My PC won't start properly

HereToday

4360 kilobytes are available. :eek:

Perhaps just enough for Windows to start. Next time you delete some stuff, you should actually delete them from the Recycle Bin too.

If it still doesn't start and you have access to another machine, you can use a 'Live CD' such as Ubuntu to retrieve and delete files, so as to free up more space to allow Windows to start.

square_bear

I now have a blue screen saying welcome to set up.

This portion of the set up program prepares Microsoft (R) windows (R) XP to run on your computer.

* To set up Windows XP now, press enter

* To repair a Windows XP installation using recovery console press R

* To quit set up without installing Windows XP press F3

closed

if there's anything important on there, backing it up and resolving your disk space issue before going any further would be prudent

HereToday

square_bear wrote: »

I have burned the CD.

Put it into the computer and I get a blue screen.

WINDOWS XP ROFESSIONAL SET-UP

Welcome to set up.

This portion of the set up program prepares Microsoft(R) Windows (R) XP to run on your computer.

* To set up Windows XP now, press enter
* To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery console, press R.
*To quit setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.


I tried option 2, it tells me to type EXIT and restart the computer.

The computer restarts a blue screen appears, set up options run at the bottom of the screen, then I get the set up message again.

What now, please?

Seem that you didn't follow that correct instruction.

Repair Within Windows Setup*

- Restart the computer

- As soon as the computer begins to boot up, access the BIOS setup screen. If you are not sure how to access the BIOS, follow the steps within this WikiDocument so you can change the Boot Sequence to the optical drive first.

- Once this process is complete, restart the computer

- As the computer begins to restart, you will be prompted to press any key to boot from the CD/DVD...tap the space bar

- Once the Welcome to Setup screen appears, press Enter to continue the Windows Setup program. After you accept the license agreement, Windows searches your hard disk for an existing installation of Windows. If it finds such an installation, it offers a menu that includes a repair option. Press R to perform the repair. Please note that if your Windows XP Operating System is installed on a different partition than C:, take care to select the correct partition before attempting a repair.

- If the drive and Windows are repairable, this process will work to restore Windows and your files that are salvageable.

That should have been your port of call.

Is your original installation XP Professional?

square_bear

Yes, XP professional.

macman

square_bear wrote: »

You mean, do I back up to a stick or something like that?

No, I don't.

Flash drive, DVD, external hard drive, it doesn't greatly matter. The point is that all hard drives die eventually, and without a backup you will ether lose all your data or have to pay £400 upwards for forensic recovery (which even then is not guaranteed to work).
If you do get it running, back it up before you do anything else. Don't switch it off in the meantime as you may not get another chance.
You need to change the drive anyway (or fit a slave) as you are running it at maximum capacity, and performance will then slow to a crawl.

square_bear

How do I back up when my computer won't start properly?

macman

I did say if you get it going. But if you can't, you can remove the drive and place it in a USB caddy, then read it on another machine and copy over. So your data is safe as long as the drive has not failed (i.e if it's just that that OS is corrupted and won't load).
If the drive has mechanically failed, then you can't read from it, and forensic recovery would be the only option. Hopefully not required.

square_bear

waddler_8 wrote: »

When you choose option 2, as well as "type EXIT and restart the computer", do you not see "which windows installation would you like to log on to"?

This option has now appeared on my screen.
What do I do now, please.

closed

square_bear wrote: »

How do I back up when my computer won't start properly?

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