laptop problems....anyone..please

bronco300

bronco300

Active Member
sooooo tonight our laptop when bezerk...fiance was working in word on it and it started shutting word down...she rebooted the computer but when it tried to reboot it just continued over and over rebooting....does anyone know tons about laptops and have any suggestions? I reseated everying in the back(memory cards,etcetc)...and nothing helped...HP said to take it somewhere local.....we just traded family for this so if it ends up being a piece of junk and have to buy a new one i'm gonna be furious....so and help is greatly appreciated...its a compaq pressario 900US...thanks
 
nano reefer

nano reefer

Active Member
Boot up in safe mode. Ibrlieve you tap the f8 or f10 key during start up to initiate it. A few modes should show up and pick one that has something about last working configuration. Log in and when a message shows up read it and press okay then figure out the problem. 99% of the time the problem is auto fixed but u never know
 
nano reefer

nano reefer

Active Member
try the other safemodes. And if it still don't work go thru it again. I went on safemodes for 45 mins and got it to work. Sounds un proffesional, but its recommended if u don't want to pay. My comp wouldnt even go into safemodes. It would freeze during the safe mode boot with code all over the screen.
 
m0nk

m0nk

Active Member
I've heard of viruses that do that, there was one really bad one back a couple years ago where this would happen. Unfortunately, I'm not a Winders guy (Linux only) but I can try to track down some info for you. My buddy owns a computer shop and even if he doesn't think it's the same virus he could at least help with some info. I'll get back to you in a bit...
 
teresaq

teresaq

Active Member
mine did that last yr, and it was a virus. I had to send my computer to hp, and I lost everything I had stored. They fixed it, but what a mess. I lost a lot of older pictures I didnt have backed up on my external memory.
T
 
bronco300

bronco300

Active Member
Originally Posted by TeresaQ
mine did that last yr, and it was a virus. I had to send my computer to hp, and I lost everything I had stored. They fixed it, but what a mess. I lost a lot of older pictures I didnt have backed up on my external memory.
T
bad teresa, don't say such things!!!!!
I hope thats not it, but i wouldn't be surprised.
 
bronco300

bronco300

Active Member
Originally Posted by m0nk
I've heard of viruses that do that, there was one really bad one back a couple years ago where this would happen. Unfortunately, I'm not a Winders guy (Linux only) but I can try to track down some info for you. My buddy owns a computer shop and even if he doesn't think it's the same virus he could at least help with some info. I'll get back to you in a bit...
thanks, someone else thought a hard drive crash??
 
robn70

robn70

Member
My Thinkpad did the same thing over the Holidays. I reloaded windows and ended up with the same results. Turned out the HD had gone bad. You may want to remove the drive and just order an equlivent one from on of the online retailers. they are quite easy to change and arn't to expensive. $40-$60 for the drive and a few hrs to reload software.
 
ctm474

ctm474

Member
Reboot with F8 - and then choose to disable automatic restart on system failure. That will give you access to the system error message which will provide a little more insight.
From there you can probably boot from your Windows install disk and choose to repair Windows.
 
bronco300

bronco300

Active Member
Originally Posted by ctm474
http:///forum/post/2449914
Reboot with F8 - and then choose to disable automatic restart on system failure. That will give you access to the system error message which will provide a little more insight.
From there you can probably boot from your Windows install disk and choose to repair Windows.
that didnt work for me either
 
dinki

dinki

Member
I don't know how computer savy you are, but you can try downloading and burning the 'ultimate bood cd' (do a google search or just add .com). Then you would boot from that disk and run a virus scan, memory check, etc until you find the problem.
Worse case scenario would be to use something like Knoppix (again, google) to boot into linux and burn the files you absolutely need to cd/dvd and then reformat/reinstall windows.
Does Windows ever get to the desktop? Does it give you any messages like 'shutting windows down'? Was the machine on for a long time and possibly overheating? Are the fan(s) still spinning?
 
m0nk

m0nk

Active Member
Originally Posted by dinki
http:///forum/post/2449975
I don't know how computer savy you are, but you can try downloading and burning the 'ultimate bood cd' (do a google search or just add .com). Then you would boot from that disk and run a virus scan, memory check, etc until you find the problem.
Worse case scenario would be to use something like Knoppix (again, google) to boot into linux and burn the files you absolutely need to cd/dvd and then reformat/reinstall windows.
Does Windows ever get to the desktop? Does it give you any messages like 'shutting windows down'? Was the machine on for a long time and possibly overheating? Are the fan(s) still spinning?
Yeah, that's a good way to test if something is wrong with the hardware or if it's just Windows; see if you can boot to a linux live cd and can mount and view the files on the harddrive (and get them off while you have the chance).
 
m0nk

m0nk

Active Member
Here's the reply from my friend with the computer shop:
"I would first see if he can boot into safe mode witho out it rebooting; if
so then msconfig the system and disable all under the start up tab.
then reboot it it if it works in normal mode with out rebooting have him
run smith fraud fix.
here is the direct download from my site. sounds like spyware
http://www.think207.com/downloads/SmitfraudFix.exe
In order to run smith fraud fix you have to download in the profile that is
having the problem then boot into safe mode and lunch it and its pretty
self explained on how to use pretty easy does a great job
Now if it starts to reboot again over and over. Then I would back data up
using a ext drive or take the hd out of the laptop and put it into a ext
usb case get your data for mat the drive and reload windows."
So basically he's saying if the fix he's suggesting doesn't work, get your data off and reinstall windows from scratch. The linux live cd might be the same amount of work as taking the hard drive out and copying the data down to another computer... too bad you don't live in Chambersburg, PA, he's doing this same procedure on a laptop right as I type this....
Best of luck with it.
 
bronco300

bronco300

Active Member
thanks guys, i know some about computers but not when it gets into the super technically aspects of it...if i cant get it to boot up anyway, how do i get the things off the harddrive?
 
dinki

dinki

Member
If you download the Knoppix live cd you'll be able to boot up into Linux and then use the built in cd burning software (I think it's called K3) to burn your files to cd assuming you have a cd burner. You might be able to use a usb hard drive or thumb drive with Knoppix to copy the files off that way too.
Don't be intimidated by Linux. It will look a lot like windows.
 
bronco300

bronco300

Active Member
oh, and the screen never pulls anything up besides the compaq symbol...says press F10 for the etc...and then goes black and does it again
 
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