my computer is sick - how do i fix it? (1 Viewer)

[taubstumm]

new year, new problem...

i have a toshiba qosmio g20 laptop running windows xp.

earlier on today i turned it on, and was prompted to install windows service pack 3.

all seemed to be going well. the installation finished, and i was given a prompt to restart the machine to complete it all.

i restarted the machine, and it stopped working. the restart seemed to be going fine, and then it just stopped.

now, each time i now try to start the machine, the same thing happens: it seems ok to begin -- the windows xp loading screen comes up, then the welcome screen. and then... nothing. a blank screen with a mouse pointer, and that's it.

it's like as if it's just about to display the desktop, and for some reason it just doesn't.

ctrl-alt-del gives me a message saying 'task manager has been disabled by your administrator' (???). hmm.

the only way to turn it off at the moment is to hold down the start button and force it to shut down.

any ideas? anyone had anything similar happen to them? any advice on what to try with it?

thanks...

 

[pete]

try leaving it alone for a while & let it do its SP3 thing

 

[taubstumm]

that was pretty much my first inclination as well. left it for a couple of hours and then retried. so, how long is a while?

 

[Cryptid]

Does safe mode work?

 

[taubstumm]

Does safe mode work?

i haven't tried that yet. in fact, i don't think i've ever used safe mode before.

i'm going to leave it off for the night, try the normal start in the morning, and if it's still acting up, i'll give safe mode a go and let you know what's happening.

 

[pete]

i mean boot it up and leave it be for a while, not leave it switched off

 

[taubstumm]

i mean boot it up and leave it be for a while, not leave it switched off

meh, ok.

tomorrow, though

 

[taubstumm]

turned it on this morning and left it alone, running, for a couple of hours - still nothing but the same blank grey screen.

tried to start in safe mode and it won't, as far as i can tell. i select safe mode, and it starts to load, and then it goes dead and restarts (re-restarts?), and asks me (again) to choose what o.s. to load.

any ideas?

thanks...

 

[rettucs]

what kind of processor have you? If its AMD it could be because of this....

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9084418

 

[taubstumm]

what kind of processor have you? If its AMD it could be because of this....

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9084418

there's a sticker on the laptop with an intel centrino logo, so i suppose that means it's not a.m.d. ...right?

 

[rettucs]

there's a sticker on the laptop with an intel centrino logo, so i suppose that means it's not a.m.d. ...right?

yeah, that'd be right. Still, might be worthwhile scouring the web for problems similar to your own. Chances are you're not the first to have encountered it

sorry I'm not of any more help

 

[taubstumm]

yeah, that'd be right. Still, might be worthwhile scouring the web for problems similar to your own. Chances are you're not the first to have encountered it

sorry I'm not of any more help

it looks like it's a variation on that problem, alright. shite.

 

[taubstumm]

as a temporary fix, is there any easy way to use another laptop to access the hard drive and get stuff off it? (my other computer is a macbook.)

and if so, can this be done via usb, or does it require opening up the machine and so on?

 

[rettucs]

as a temporary fix, is there any easy way to use another laptop to access the hard drive and get stuff off it? (my other computer is a macbook.)

and if so, can this be done via usb, or does it require opening up the machine and so on?

the answer to your question is probably yes, but yes you might also need to open up your computer. I've stripped a laptop before. It was no big deal. Consult google for instructions. I'm sure you'll find some.

I've never done this, but have a look at;

http://en.kioskea.net/forum/affich-41527-can-i-connect-an-old-hard-disk-on-my-new-pc

when they refer to 'jumper settings' there are usually small switches you can toggle to get the desired setting. Again, if its not obvious, google will help (once you have the make and model of your hard disk).

this shit is never easy. But give it a go I say.

 

[rettucs]

though I'm not sure that link is exactly what you're looking for. I'll keep looking

Edit: This is probably closer to what you're looking for.

I've never changed the BIOS boot order on a windows system. I've done it a lot on UNIX systems though and have never had any problems.

During bootup, at some stage it might say something like 'Press F12 to enter setup'. Go there. Look through the resulting menu. See if theres something to do with boot ordering. That is the BIOS boot order setting.

 

[Cryptid]

"How to use the Automatic Recovery feature to recover your computer or your Tablet PC if the Windows XP Service Pack 2 Setup program is not completed successfully"

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;875355&Product=windowsxpsp2

I presume the logic is the same as for SP3. Could somebody confirm this? Wouldn't be any point in removing SP2 also. I can't find the equivalent page for SP3. It looks straightforward enough, assuming you have the original XP disk?

Recover your computer to a bootable state and remove Windows XP SP2

To recover your computer or Tablet PC to a bootable state and remove Windows XP SP2, follow these steps.

Note The Windows XP SP2 features and components are included in Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005.

1. Start your computer by using the Windows XP Recovery Console or by using the Microsoft Windows Preinstallation Environment (WinPE), depending on your situation. To start your computer by using the Recovery Console, follow these steps:
   1. Insert the original release version of the Microsoft Windows XP CD in your computer's CD drive or DVD drive, and then restart your computer.
      
      Note Your computer must be configured to start from the CD drive or DVD drive. For more information about how to do this, see your computer's documentation or contact your computer manufacturer.
   2. When the "Press any key to boot from CD" message appears, press a key to start your computer from the Windows XP CD.
   3. When the "Welcome to Setup" screen is displayed, press R to start the Recovery Console.
   4. When you are prompted, type the number that corresponds to the installation of Windows that you want to access from the Recovery Console, and then press ENTER. For example, if you have one installation of Windows on your computer, type 1, and then press ENTER.
   5. When you are prompted, type the Administrator password, and then press ENTER.
2. At the command prompt in Recovery Console, type the following lines. Press ENTER after each line. cd
   batch spuninst.txt
   exit
3. Remove the Windows XP CD from your computer's CD drive or DVD drive, and then restart your computer.
4. Run the Windows XP SP2 Removal Wizard to remove Windows XP SP2. To do this:
   1. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
   2. At the command prompt, type the following lines. Press ENTER after each line. cd %Windir%
      spuninst.exe
   3. Follow the instructions to remove Windows XP SP2.

 

[pete]

removing laptop hard drives usually just involves removing one or two little phillips screws. you can then use a USB - IDE cable to pull the data off it.

alternatively, just use something like Knoppix to boot the machine and backup to an external HD.