The LNER Encyclopedia

An IT question:

When I got a new computer a few years ago, I kept my old one as it still worked and I thought it would be useful as a backup for if (when?) my current one failed. Every month or so I'd power it up and update bits, do a couple of Internet searches etc. However, the last time I tried this, in the middle of reading about some European history, it froze and I could not get it to respond. In the end I pulled the plug out and restarted it (a procedure I've had to resort to occasionally before) but the following came up: I tried the last option and then the last known configuration, then the safe mode with command prompt (not that I really know what this means or what to do but I was running out of options). Every time I was taken back to the screen. I tried again this am and now the highlighting sticks to the last option and I can't even move it using the arrow keys.

Is there anything I can try to get it going again or do I offer it a last cigarette & a blindfold? As it's an old one (Windows XP) and used for very little, I don't want to spend more than £5 on it and preferably not even that. But as I'm not an IT person, I could be missing something very simple which could magically restore it to life. Any ideas?

Had something like that happen with mine.
At first it was a screen freeze then a Blue Screen with text came up. This was about once every 2 months or so but it got more frequent.
In the end I got a new desktop and transferred everything.

I think that a clue can be gleaned from the common name for this "The Blue Screen of Death" is a term I have heard a number of times.

You could start if safe mode and see if the OS loads, checks the system events and try and figure out what the issue is. Probably a corrupted device driver.
You could boot from a Windows XP CD and try and do a repair or rebuild from scratch.
Depends how old the PC is and what it is worth and whether you have any data on there you need. As it is the hard drive could be connected up in another PC and you can probably get your documents off.
XP is effectively end of life now so probably the time to upgrade.

Yes I would go with something corrupted on the disk.

Using safe mode, copy anything you want to keep.
Consider re-installing Windows. Also do a full disk check (including a 'surface' check).
Traditional hard disks do develop bad sectors over time, and usually result in corrupted files.

The disk check will find the bad sectors and make sure they're not used, but it won't repair broken data - you'll still need to reinstall the broken files.

If you're finding loads of bad sectors, then I'd replace the hard disk - but that would cost more than your fiver.

That screen appears because the system didn't run down before it was turned off last time.

Turn your pc on but at the same time hold down the F5 key on the top row of the keyboard. The same or similar screen should reappear but this time you may be able to use the up and down keys. If you can, go to 'safe mode', and press 'enter'.

Your desk top will appear but in a large scale. Click the start key and in the box, type in 'system restore' and restore the system to an earlier date when it was working alright. It won't affect your files but if you've loaded any new programs since that restore date, they'll need reloading. When it's finished, it will turn the pc off and start again.

Seeing that it's an old computer, it will have a small, by modern standards, hard drive and it sounds like an early version of Xp. You say you're not an IT person so I doubt if you've used scandisk or defrag to delete the rubbish that builds up as you use your pc and fills up the hard drive and therefore slows it down and maybe to eventual stop. These are mainly temporary files which can be deleted.

Imagine you're doing some calculations on a piece of paper and in between time, do some jottings on another piece of paper which you don't later need and throw away. They are the equivalent of your temporary files. Whenever, you're using the pc, temporary files are created. You don't need them after they've been used so you delete them.

If none of this has been done before, the scan disk may take a while with the defrag taking several hours.

You'll be amazed how that speeds things up. I do a scandisk at least every week, sometimes a few times and a defrag, if necessary once a month.

It doesn't sound like a hard drive problem, just that a file has been corrupted. Do you have the Xp discs? If so, reload them and they will overwrite what's already on, replacing infected files.

If none of this helps, try looking in Google for a solution. Type in 'My Windows Xp freezes on startup' and there'll be several options with easy to read explanations.

A computer is like your car. it has to be maintained and more often than not if anything goes wrong, it's a simple thing that can be easily corrected.

Good luck.

If it was due to a bad shutdown then things like "last known configuration" should have worked.

Time and again, mysteriously corrupted files turn out to be bad sectors on the disk.
Considering it is an older machine, a full disk check should be one of the first things done.
And definitely do it before you do a defreg - otherwise the defrag will simply spread the problem out (copying corrupted files; and then copying okay files on to any bad sectors, so corrupting them...)

Thanks for the replies (so far). I'll see what I can do next week.

I don't think there's much data on that I need, it's really a back-up machine. I have scanned for viruses the last but one time it was on but probably haven't defragged it for nearly a year, mainly as it is used so little now. (I do the latter with my current machine more often).

Thanks.

No luck I'm afraid. Kestrel's suggestion about holding F5 on starting worked and the arrow keys would now function. I went to safe mode and on pressing enter, got: I pressed enter and it then went to: and then restarted, taking me back to the original screen. I tried selecting the disabling of automatic restart but this had no effect. I then tried a few variations, including safe using command prompt, and these had no effect I could see, we're just getting the same loop again and again.

I tried looking in Google and there was little offered I could use. I cannot find the original CD of Windows XP & suspect I don't have it, so reloading is not an option. One thing I did come across - the 'CMOS'(?) battery was dead - I swopped it with a spare I had in an RMLelectronics diorama - and this explains why the time & date needed resetting every operating session. But there was no progress or change in getting the machine to start again.

I think I hear the headsman sharpening his axe... anyone with a possible reprieve?

4lb hammer time.......

I guess it is possible there are other settings in the BIOS which were lost when the battery died, but it is difficult to know what at a distance.
It is seeing the disk, so the most important settings (disk type, location, boot order) are defaulting correctly!
Similarly, if the memory settings were off (was that possible on such an early PC?), it would be an all or nothing affair.

Yes time for a re-purposing. If it really is old, junk it (or scavenge for parts if they're not too old). Or replace the hard-disk and install a new OS - I've been known to do that ("new" computer for less than GBP50 or so?).

Assuming it is more or less a terminal case you can buy one of these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/USB-2-0-to-SA ... 4d31c63e1a which allows you to connect an old Hard Drive to your current PC via USB and move the data from the old HDD to your PC.
I sorted out a friend's PC a year ago which would only display a solid blue screen (no text) and it was hell to do. It took me a day and the tight never gave me the couple of pints I asked for doing it.

The axe is on its backswing...

Thanks for the suggestion Pinza but there's nothing on it I need. Since my last post I've not been able to get it out of the loop and no-one I know has a spare Windows XP CD, so sentence will be carried out at dawn tomorrow. Well, actually, Edmund's persuaded me that that's not right, we'll do it on Friday and have half the week off. He would have said Monday, but he learnt his lesson after Lord Ponsonby!

Which is a convoluted way of asking if anyone wants any spares? It will be a few days before I get a screwdriver in my hand but any requests, let me know.

Axe?

Axe?

A 4lb hammer is more fun!