Laptop...crashed

[Jess]

stopped working a few days ago....I just can't turn it on. however recently I could...but the blue screen of death came up before I could do anything (I logged in and it happened)

I just hope I can get all my docs and pics out. that's possible, right? and if it's the hard drive that has a problem, is there any way possible to fix it??

[JackOfClubs]

When you are booting up, press F8 when the screen with the blinking cursor comes up, after the BIOS screen (the first thing you see when you hit the power button). From there, select Safe Mode, and see if it boots up from there. If that works, copy all of your important stuff to an external hard drive, or, if you have a small amount of stuff, to a USB flash drive. Then run a virus scan, if you can.

If the hard drive is the problem, you either buy a new hard drive, and reinstall Windows and all of your programs, or buy a new laptop. If you send it in to whoever made the laptop to be fixed, you stand the chance of losing everything.

[Invincible]

^ What he said.
And well, make it quick. When my hard drive died, I foolishly tried to get it back in full running order without backing things up.

If your laptop makes a clicking noise when its trying to boot, chances are your hdd is on its way out. There are always ways to restore data from a dead hdd, but you'd need another one.

Best boot into safe mode if you can, back everything up and work from there.

[Commander Thor]

Generally BSODs are not cause for concern when it comes to your hard drive going the way of the dinosaurs.
Next time a BSOD occurs, pay attention to what's displayed on the screen. Generally the 3rd or 4th line down will give you some sort of indication of what's wrong.
Most of the time, these errors can be fixed with a CHKDSK /r command.

[Jess]

Jack, if I reinstall Windows...how will I backup everything???

[Commander Thor]

To answer your question...
If you can boot in to safe mode (Press F8 while the computer is booting up (Before you get to the 'Loading Windows' screen), then select Safe Mode), you can copy files to an external HDD or flash drives (Or if you really need to, DVDs). If that does not work, try Safe Mode with Command Prompt. If you can get into a command prompt window, type in "chkdsk /r". The operation will take some time to complete. Should fix any bootup type errors
If you cannot boot into safe mode (Or if CHKDSK doesn't work), you can try the Windows Recovery Console. It's located on the Windows installation disk, and can be accessed by following the prompts on the screen. When the command window opens, type in "fixboot".
IF THAT FAILS.
You'll need to try and get a LiveCD of Linux (or some other portable operating system) and boot into that, to copy the files off on to some external media.

[Jess]

one little problem, my computer sometimes doesn't start up at all. but I'll do what you say

[Slippy]

What do you mean when it wont start up/turn on?

Does it power on at all? Anything on the screen? Does windows start to load at all?

[Jess]

sometimes it doesn't turn on at all

sometimes it does but the windows loading thing doesn't show up


sometimes it does but it is stuck at the blinking cursor forever

sometimes it does and I get to log in. then it crashes.

sometimes the screen blackens and it kind of "dies"

[Sorrento]

If you have a dump log from the BSOD, typically found in C:\windows\memory.dmp, you can turn that file over to a tech guy to figure out where exactly the crash occurred (driver, memory, etc).

Also, you can find out what the BSOD error is by hitting F8 and selecting the "disable automatic restart" option from the list that appears.

Finally, if your system just has a cursor blinks for a while during boot, your system may be having problems detecting a drive (cdrom, removable, etc) or may be trying to boot from one. My parents computer used to freeze if my brother's iPod was plugged in when the computer was turned on. A BIOS update may fix this.

[Jess]

okay thanks so much!!