Computer help PLEASE!!!

TinyDancer · #1 09-11-2008, 10:49 PM

PLEASE please help! My computer keeps taking me to the "start in safe mode, start in normal mode, start in last mode that worked" etc screen and no matter what choice I pick, it tries to start then goes back to that screen again! I think this is bad.

If anyone has any suggestions on how to fix it or at least get my stuff off of it, I'd sooooo appreciate it. I would also appreciate pixie dust!

TIA!

PS - On the plus side, I did just have an AWESOME crunch planning session with my dad! I got surprises for my sisters (thanks for the suggestions, CaptainJessicaSparrow I'm going to need to talk to you or another cast member!) and he's all for them!

I love you all.

jonahbear2006 · #2 09-12-2008, 01:15 AM

You really need to find a geek squad that can help you get your information off of your computer cause this can be a hardware or software issue and its hard to know without looking at it, what it may be. If you can't get it to boot properly then getting the stuff off is going to be very difficult if you don't know computer tech support well. Either way you are looking at spending money getting it taken care of and remember, you wont buy a new car without a warantee so dont buy a computer without one. Always get a product replacement plan, accidental, and service the new computer to cover your item, so if something like this happens, you won't have to worry about how it is going to be replaced or fixed.
You can find a best buy near you or you can call 1800geeksquad. There is also firefox at circuit city stores but they aren't, imho, trained as well as geek squad agents and I wouldn't personally recommend them. If you dont have to worry about losing information this is no big deal, but if you have things you need to save then definitely get some help from someone who knows how to help you but this isn't really a troubleshooting problem that can be helped without seeing the computer.

WDWCP Spring99 · #3 09-12-2008, 02:12 AM

Have you installed any recent updates like Windows XP Service Pack 3? When we pushed that out to the PC's at our office 3 of them got into and endless cycle of reboots and I had to find instructions on how to manually remove it before they would boot correctly again.
If you need to get service from a technician, I would ask around (possibly at work, or friends) to see where others take their computers. Perhaps the "Geek Squad" at your local Best Buy is good, but the guys at my local one are rude, and uninformed about the products that their store carries.
Good luck and if I can help I'll do my best!

DizneyRox · #4 09-12-2008, 06:41 AM

Please stay away from the Geek Squad. The problem yu are describing is a tough one to crack, it's usually the result of some update or installed software, the trick is to remove it safely. It is normally beyond the knowledge of most novice computer nerds. A call to your tech support will probably result in them advising to install Windows all over, which can sometimes cause loss of personal data.

Ask around, everyone has someone in the family that's a resident geek. It's not my favorite problem to resolve, but I can normally get the PC back up and running without them losing their personal files. The amount of effort to do that is often not appreciated (they think it's easy), but that's why I now charge!

Itchy · #5 09-12-2008, 07:42 AM

As previous posters have stated you probably need to find a good computer tech. My computer at work had the same symptoms and was able to re-start it though safe mode but after a few of these re-starts it would not re-start. When our I.T. guys looked at the computer they found that the hard drive had died. They were not able to retrive anything that I has stored there. I lost a lot of documents some of which I had backed up, but a good number that are gone forever.

Dont delay in having it looked at and if you can start saving anything on the hard drive I would do that as well.

Good luck.

DizneyRox · #6 09-12-2008, 09:57 AM

Agreed... I do a hardware refresh every so often. I don't wait for a HD to fail on me, I find a good deal transfer the drive intact and move on.

Recently I picked up a little USB dongle that I can plug a hard drive into (or laptop) and then the other end into a USB port and it show up as a drive. This way I can access files without having to boot off it. Not sure why I waited so long to pick one up, I could have used it a million times already!

sharimac · #7 09-12-2008, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonahbear2006

you wont buy a new car without a warantee so dont buy a computer without one. Always get a product replacement plan, accidental, and service the new computer to cover your item, so if something like this happens, you won't have to worry about how it is going to be replaced or fixed.

This isn't always true. I bought a new laptop (at Best Buy) and I bought the full warranty to go with it, almost $300 over and above the price of the laptop. It started having a problem similar to this so I brought it back to Geek Squad. They said that the problem was software related and was not covered by my warranty. It will now cost me at least $200 to re-install my operating system and hopefully that will work.

I won't buy a PC from them again, I don't like dealing with Geek Squad at all. The "D" key fell off my laptop so I brought it in. They said that they had to send it out, they couldn't fix it there, so we had to wait 2 1/2 weeks. 2 weeks later it fell off again. We brought it back and they said they would replace the keyboard this time. Well, obviously they didn't because it fell off AGAIN. I have had it with them, I only go back because I still have a warranty there.

DizneyRox · #8 09-12-2008, 11:04 PM

I never suggest anyone purchase anything at Worst Buy either!

Altair · #9 09-28-2008, 12:51 PM

My computer downloaded Service Pack 3 and put it into the reboot cycle. They have to reformat the hard drive to fix the problem. This is the second time a Microsoft update has messed up my computer.

DizneyRox · #10 09-28-2008, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Altair

My computer downloaded Service Pack 3 and put it into the reboot cycle. They have to reformat the hard drive to fix the problem. This is the second time a Microsoft update has messed up my computer.

Automatic Updates is a very bad thing... I decide for myself when to install things, and SP3 took a while for me to make up my mind.

hokies4life · #11 09-30-2008, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DizneyRox

Automatic Updates is a very bad thing... I decide for myself when to install things, and SP3 took a while for me to make up my mind.

I agree. This is part of why I love having my own Computer Geek DBF, because I learn tips like this and also have learned how to deal with problems like this on my own. I had this problem on my computer but for me it was my main video card that had gone bad, and once I switched to my secondary one it worked fine.