Pc Going Mad!! Please Help

SPARKY16

Hi,

This morning when i got up my PC won't start at all. Sorry i'm not very technical so don't really know what i am talking about here, but ......

I get a black and white screen saying there is a problem, improper shutdown etc, which hasn't happened as it took ages to shut down last night!

This screen gives me the option to start it in different modes i.e. safemode etc,

whichever one i choose isn't working, it tries to start and then goes back to the black and white screen.

It is a Packard Bell - any help would be very much appreciated

Thanks very much

lilibeth

Have you tried turning it completely off and turning it on again?
Does the drive spin up properly?
Did you change any hardware?

You could do a Windows repair install if it is still not playing ball, but to be honest it's probably quicker just to do a complete reinstall.

SPARKY16

hi,
thanks for your reply:

I have tried to turn it off completely - but it is still responding the same!

I haven't added/removed any harware or installed anything - it seemed fine last night

I just can't even get it to the main screen it just reverts back to the error screen within seconds of trying to turn on!

How would i go about a complete reinstall??

lilibeth

Did you get a Windows cd with your computer when you bought it?

Does it sound normal when it starts up, for example are you hearing any clicking rather than the normal sound of the hard drive spinning up?

SPARKY16

I've had a listen and the drive doesn't sound like it is starting up as normal it starts to spin and then sort of pops and stops - if that makes sense! lol sorry about my lack of technical knowledge!

Yes a ihave a few disks 2 recovery disks, a CD-ROM driver installation disk

SPARKY16

Hi,

Still haven't sorted this problem, can anyone help me please?

skiddy2k

Get a Windows CD (yours, neighbours, friends, doesn't matter whose).
Insert it into your CDrom drive
Reboot
It should say "press any key to boot from CD". If it does, press any key. If it doesn't, enter BIOS (clicking 'del' on startup) and select to start from CD rom drive first and then your harddrive second.
Click "R" to enter Recovery Console
Type in chkdsk /r
Let it run (may take a few hours)
Once done, type in fixboot c: or fixboot ( i cant remember which)
Type in exit and remove your windows CD.
Does it help?

SPARKY16

Thanks for this,

i'll go and hunt for the windows CD now and i'll give it a go, will this delete any files from my hard drive??

its just i have a few photo files i really need to keep

skiddy2k

No, it wont delete any files.

If you want to save files or need any urgently, its a good idea to boot up using a "Live" CD such as Knoppix (burn it onto a CD and insert it into your computer when booting up and boot from the CD. Insert a USB and make a backup of all your important files onto the USB (and transfer it to another computer)

Igol

How many beeps does it do when you switch on?
They're the Power On Self Test system and let you know if something is wrong.
With the HDD not spinning up I'm wondering if its died?