Computer Help: SJ.com Techies to the Batphone.

OK, here's the scoop:

We had some sort of power surge, or outage two nights ago. I know, because stuff I taped on the DVR has a good two minutes of snow. And when I went to boot up the computer, it doesn't work. I get an error message with a scroll option of safe mode, last good settings, etc. No matter which I choose, I get bounced to a Windows screen, a bunch of other error messages and then back to the error message with the scroll menu.

If I let it continue to do this on its own (there's a 30 second countdown), I eventually get the blue screen of death.

My computer is dead, isn't it?

Help, please?

 

Sorry, Zeke. I think your computer died of dysentery.

 

That's what I told the girl (It's actually her machine).

Shitfuck. I am seriously dreading going to Best Buy and having some 16-year-old kid try to anally violate me.

 

Research what you can and get those cards in your favor. It's not a mental thing ... but in the past, when I needed something from a place like that, I go in armed with some knowledge. Usually, that causes the other side to quickly back down.

Good luck, Zeke. Sorry about the machine meltdown.

 

The computer isn't dead!

I just want to clarify that you do need to press F8 to get to Last Known Good. Please, try this.

What likely happened, and you aren't alone in this, is the black/brown out caught your PC while it was in the middle of transferring bits. Thus a file may have become corrupt. This could be a core file to the O/S. It is also possible that the brown out could have killed a sector on the hard drive which, during boot-up, gets hit and returns the blue screen of death. (side note: it would be really helpful if you listed out what the blue screen's error is. Normally a file name is mentioned giving a hint as to where the problem is.)

If you have a bad sector on the hard drive, you can buy a new one. They are fairly cheap these days and you can take your current drive, make it a slave, and then copy all the data off that you need.

Good luck!

 

Tried pressing F8 to get to Last Known Good. Didn't help. Wouldn't start in Safe Mode, either.


The error message on the blue screen of death mentions new hardware or software errors. That's all I remember.

 

It's dead. I experienced the same thing with my laptop. You'll lose basically everything on the hard-drive.

 

Hmm. Well, if Last Known Good doesn't work and Safe Mode isn't loading... your O/S could pretty well be shot. Check on the file name that is mentioned on the blue screen and see if you are able to load if from another computer sharing the same O/S. It isn't necessarily going to work, but sometimes you get lucky.

Also, don't delete bad files just because you think you have a good one from another computer. I'm sure you know this, but I say it just in case.

Lastly, how much would it cost for someone on the Geek Squad to repair it?

If you know how to install Windows by yourself, save the money that Geek Squad will charge you and buy a new hard drive (check whether you need IDE or SATA). Put the new drive in yourself, install the O/S and you'll have more storage space and save money.


=================
SORRY, last thing... just saw Spup's post... you will NOT lose everything if it is a desktop or you know what you are doing. Installing an O/S doesn't require you delete everything from before.

 

For the love of God, do NOT let the Geek Squad touch it. I made that mistake after my hard drive started going kaput, and it was the equivalent of shooting a horse after a bruised buttock. They stuck the hard drive in a freezer for 24 hours, when sticking it in the freezer for five minutes is all that might be necessary to keep the hard drive from overheating, or whatever. Take it to a local computer shop, with a real techie, and see if he can work his magic. If he can't, he will suggest that he can charge you $500-$1,000 to take your hard drive to a clean room and see what he can do. At that point, THEN you shoot the horse.

 

Thanks for the advice, Pastor, but we've andvanced past my paygrade, I fear.

I tried getting it to boot from Windows with the CD in the drive, and that didn't work either.

I think it's a dead duck.

 

Check the BIOS to make sure that it is set to boot from the CD first.

The PC isn't dead because it is able to boot to the point of letting you know that the O/S has a problem. That means it has moved beyond the hardware on the system and is now onto the hard drive's information.