Re: Windows unable to boot - 'black' screen

Thanks, Pegasus, for a prompt response, and I will definitely consider your
suggestion that this could be a hardware issue.
As for backing up files - well, we have some back-ups (this actually is my
daughter laptop), but none recently (bummer!).
I'm not familiar with the 'usb case' for the hard disk, but I also will look
into it, especially if it's not that expensive.
I have another laptop (Thinkpad Z60m), but I doubt that the hard disks are
compatible and whether I could use it for either troubleshooting my Toshiba
or for the data recovery aspect. I also have an external disk that is USB
attached, but again I don't know if it could be of any use here.
Also - when I provided the same decription over the phone to the 'Geek
Squad', the local computer 'fixer-uper' outfit, they assured me that my
problems are NOT hardware related, but probably a virus, and that they
definitely could fix it (for about 260 USD).
Any additional thoughts?
Thanks again, Rich

"Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:


"Rich" <Rich@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:F77439B7-FADA-43AD-A7CE-06F8D521B747@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
My Toshiba Sattelite A85 laptop with Windows XP Sp2 Home Edition 'out of
the
blue' started to have problems with booting Windows. Initially, I was
getting
the following error:

windows\system\vgaoem.fom file is corrupt or missing ... or something
close,
and the system would just hang.

Sometims with another attempt to reboot the error would point to a
different
missing file, but Windows would still not load.

Since my laptop did not come with the full Windows CD but only with the
System Restore, I attempted to get by the problem by loading Windows XP
Home
Edition from a CD that came from Dell with my other desktop pc (at this
point
I still was able to alter BIOS to boot from the CD drive, ahead of HDD).
However, all attempts to restart the system, either in safe mode or at the
last good restore point, etc., would also fail in a similar fashion.

I believe that at that point when attempting to load Windows I began to
get
the following error:

STOP: C0000218 (registry file failure) the registry cannot load the hive
(file) systemroot\config\software
(at some point I also was getting: Stop: 0x000007E, but I didn't jot the
specifics)

I then attempted to get to the Restore Console in order to run some
diagnostics. I was stopped, however, by a message requesting the
Administrator password and I had no idea what that password was. My
several
futile attempts of entering every imaginable password I could think of got
rejected each time as 'password invalid', including the 'null' password
(by
just hitting: enter).

After checking the cable connections, resetting the hard drive and memory
(as per suggestions in the various posts) things got even worse. Now I
cannot
even get to the Windows Welcome screen - every time I power up my laptop,
I
hear the cooling fan and the CD drive both humming for a moment and then
everything goes quite and ... nothing! The screen stays 'black' throughout
and the keyboard also appears to be locked.
I tried this operation with and without the Windows CD - all with the same
results. Obviously, at this point I cannot enter any commands, scan for
viruses or anything - my laptop is completely dead!

Of course, I would like to recover some of the files and pictures from the
hard drive, if at all possible, but at this point I'm so frustrated that
I'm
willing to give that up as long as I get my operating system up and
running.

Dos anyone have any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks, Rich


The progressive nature of your problems suggest a hardware
problem. Your best bet is probably to take the machine to
a qualified Toshiba repair centre.

There are several methods to retrieve your files. Here are
two of them:

a) From your backup medium. It may be too late to mention
this but good computing practice requires you to back up all
important files regularly to an independent medium.

b) By removing the hard disk and installing it in an external
USB case (which costs very little). This would enable you
to connect it to another PC and salvage your files.

With some laptops it is easy to remove the hard disk. With
others it is demanding because the keyboard must first be
removed. Ask your service centre if necessary.

If your laptop has died then it would be a good idea to
use its disk as your backup medium for the next laptop.



.

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