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big soft moose

big soft moose

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I have a pc problem so i figured i'd ask you guys instead of getting royally shafted by an IT service

My desktop has stopped booting up propperly (about a 2 year old HP with a 4 core chip and 4gb of ram)

initially it was getting to the windows loading screen then freezing - I managed to start it in safe mode and shifted all my files that were on it onto sticks (my pics are on an external HD anyway)

i then tried to run a system restore - no dice

tried to a restore point further back - no dice

then tried a factory reset - no dice

All three failed during running

I then shut down and left it defeated, demoralised and other things begging with D

when i tried to reboot it again it now won't boot at all and just goes to a blue screen (not the blue screen of death - the bluey screen you get when safe mode is trying to load) then freezes

Any thoughts ( I dont have a system disc or any operating system on disc,) on how to fix it or is just ****ed

Also assuming it is screwed, is it likely to be something that would be easily fixable -like by changing the hard drive - or would it be better to just say the hell with it and replace the whole shebang
 
Pate - I'm afraid I cant help with your pc problem as I'm a duffer when it comes to computers and software but what I can recommend is that you join the forum of computeractive magazine www.computeractive.co.uk
or the forum of pcspecialists where I bought my pc from their techie guys will give you some great advice I'm sure
http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/contact-us/

hope its up and running soon
dave
 
if its booting into safe mode okay its more than likely a hardware and/or driver issue. has anything changed recently? new hardware? drivers updates (maybe as part of windows update)?
 
its not booting into safe mode either anymore - although it was initially

no new hardware, and no software updates apart from windows update and macafee update (and i tried to rule them out by going with a system restore - but that failed without restoring)
 
no extra beeps ( I think)

I'm at work at the moment but i'll have a look at the memory thing when i get home
 
How big is the HD is it partitioned and if so how many partitions?

Sounds like you either need a complete re-install of windows or the HD itself could be going bad.

But without a system disc or restore disc you have 2 options:

1.Get a cheap copy of Windows and re-install to drive C (be careful, Windows doesn't like being installed over an already existing copy and will try to get you to intall to another partition if you have one and wipe out all your data on that partition)

2.Find someone with a PC and put your drive as a second drive on there to see what's wrong and recover any valuable data before you try anything else.

.
 
its 160GB , and its not partioned - my initial thought was drive failure but I wanted a 2nd opinion before i started taking the pc to bits.

Ive got an enclosure so I think i'll pop the drive out and try it on the laptop as a second drive (i've no data to recover fortunately - that all lives on external drives because i learnt my lesson last time)
 
Memory or hard drive failure would be my guesses, try Neil's advice first.
 
okay - taking a stick of memory out doesnt make any difference (tried both), so either both sticks are stuffed , or its not that.

Any other thoughts before i take the hard drive out ?
 
Drop into the BIOS screen and monitor CPU temps. If they are OK, probably a failing disk - especially if it is taking longer and longer to get to the point of failure.
 
yeah but if it wont boot up - even to the set up screen , how do i get into the bios ?

I think i'll take the hard drive out and try it on another machine in an enclosure
 
big soft moose said:
yeah but if it wont boot up - even to the set up screen , how do i get into the bios ?

I think i'll take the hard drive out and try it on another machine in an enclosure
Click to expand...
if your on about putting your main hard drive in another computer that wont work unless the other computer has idntical bits.
 
big soft moose said:
yeah but if it wont boot up - even to the set up screen , how do i get into the bios ?

I think i'll take the hard drive out and try it on another machine in an enclosure
Click to expand...

The bios is what runs at power on - before it starts reading the drives. You should see something like 'press del to enter setup' appear briefly on the screen after power on. hit whatever key it says (may be F1 instead of delete or whatever) and you will be into the bios settings and information.

If you don't get the bios come up then it could be something is preventing startup in which case there may be some beep codes.

You can turn it on with the hard drive removed if you think that is the cause. you will then just get a message that no boot device was found.
 
big soft moose said:
yeah but if it wont boot up - even to the set up screen , how do i get into the bios ?

I think i'll take the hard drive out and try it on another machine in an enclosure
Click to expand...


Start up your PC and keep pressing F10 until you get into the BIOS.

If that doesn't work, switch off, restart and keep pressin F1.

The hard drive problems don't stop you getting to the BIOS, if nothing happens at all when you switch on, then it's time to get your hankie out:'(
 
Presuming the system gets past the POST and allows you to see all the right components (HDD, mem, cpus etc) within BIOS...

Does the system boot from the optical disk drive? If so, have you tried using your windows installation disk to do a repair? This may get you back up and running quicker than reinstalling (although nothing is nicer than a newly installed o/s!).

Edit - I just noticed you don't have the original installation disk. I have read somewhere you can do windows installations from a USB stick, so (assuming you hold a legitimate licence) you could find a copy of the o/s somewhere (friend, internet, whatever) and put it on a USB key, then try the repair option.

