Re: XP won't start, Can't use CD drive HeLp!! PLEASE!


"jennifer Kerr" <jennifer Kerr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:BE9143C5-CFA6-434A-889D-5724BFB8C9DD@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Last night i was on my sony Vaio desktop and my I.E froze up, I tied to
close
it and it wouldn't close so I tried control, Alt, Delete... that didn't
work
either so I manually shut the computer off. A couple of hours later I came
back upstairs to check my email and restarted the computer...

Instead of restarting it goes to the windows logo screen for about 4
seconds, the to a black screen, then to the sony Vaio scree, then to a
black
screen then to a screen that says

"We apologize for the inconvenience, but Windows did not start
successfuly.
A recent hardware or software change might have caused this.

I'f your computer stopped responding, restarted unexpectedly, or was
automatically shut down to protect your files and folders, choose Last
Known
Good Configuration to revert to the most recent settings tht worked.

If a previous startup attempt was interrupted due to a power failure or
becasue the power or Reset button was pressed, or if you aren't sure what
caused the problem choose Start Windows Normally.

Safe Mode
Safe mode with networking
Safe mode with command prompt

Last known good configuration (your most recent settings that worked)

Start Windows Normaly

Use the up and down arrow keys to move the highlight to your choice.
Seconds until windows starts: 30"

Sometimes it will count down the 30 sec and some times it just sits there
forever. I have tried each of these options and always I am sent back to
this
same screen, None of them work.

I read some of the other posts and articles in the hep section. I do not
have the windows XP disk for this computer, but I have another windows XP
disk... I have tried putting that in BOTH of my CD rom drives and nothing
happens it acts like there is no disk in them... no matter what I push
(enter, F8, R, any key... anything) nothing happens. It said in the help
file
to configure your comp to read the cd in the cd drive but I can't very
well
do that if I can't even get into windows in safe mode at the very least!

I can't replace any files or fix any files if I can't get into anything...
I
am completely horrified that this has happened.

I called Best Buy and was told that just to check it into the shop was
going
to be $200.00 and that didn't count them looking at it for assesment of
them
fixing it. My husband is in the military and I can't afford a 200.00+ comp
bill. I am so upset because we had just loaded our wedding and his
deployment
hotos onto the comp and feeling that they were safe on there we deleted
them
from the cards as well as al of our honeymoon photos. I feel like I just
want
to CRY! I don't see how this can be happening that my comp has completely
locked me out of it...

Is there anyway I can ever gain access to the files on that HD for UNDER
$100.00 I could find some way to afford that if I saved for a while...???
What if the HD was installed in another computer as a slave drive? would I
be
able to access it or would I still be locked out of it completely? I
really
need help and while I've seen someone else post something similar to this
the
answer they received did not help me...

Thank you so much for you time it is GREATLY appreciated

Jennifer Kerr


Jennifer:
First things first...

I take it at this point that the most important thing about the problem
you're experiencing is to save that precious data currently residing on your
HDD. Assuming that is so, your own suggestion that the drive be connected as
a secondary HDD on a working system is a good one. I think that would be the
way to go at this point-in-time. Hopefully the HDD itself is not defective
and all (or most) of the data on it can be accessed and saved to some other
media, e.g., one or more CD-Rs.

I'm assuming you have the competence to transfer the HDD to another machine
and install it as a secondary HDD. It's not a particularly hard or
complicated process but like everything else in this PC world you have to
know what you're doing so as not to create more problems for yourself.
Perhaps you have a knowledgeable friend to help you along.

Additionally, if at all possible, should you (or someone) has a disk
imaging/disk cloning program and knows how to use such, it would be a good
idea to "clone" the contents of your HDD to another HDD so that at the least
you'll have another copy of the drive should things go awry.

Ronaldo's response to you mentions this possibility of transferring the HDD
to another PC and accessing the data this way. (He label's it as a "worst
case scenario" but in my view this would be the wisest course at this point
assuming I correctly understand your primary objective). Anyway, he does
mention the possibility that you may have to "take ownership" of the files
following this transfer to a different machine using the info in the
Microsoft KB article he cites. This probably won't be necessary but you
should be aware of it as a possiblility.

Anyway, assuming you go this route and you can successfully access and copy
the data you need, we can then discuss getting your system back to a working
order.
Anna


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