Cannot start windows properly

[Guest Ursula]

Hi,

My spyware doctor updated itself and now I cannot use my laptop.

Sometimes it will start right up but when i click on anything it just hangs

there.

Ive tried in safe mode but the same thing happens.

Has anyone any idea how i can get into the computer to at least disable this

programme?

 

 

Regards

[Guest Malke]

Re: Cannot start windows properly

 

Ursula wrote:

> Hi,

> My spyware doctor updated itself and now I cannot use my laptop.

> Sometimes it will start right up but when i click on anything it just

> hangs there.

> Ive tried in safe mode but the same thing happens.

> Has anyone any idea how i can get into the computer to at least disable

> this programme?

 

If the same thing happens in Safe Mode, it probably isn't Spyware Doctor.

However, from the same menu where you can choose Safe Mode choose Safe Mode

Command Prompt. This will not load a graphical user interface at all and

you will be at the command prompt. Type:

 

c:\Windows\System32\restore\rstrui.exe [enter]

 

This should start System Restore so you can restore to a time when things

worked.

 

Malke

--

MS-MVP

Elephant Boy Computers

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com

Don't Panic!

[Guest Ursula]

Re: Cannot start windows properly

 

 

 

"Malke" wrote:

> Ursula wrote:

>

> > Hi,

> > My spyware doctor updated itself and now I cannot use my laptop.

> > Sometimes it will start right up but when i click on anything it just

> > hangs there.

> > Ive tried in safe mode but the same thing happens.

> > Has anyone any idea how i can get into the computer to at least disable

> > this programme?

>

> If the same thing happens in Safe Mode, it probably isn't Spyware Doctor.

> However, from the same menu where you can choose Safe Mode choose Safe Mode

> Command Prompt. This will not load a graphical user interface at all and

> you will be at the command prompt. Type:

>

> c:\Windows\System32\restore\rstrui.exe [enter]

>

> This should start System Restore so you can restore to a time when things

> worked.

>

> Malke

> --

> MS-MVP

> Elephant Boy Computers

> http://www.elephantboycomputers.com

> Don't Panic!

>

 

When I choose safe mode command prompt it just stops working Grrr

[Guest Malke]

Re: Cannot start windows properly

 

Ursula wrote:

>

> When I choose safe mode command prompt it just stops working Grrr

 

1. Back up your data if you neglected to do so before. It is completely

possible to back up data even if Windows won't boot. Let me know if you

need instructions.

 

2. Do a Repair Install.

 

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm - Repair Install

How-To

 

3. If the Repair Install doesn't work, do hardware troubleshooting to make

sure that the hardware is sound before going further.

 

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Hardware_Tshoot

 

4. If the hardware is sound, you have a choice. Either:

 

a. Do a clean install of Windows

 

http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html - Clean Install How-To

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Reinstalling_Windows - What

you will need on-hand

 

or

 

b. Take the machine to a competent local computer repair shop. This will not

be a BigComputerStore/GeekSquad type of place. The shop will have tools

that may allow them to do a System Restore outside of Windows or to figure

out what is going on without needing to do a clean install.

 

Malke

--

MS-MVP

Elephant Boy Computers

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com

Don't Panic!

[Guest Ursula]

Re: Cannot start windows properly

 

 

 

"Malke" wrote:

> Ursula wrote:

> >

> > When I choose safe mode command prompt it just stops working Grrr

>

> 1. Back up your data if you neglected to do so before. It is completely

> possible to back up data even if Windows won't boot. Let me know if you

> need instructions.

>

> 2. Do a Repair Install.

>

> http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm - Repair Install

> How-To

>

> 3. If the Repair Install doesn't work, do hardware troubleshooting to make

> sure that the hardware is sound before going further.

>

> http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Hardware_Tshoot

>

> 4. If the hardware is sound, you have a choice. Either:

>

> a. Do a clean install of Windows

>

> http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html - Clean Install How-To

> http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Reinstalling_Windows - What

> you will need on-hand

>

> or

>

> b. Take the machine to a competent local computer repair shop. This will not

> be a BigComputerStore/GeekSquad type of place. The shop will have tools

> that may allow them to do a System Restore outside of Windows or to figure

> out what is going on without needing to do a clean install.

>

> Malke

> --

> MS-MVP

> Elephant Boy Computers

> http://www.elephantboycomputers.com

> Don't Panic!

>

 

 

Yes that would be fab if you could let me know how to back up at this point.

If not I will try the repair install.

 

Thanks so much

[Guest Malke]

Re: Cannot start windows properly

 

Ursula wrote:

> Yes that would be fab if you could let me know how to back up at this

> point. If not I will try the repair install.

>

 

1. Pull the drive and slave it in a computer running a working install of

XP/Vista. Depending on the target drive's characteristics, you may need a

drive adapter; i.e., laptop-to-IDE or a SATA controller card, etc. A

usb/firewire external drive enclosure works very well, too. Use the working

Windows Explorer to copy the data to the rescue system's hard drive and

then burn the data to cd or dvd.

 

2. Often XP/Vista will not boot with a slaved drive that has a damaged file

system. In that case, boot the target computer with either a Bart's PE or a

Linux live cd such as Knoppix and retrieve the data that way. Here is

general information on using Knoppix for this:

 

You will need a computer with two cd drives, one of which is a cd/dvd-rw OR

a usb thumb drive with enough capacity to hold your data OR an external

usb/firewire hard drive formatted FAT32 (not NTFS)*. To get Knoppix, you

need a computer with a fast Internet connection and third-party burning

software. Download the Knoppix .iso and create your bootable cd by burning

as an image, not as a data cd. Then boot with it and it will be able to see

the Windows files. If you are using the usb thumb drive or the external

hard drive, right-click on its icon (on the Desktop) to get its properties

and uncheck the box that says "Read Only". Then click on it to open it.

Note that the default mouse action in the window manager used by Knoppix

(KDE) is a single click to open instead of the traditional MS Windows'

double-click. If you want to burn CD/DVDs, use the K3b program.

 

*My understanding is that you can now write to an NTFS partition from Linux.

If you wish to do this, Google for instructions.

 

http://www.knoppix.net

http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/ - Bart's PE Builder

 

Malke

--

MS-MVP

Elephant Boy Computers

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com

Don't Panic!