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HOME & SMALL BUSINESS COMPUTER SYSTEMS & NETWORKS
Help! My Computer Won't Boot!
Do This Step Now!
You should have a good Emergency Boot Disk available. If you do not have an Emergency Boot Disk make one now.
Windows 9x:
Note that a boot disk is not formatted the same way as a normal disk you use to store data. If your disk is not formatted correctly, it will not work as a boot disk. To format the disk, follow these steps:
Put a blank floppy disk into drive A:.
Double-click My Computer
Right-click Floppy Drive and choose Format.
Under Other Options, check Copy System Files (The system files are three files which distinguish a system disk from a regular disk. Two of the files, IO.SYS and MSDOS.SYS, are hidden and the third, COMMAND.COM, provides basic DOS commands such as DIR and COPY).
Next, choose Start|Settings|Control Panel and double-click Add/Remove Programs.
Click the Startup Disk tab, then click the Create Disk button.
You may be asked to insert your Windows 95 or 98 CD. (Note that if your CD-ROM drive letter has changed because you added another IDE device since you installed Windows, you may have to switch the drive letter to read the CD).Windows XP:
Place a formatted blank diskette in the A: drive
Open My Computer to the C: drive
Select Tools, Folder Options, View Tab, Files & Folders.
Click Show Hidden files and folders.
Also, Uncheck the box for "Hide Protected Operating System Files (recommended)."
Locate and copy the following files to the diskette:
ntldr
ntdetect.com
boot.ini
Label the diskette "Windows XP Boot Disk."NOTE: After making your boot disk, select "Do not show hidden files and folders" and recheck "Hide Protected Operating System Files (recommended)."
When a PC fails to boot it is almost always caused by the installation of a new program or device which is causing a conflict with one or more other programs or devices.
The following are common ways to correct boot problems, whether your computer is not completely booting or is failing to boot at all.
If your computer won't Boot at all:
Win 9x:
Put your boot floppy disk in the floppy drive and turn on the PC. On some computers, you may have to access the bios and select the Boot priority to your A: drive.
Select "Start Computer without CDROM support" and press Enter.
Once you are at the A prompt type dir c: and press enter.
You should see a fairly large listing of file names scroll on/off the screen.
If the computer will not boot from the diskette call a computer professional for assistance.Win XP:
Place XP Boot Disk in the A: drive. Turn on the computer. Windows should bypass the basic boot files on the hard drive, using those on the diskette, and continue to boot.
If the computer will boot from the diskette:
Remove the diskette and restart the computer.
- Restore your System Registry by following the steps below. This may repair Windows, the Config. Sys and autoexec.bat files to allow the PC to boot normally.
- At the A: prompt, type "fdisk /mbr" and press Enter to restore your master boot record.
- Type "Scandisk C:" to check the hard drive for errors.
- You can also type "Sys C:" to restore files needed to boot your computer.
If The PC Won't Boot Pass Windows
FIRST......If your Operating System is Windows Millennium,turn on the computer and immediately press and hold down the CTRL key.Once the startup options appear,release the CTRL key. Select Safe Mode and press Enter.You are now in Windows limited version.If you know what caused your computer not to boot,you can now either change or delete that program.
SECOND....Repair your Registry by selecting Start,Run and typing "scanregw /fix" and press enter.This will fix any damage done to the Registry. You can also restore your registry which replaces your current registry with an earlier copy that was backed up by your computer.Click on Start,Run and type "scanregw /restore and press Enter.
To repair your Windows 98 Registry,hold down the CTRL key as you start the PC and select "Command Prompt Only".Type "scanreg /fix" and press Enter and "scanreg/restore" to restore a previousely saved copy of the Registry.
If you have Windows XP,press F8 after rebooting the PC should Windows freeze while booting up. You can select "Last Known Good Configuration" after rebooting to allow the computer to boot the last backed up files.And you can choose "Safe Mode" to remove any files you know caused the operating system to hang up.
Be prepared when your operating system fail. It would be a great idea to go over this article a few times and print it.Make yourself s notebook and place this and all related articles there.
If your computer fails to boot or begins to become unstable,you can refer to these articles to make corrections that are needed.Learn these steps from your television set with the PC Super Pack at http://www.ultimatepcrepair.com/
Be sure to note any changes you make to your Registry and if you're not sure,its best to find a friend that's pc savvy first.Above all,be certain you back up your registry before making any changes and know how to restore as well.