Laptop Woes - Lost Windows!!

[David Schweizer]

This morning Jan decided to update the Windows XP on her laptop, she pressed all the correct tabs and everythng seemed to go ok until the automatic re start. An error message came up (white text on a black screen) saying that Windows could not start, possibly because of a recent software or hardware update. The screen gave a number of options including a tab to reinstate the last Widows version known to work, she clicked on this and the computer re-started windows, only to get the same error message. She has performed updates in the past and they have always worked.

 

She has tried switching the lap top off and re-starting it, but she still gets the same error message.

Normally we would phone our daughter's boyfriend, who is a programmer, but unfortunately our "personal technical support" is in Crete at the moment, so any suggestioons (in words of only one sylable please) would be appreciated.

 

Please no advice about being on the wrong operating system, XP is what is on the computer, and that is all we have got.

Edited September 23, 2012 by David Schweizer

[Barry]

Wouldn't have happened if you'd ha....oh ok............. Sorry, couldn't resist

 

Seriously though that sounds very worrying and frustrating - hope you can get it fixed

[David Mack]

The screen gave a number of options including a tab to reinstate the last Widows version known to work,

 

Did the options include Start Windows in Safe Mode? Try this - you get a very basic looking version of windows. Try updating again from here and then restart.

 

This may allow the update to complete and sort out the problem.

[jelunga]

If you have the original system disk there are recovery programmes ther, but do not reinstall XP. It will wipe all your data !

[Guest]

Did the options include Start Windows in Safe Mode? Try this - you get a very basic looking version of windows. Try updating again from here and then restart.

 

This may allow the update to complete and sort out the problem.

Agree

 

If you have the original system disk there are recovery programmes ther, but do not reinstall XP. It will wipe all your data !

And agree.

 

We don't normally install of the xp disc at work, but seem to recall there is a repair/recovery mode on the install disc. Do you have your personal data backed up in any way?

[RLWP]

I've had several with this problem recently.

Unfortunately the only way I've been able to sort it has been to take all the data off, then rebuild the laptop back to the original settings.

I've found they won't start in safe mode, or by doing a repair to the start up options.

 

This only works if you have the original disks, or your laptop has a recovery partition which most do.

 

Please don't reinstall without backing up, you will loose everything , including your emails unless they are online.

To back up in this case you'll need to take the disk out of the PC, and attach it to another PC so you can access the data without trying to run windows on the broken PC.

 

I think you'll need to wait for your "personal Technical support" or find someone to do the job for you. If you do get someone else please make sure they know there is information on there you need saved. And if you use outlook express or similar for your emails you'll need to find the files, they are well hidden, not in my documents.

 

If you want any more specific help then just ask.

 

Sue

[oarfish]

I've had several with this problem recently.

Unfortunately the only way I've been able to sort it has been to take all the data off, then rebuild the laptop back to the original settings.

I've found they won't start in safe mode, or by doing a repair to the start up options.

 

This only works if you have the original disks, or your laptop has a recovery partition which most do.

 

 

This sounds about right, some laptop makers' recovery partitions can back up your data before wiping and reinstalling the operating system. If it doesn't you will need to get the drive out and mount it on another machine to copy over your data - you can get USB adaptors for this.

 

I have had updates go wrong like this now and again, can be caused by a bad write from a failing drive. Non SSD laptop drives don't tend to last all that long and are quite error prone due to movement.

[David Schweizer]

I think we will take Richard's Sue's advice and wait until Ben returns from Greece. Although people have tried to keep their advice simple, I am already lost. For example, I have no idea how we can back up data when we cannot access anything except an error screen. Fortunately this is not the household's main computer and is not connected for emails etc, so most of the stored data is photos which are already backed up on an USB stick.

 

My main issue is why do Microsoft send out updates which mess up your computer?

Edited September 23, 2012 by David Schweizer

[smileypete]

This morning Jan decided to update the Windows XP on her laptop, she pressed all the correct tabs and everythng seemed to go ok until the automatic re start.

Whoa, stop right there...! Oh, too late...

 

Do you have another PC available? Bit hard to do anything without that, an external hard disk would also be very handy.

 

Edit: Have you tried pressing F8 as the lappie boots, to see if it gets into Safe Mode?

 

cheers, Pete.

~smtp~

Edited September 23, 2012 by smileypete

[David Schweizer]

Well my wife has tried all the suggestion with serial error messages appearing. She finally slammed the lid shut and uttered "oh f*** it". "Is that a technical term?" I asked. The computer is now broken and I have a sore head!

[Arthur Brown]

Upodates do occasionally fail, then it's a matter of getting all the reat of the data off the disc and into another computer and rebuilding the old lappy from there. It does demand another computer and a connector for your hard drive directly to a USB plug. Sadly it's pay a geek time.

