My dad's computer was running slow and so last night he deleted some files and programs off that haven't been used in years.

He turned it off this morning, then the blue screen pops up with an error message.

Now he can only start it in safe mode. he tried a system restore to last friday, but nothing is helping...any clue what to do?

He wonders if he could have deleted something that he needed, but wouldn't a message come up telling him that he is missing something important?

[Edited on December 23, 2007 at 6:48 PM. Reason : ]

12/23/2007 6:45:08 PM

pwnt.

12/23/2007 6:59:38 PM

dumbass

12/23/2007 7:55:13 PM

What does the blue screen error message say? Do you have a copy of a Windows XP cd? If not, get one, you're probably gonna need it.

12/23/2007 8:03:10 PM

Quote :

"He wonders if he could have deleted something that he needed, but wouldn't a message come up telling him that he is missing something important?"

not necessarily

post the message that you get on the blue screen

12/23/2007 8:19:22 PM

Having the same prob with an OLD computer I found in my grandpa's house... not getting an error message though. It will only start in safe mode. Any suggestions for other things to look for instead of an error message?

12/26/2007 5:48:19 PM

in both instances, try a repair install.

Requirements
1 (one) x Windows XP CD
1 (one) x Windows XP Key matched to above Windows XP CD

Put the cd in the drive and boot to it. Once it starts windows setup it will ask you to
a) install windows
b) recovery console
c) quit

you want to a) install windows

After accepting the eula it will scan your HDD and hopefully find the existing install of XP.
It will:
A) find your install
B) not find your install

if It B) does not find the install, take the disc out and reboot. You'll have to try something else. See after the next bit.

If it A) does find the existing install of windows it will ask you if you want to repair it. This is what you want to do so hit enter. It will copy files to the hdd and then reboot. When you see the prompt to hit anykey to enter setup ignore it. It will then go into windows setup and you just walk through it. its p. easy to figure out. The process usually takes 45-90 minutes depending on your system. This should fix any problems with corrupt system files.

If it didn't find your install or the repair install didn't fix the problem then the issue is either Hardware or non-system software related.

Hardware or Software issue now would be a good idea to backup as much shit as you can. If you can boot into safe mode with networking, then you can connect to another machine's network share and drop off any important files.

If you get a blue screen and an IRQ_NOT_GREATERTHAN or something error than its like 99% of the time a hardware issue. Maybe ram maybe hdd. Get on another computer and download memtest86 to test your ram. I dont know of any good cd bootable HDD testers, but im sure someone in here does. Also whoever made the HDD should have one and if your computer was made in the last decade it probably has a bios based HDD and Ram checker. I would use them.

If it does turn out to be bad hardware, go buy replacement parts. If not then you can try to figure out what software is fucking you up.

If you feel like it you can try to uninstall a bunch of crap from within safe mode. Dont just go deleting stuff willy nilly because it can fuck your shit. If you have an anti-virus and/or spyware cleaner (and you should) run them from safemode to see if they find anything.

If you dont feel like doing ^ that stuff then (after your shit is backed up) put the Windows CD back in the drive, go through windows setup once more but instead of a repair install, do a fresh install. Wipe out the windows partition and start from scratch.


have fun

12/26/2007 6:19:02 PM

^ haha, thanks for the crash course. When I get an extra hour or so this weekend I'll give it a go.

12/26/2007 6:51:32 PM