I don't have the reboot CD cos it was orginally Vista and then a friend converted it to Windows XP. does anyone have any idea what happened - and more importantly, what I can do to fix it?

thanks in advance

biko

Did you try starting it again, this time in Safe Mode (will start with minimal amount of drivers)?

encore1

hiya,

yeah, i tried all of the options, but it just restarts and brings me back into the same screen...

before it restarts though, a blue screen with white writing flashes for a split second, but it's too fast for me to see anything on it...

biko

It seems there is indeed some critical issue.
I suggest first running a memory test to check the RAM.
You can burn it onto a CD and insert it into the faulty PC.
http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic62524.html

Note that this test will take a long time so let it run overnight.

encore1

ok, have it running there now, thanks a million for your help

ricman

if you had a windows cd, you could boot from cd, choose setup, and try r recovery option,http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307654#howtouserc
you may need to go to bios,set boot option=cd=1st boot device ,cd=0
no safe mode usually means the boot files,or registry files are damaged,probably by a virus on the drive.

encore1

ok, so i ran the memtest for 23 hours and ther were 0 errors...any idea where to go from here?

I didn't try the windows disc as I haven't got one...

ricman

if you get a windows cd disk ,you could just reinstall windows xp,if the hardrive has at least 3gig space free, your old documents will still be there.
You could install,mint ,linux on it from a cdr. or use a mint livecd to backup,acess your data, it runs from cd,fits on 1cdr disk.
see here http://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=67,
see here http://www.computing.net/answers/dos/how-do-u-backup-and-restore-the-registry-files/3568.html
its possible to restore ,fix the registry boot files from dos prompt, mode,
see bootdisk.com for windows boot cds, which allow you to acess dos mode.

ElectricGirl

If you cannot get a Windows CD then maybe try downloading a free Windows (whatever os you have) recovery disk, burn to cd and try a restore that way?

smokiebeverage

From your symptoms you describe it could possibly a thermal issue when the processor is under stress or some corruption has happened on the HDD on a system file. If its a CPU thermal issue it should be easy to test with a strees test CD (this is fairly common with that series of Asus laptops). If its a HDD issue you should really recover your data before you put the drive under any more major stress like a reinstall.

ricman

You could run unix on it thru a livecd ,eg mint ,fits on 1cdr, it has firefox,vlc, dvdburner etc runs from the cd,or use install to disk option.
see www.linuxmint.com download 32 bit cd version.
if you get a vista cd use the key on the laptop,label, near battery cover, to install it,ll need to be same as label, eg vista pro,vista home , whatever was on the laptop before xp was installed.