Acer Laptop won't shut down or start up

melb

hi there laptop seemed to freeze last night so i forced it to close by pressing button. Tried to restart and got "Windows failed to close down normally" message which i have had before but this time when I choose restart normally option it restarts I put password in ok but then just goes to black screen. So I have to shutdown again and same thing happens again. A message in bright blue about 12 lines long appears but only for a couple of seconds before it disappears so no time to read it. if i try to start in "safe mode" the font is very large (not a problem in itself) but I am unable to connect to the internet with the router in the same room. Any help would be much appreciated before I have to take it to a shop and pay. thanksx

stilltheone

Have you copied all of your important data?

gordikin

stilltheone wrote: »

Have you copied all of your important data?

...I'm willing to bet they haven't...seems to be the way of things. Sister-in-law has lost numerous pics. of her boy...twice! I 'backed up' her laptop recently when I visited. A feel a DVD of the lost pics. is a good (and MSE) pressie for her birthday?

melb

hi there I have no important data - it's just used for internet browsing and emails. thanks for your replies

Miclogan

Hi,

Sounds like your laptop is experiencing a BSOD (Blue Screen Of Death) or Stop Error.

Two things are worth trying in the first instance -

When you restart it press F8 to get into the Windows Advanced Options. Here there should be an option called Last Known Good Configuration. Select this and allow the laptop to boot into Windows. This may well work in situations where your laptop fails before it reaches the login screen.

If this fails to prevent the BSOD, you may be able to stop the automatic restart by making a change in the BIOS. Depending on your laptop model, this is normally Del, F2 or F10 when the laptop first starts up. If you find an an option to prevent the automatic restart, the laptop will pause when the BSOD occurs.

If you manage to get it to pause, let me know and I'll try and decipher the Stop Error code for you.

KillerWatt

You won't be able to disable automatic restart in the BIOS, because it isn't invoked there.

@ the OP,

You are definately getting what is known as the "Blue Screen Of Death", and this is invariably caused by corrupt drivers being loaded (although actual hardware failure can also cause the same symptom).

Start your machine in safe mode, right click My Computer, select Properties, then select Advanced System Settings.
Once there, click on the Advanced tab, then click Settings in the "Startup & Recovery" section, then remove the check mark against the "Automatically Restart" radio button, apply and restart normally to read the error code.

All the above of course assumes that selecting "Last Known Good Configuration" doesn't rectify the problem.

stilltheone

Vista or Windows 7?

melb

hi there it's windows 7 and thanks for all replies so far I'm at work at the moment so will try them out when I get home. Really appreciate all the help

Miclogan

It's also worth mentioning then, that booting into safe mode won't necessarily allow you to bypass a BSOD and therefore won't allow you to login to Windows and disable the Automatic Restart.

If you're unable to get into Windows through Safe Mode and Last Known Good fails then there is an option in the Windows Advanced Options menu(F8 at startup) to disable automatic restart after system failure.

closed

If you are prepared to wipe it (ie lose all data), you could factory restore it using acer erecovery, either by pressing ALT and F10 at boot, or possibly F8 - check the manual

When you get it working again, create a recovery disc in case you need to reinstall in future and factory restore doesn't work

stilltheone

Download and save this Windows 7 Recovery Disc Image to a working computer.
Next, download and install ImgBurn(No need to install the Google Toolbar. Remove the relevant tick). Burn the Image to Disc. Use this guide(skip step 2b)

You can then use these instructions to assist you with an automatic Startup Repair or further to that, System Restore. Further than that we will have access to the Registry via Command Prompt.