Cheers
Mark
 
Last edited:
Does anything come up on the screen at all when you turn it on?? You mentioned a blue screen, does this still come up? Can you provide some details of what it says (or as this is a photography forum, perhaps a photo of it)? Finally, what version of Windows?
 
Ok, I should look in this section more often.......

HP pc 2 years old 'could' still be under 'return to base' warranty for parts. At a minimum HP support would offer advice.

To start:
Cold boot the pc, press F10 at the HP logo screen.
Depending on the model there maybe a HDD self test in the BIOS (under security or utilities, various bios versions on HP desktops)
Run the hdd test, it will do 2 tests, a quick one then a full one if the quick one passes.
Around 90% of disk failures are found by the quick test so if passes that then it's looking good for the drive. The full test will return either Pass/Fail or a number. Anything between 3-14 is a fail. HP will want this info if they are to replace the disk under warranty.
There may also be a memory test in the BIOS too which would be worth a try.
Download the latest BIOS revision from the HP website, get the softpaq that will create a bootable USB key, update the BIOS it may just fix it.

If there are no hardware failures then most HP desktops ship with either a restore DVD or have a hidden restore partition as long as it has not had the hdd wiped previously then it should still be there.

By the way I am HP accredited on desktops/notebooks/workstaions and also on Proliant servers so if you give that a try and get no luck PM me the serial number AND the product number of the pc and I'll check the warranty etc.

If you end up buying another hdd yourself, try to get a proper HP one, they have there own firmware on them to help with disk maintenance.

Hope that helps.
Paul.
 
Try running SeaTool for Windows. It's a hard drive diagnostic program.
Seatools for Windows

HP pc 2 years old 'could' still be under 'return to base' warranty for parts. At a minimum HP support would offer advice.
Click to expand...

Sale of Goods act - who cares about warranties? ;) Helps to know what the problem is though.
 
PaulF said:
Ok, I should look in this section more often.......

HP pc 2 years old 'could' still be under 'return to base' warranty for parts. At a minimum HP support would offer advice.

To start:
Cold boot the pc, press F10 at the HP logo screen.
Depending on the model there maybe a HDD self test in the BIOS (under security or utilities, various bios versions on HP desktops)
Run the hdd test, it will do 2 tests, a quick one then a full one if the quick one passes.
Around 90% of disk failures are found by the quick test so if passes that then it's looking good for the drive. The full test will return either Pass/Fail or a number. Anything between 3-14 is a fail. HP will want this info if they are to replace the disk under warranty.
There may also be a memory test in the BIOS too which would be worth a try.
Download the latest BIOS revision from the HP website, get the softpaq that will create a bootable USB key, update the BIOS it may just fix it.

If there are no hardware failures then most HP desktops ship with either a restore DVD or have a hidden restore partition as long as it has not had the hdd wiped previously then it should still be there.

By the way I am HP accredited on desktops/notebooks/workstaions and also on Proliant servers so if you give that a try and get no luck PM me the serial number AND the product number of the pc and I'll check the warranty etc.

If you end up buying another hdd yourself, try to get a proper HP one, they have there own firmware on them to help with disk maintenance.

Hope that helps.
Paul.
Click to expand...

Cheers Paul

I'm into the Bios and it does appear to be the Hard Drive - Its failing the short test during the read phase (at value 7)

I'll pm you the product number and serial and if you could check the warranty status for me that would be great

If its out of warranty the question then is whether its worth the cost of replacing the hard drive and buying a new OS , or whether i'd be better off putting that cash into a new machine
 
If you've got a Windows 7 license key, then you don't need to buy a new OS. You should only need to replace the hard drive.

Any other hardware issues are covered by HP - regardless of your warranty status. Hard drives have a higher failure rate, so it's unlikely they will replace that for free themselves.
 
someguy201 said:
If you've got a Windows 7 license key, then you don't need to buy a new OS. You should only need to replace the hard drive.

Any other hardware issues are covered by HP - regardless of your warranty status. Hard drives have a higher failure rate, so it's unlikely they will replace that for free themselves.
Click to expand...

Ive got the key - but i've not got a disc to install it with as it came preloaded :shrug:

If I can get that sorted If its out of waranty i might just buy a hard drive - or potentially an SSD.

however if I'm going have to pay for an operating system then it gets into the law of diminishing returns - and i might be better off giving a loud **** it all and buying a replacement box
 
Is there anyone that can lend you a Win 7 disc? The most you will need to pay is probably around £30 for replacement discs from HP - cheaper than buying a new OS.
 
okey dokey - i've ordered a set of recovery discs from the link paul gave me, and a hard drive off ebay - so I should soon be back in action

expect silly questions when the kit comes , but in the mean time thanks for your help and advice
 
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