 

Does anyone have real experience of solid state drives? They should be longer lasting as there are no moving parts, but are they?

Edited September 23, 2012 by Arthur Brown

[Paul C]

You CAN reinstall windows without losing data. That's if you have the genuine operating system install disc, ie not a laptop recovery partition which wipes the hard disk and puts windows + a bunch of other software on it.

 

If you do this, its suggested NOT to reinstall it to C:\WINDOWS, instead choose something like C:\WINDOWS2 or something like that. But you'll have a 'funny' configuration after then, and you'll also need to reinstall all the programs again to make them work. Its a useful technique when you don't have any other way of getting the data off of a computer. If you do (ie you can remove the hard disc and use an adapter to another computer, or fit it into another computer) then this is a better way.

 

Either way, will involve hours/days of loading software, doing windows updates and copying data around though.

[David Schweizer]

Upodates do occasionally fail, then it's a matter of getting all the reat of the data off the disc and into another computer and rebuilding the old lappy from there. It does demand another computer and a connector for your hard drive directly to a USB plug. Sadly it's pay a geek time.

 

Does anyone have real experience of solid state drives? They should be longer lasting as there are no moving parts, but are they?

We have our own pet geek, but he is in Crete at the moment, why are they never around when you need them?

Edited September 23, 2012 by David Schweizer

[Chalky]

Having fixed several PCs in the past that have failed to update etc I would remove the hard disk and connect it to another PC (if you don't know how then this is not the approach for you). You can then remove all of the data from the drive safely. You then re-install the drive into it's original PC and format / re-install windows. You then use USB sticks / network connection etc to move the data back.

There are some Linux disks that run off the CD and don't install that would allow you to access the hard drive and backup the data onto an external device.

 

I seem to remember in the past that there was a windows update that had an issue with leaving PCs dead in the water. Microsoft said that it had not shown up in their testing and that they'd traced the problem to virus activity that had moved / changed things and made the install fail. They suggested re-format & install...

[oarfish]

Does anyone have real experience of solid state drives? They should be longer lasting as there are no moving parts, but are they?

 

 

 

Been using SSDs since second generation, 4 drives or so. not had one fail. Not a large sample size though Not sure the MTBF was great early on compared to desktop drives, but laptop disks have a very high failure rate due to the movement.

[larkshall]

Upodates do occasionally fail, then it's a matter of getting all the reat of the data off the disc and into another computer and rebuilding the old lappy from there. It does demand another computer and a connector for your hard drive directly to a USB plug. Sadly it's pay a geek time.

 

Does anyone have real experience of solid state drives? They should be longer lasting as there are no moving parts, but are they?

 

 

Yes solid state drives have a number of pluses, and one major downside. THE NUMBER OF WRITE CYCLES IS LIMITED. Use them for mostly read only access and they are fine.

 

Having fixed several PCs in the past that have failed to update etc I would remove the hard disk and connect it to another PC (if you don't know how then this is not the approach for you). You can then remove all of the data from the drive safely. You then re-install the drive into it's original PC and format / re-install windows. You then use USB sticks / network connection etc to move the data back.

There are some Linux disks that run off the CD and don't install that would allow you to access the hard drive and backup the data onto an external device.

 

I seem to remember in the past that there was a windows update that had an issue with leaving PCs dead in the water. Microsoft said that it had not shown up in their testing and that they'd traced the problem to virus activity that had moved / changed things and made the install fail. They suggested re-format & install...

 

 

Chalky, I also seem to remember that for some upgrades you need to change a bios setting first. If your bios disables boot sector write, this must be changed to enable for the duration of the update, else update fails leaving you in the proverbial 'bit-bucket'

[Chalky]

Been using SSDs since second generation, 4 drives or so. not had one fail. Not a large sample size though Not sure the MTBF was great early on compared to desktop drives, but laptop disks have a very high failure rate due to the movement.

 

ALL solid state memory has a limited number of write cycles - it can vary from 10,000 up to millions, but it is limited. Many memory chips have circuitry on them to manage dead cells and bring spare ones in to use or mark them as not working. A common approach is to walk the write process through memory so that the write occurs to a different location every time and thus level the wear - this is usually done by the drive electronics.

Is it a problem - depends on the application. I've got an Asus netbook that uses SSD/EEPROM/Flash. I store the swap file on a removable SD card so it's not an issue.

[Robbo]

Yes solid state drives have a number of pluses, and one major downside. THE NUMBER OF WRITE CYCLES IS LIMITED. Use them for mostly read only access and they are fine.

 

I wouldn't let it worry people who are looking at SSD drives, the write cycles may be limited but is so high that the drive will outlast a standard hard drive in normal desktop use.