Help with dead computer ??

Question

My comp is 4yrs old but has never given any probs until now. Few days ago it shut itself down and failed to restart properly.

All i get now is a loop of> Try's to start then black menu pops up saying, Restart , Safemode , last known good etc.

None of these options work and so it restarts again to the same black screen. I cannot get into it to do anything to it, its sooo anoying !!

I tryed to do a full system reboot ( back to factory settings) as given up hope of saving anything , and even that

failed. My main concern is that the windows xp is built in and so don't have a installation disc to work with, nada.

I have pressed all the f buttons to get it to do sumthing but to no avial.

Any help is appriciated, all idea's welcome, can't kill whats already dead !!

I'm sat at my partners laptop , Not Happy.

Answer 1

Had The Same problem with mine it's proberly either your processer or your hard drive packed up sorry.

Answer 2

You could try some of the diagnostic tools on ubcd:

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/download.h...

theres also lots of linux distributions that you can put on a pendrive/usb device and use to troubleshoot or at least rescue your important data from the harddrive.

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/

On a hardware level as well as what has been suggested in other replys, i would suggest testing the ram, if you have more than1 stick take them out and try them one at a time to see if one is failing.

Answer 3

Well... I think you have a problem.

I'd suggest a backup using a Linux Live CD (you can try Ubuntu, which is pretty intuitive) and backup all your stuff to a DVD or CD media.

Then get a Windows CD and reinstall it. There are a few ways to do it, and you can try to repair the existing system. But it's quite difficult as it doesn't repair and there is a risk of messing up the thing even more. The other option is formatting from scratch. This is the best way. Don't forget your Ubuntu to save your important data.

Answer 4

Open up your box and reseat all boards and plugs firmly (mains off)

Also give it a good clean inside - remove all dust ..

Answer 5

Without an XP disc, you're not going to sort this: Take it to a computer shop, or borrow an XP CD or download an ISO image of a disc & reinstall using your valid product key.

Answer 6

start it up in safemode then do a system restore and set it back a few days before the problem started your pc is stuck in a loop

but if you can not get into safe mode try and get a copy of ERD commander you can then boot your pc from that and do a system restore from there

Answer 7

after 4 years ,its probably a new harddrive cable that you need ,good luck

Answer 8

Sounds like your hard drive is gone. You need a new one, plus an OS.

Answer 9

could be just the inside of the box is filled with dust bunnies and it needs to be blown out so doesn't have a heating problem........ but is quite likely that the power supply has gone "toes up" on you and needs to be replaced (very easy to do if you can walk and chew gum at the same time...<grin>..)

But first I would take the case of the box and get all the accumulated dust out...with it unplug you can jiggle all the different connections just to be sure they are making good contact.... electrical connections do corrode over time and just need a little scratching or movement to clear up so good contact can be made..........

There are a ton of different sites (do a yahoo or Google search for "how to replace power supply") which will show you how easy it is to replace the power supply....... they aren't terribly expensive, and one heck of a lot cheaper than buying a new computer...

Answer 10

I may be wrong, often am but have you checked the power and data leads to your monitor. again you could take it to a shop and have them extract any data on your hard disk. if its dead its dead but that does not necessarily mean you lose everything. good luck!