Computer won’t start

mikeopvc

Hello, I’m in desperate need for some help with my computer please, it just won’t start up.
We had a few power cuts over the last few days and I’m not sure if it’s related to that but to be honest it has been a bit iffy for a while now anyway, basically it happens after I download and install new updates and then restart it, sometimes it will restart no problem but other times it won’t do it, it tries to but then just crashes and I’m left with a blank monitor screen due to no signal being detected and the computer fans are just going crazy and really loud.

I really don’t know what to do so would appreciate it if anyone can offer some advice please?

Many thanks

almillar

What is the computer?
What version of Windows are you running, assuming you're running Windows?

mikeopvc

It’s a Dell computer
Windows 7 ultimate

EveryWhere

Service Tag?
Have you flashed the latest BIOS?

JJ_Egan

So what exactly happens now when you boot .


Camn you boot to Safe Mode .

No signal could be due to monitor or cable or video card .
Fans usually heat often due to dust or thermal paste on CPU no longer effective.

mikeopvc

EveryWhere wrote: »

Service Tag?
Have you flashed the latest BIOS?

Service tag is J48V25J

I don’t know what BIOS is sorry 😐

mikeopvc

JJ_Egan wrote: »

So what exactly happens now when you boot .


Camn you boot to Safe Mode .

No signal could be due to monitor or cable or video card .
Fans usually heat often due to dust or thermal paste on CPU no longer effective.

I tried safe mode but it still just crashed, the monitor only loses signal once it’s crashed

OGR

When the computer is booting as soon as it finishing POSTing and goes to start loading windows if you press F8 a few times you will get a new menu appear. Try Last Known Good configuration. Windows should load drivers and registry settings from the last time it knows it booted properly when this option is selected.

mikeopvc

OGR wrote: »

When the computer is booting as soon as it finishing POSTing and goes to start loading windows if you press F8 a few times you will get a new menu appear. Try Last Known Good configuration. Windows should load drivers and registry settings from the last time it knows it booted properly when this option is selected.

Wow thank you very much 👍🏻👍🏻 that worked, it has started up and I can see my desktop as normal, the power cut must have happened while it was configuring the new updates as that’s what came up first.

I could really do with sorting out my computer as this happens too often and one day I fear I’ll never get it going again, how can I diagnose what the problem is? I think I’d like to factory reset and fit a new hard drive if possible, how do I go about doing this please?

Thanks

Heedtheadvice

Good news. Now you are back up and running you should do some sensible things.


1 Do a backup. If all else fails you can then load your backup to get back to the current working state - an alternative to 'last known good configuration' that makes a copy of everything so it would not matter what you loose and includes not just windows but any apps you have installed.

Later on, if you do more diagnostic work, maybe fix any problems found, virus check, do updates etc. you can repeat. My suggestion is download Macrium Reflect, make a recovery disk or stick and do full disk backup (every partition) to a clean external hard drive. Low cost and can save hours of worry and work. Future backups can be a bit less rigerous and shorter.



2 Full Virus check/clean using your current software and then also Malware bytes (download if you do not have it, the free or trial version) get it running with default actions/quaranteen if anything found. Ensure before running that all the antivirus app, its data is and Malwarebytes is updated before running the checks or you might be wasting your time.



3 Do a full hard disk check. Disk manufacturers web sites have them for free. That will give you confidence in disk working state. Seagate's ones are those I use.


4 check bios version and update if needs be.


5 set a restore point (easy quick revert in case things go wrong) do your Windows updates, set updates to download automatically is an option - same for any apps that auto check.



6 if any changes have been made do the full backup process again.


7 set up a schedule to do a system backup and a separate data backup. Consider to your new hard drive and to the cloud.


Now that might seem quite a lot so take it step by step. It will help to ensure your pc and it's stored data are more secure and can be recovered easily if there are future problems. Some will argue that it is overkill a bit (and suggest other things I have missed such as updated drivers, browser updates add-ons etc) but it takes not too much work, is low cost and if you loose use of your PC or valuable data you will not regret it!


Several posters can tell you how to do each step.

grumpycrab

mikeopvc wrote: »

I could really do with sorting out my computer as this happens too often and one day I fear I’ll never get it going again,

before you start, have you got a backup plan?