Author Topic: It my computer 'crashed' ?  (Read 2183 times)

superman300038

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It my computer 'crashed' ?
« on: September 02, 2009, 04:15:35 PM »
    Last night I turned my computer off, and today when I turned it on..

    It would show the inital black setup screen (the one with the numbers/letters) then go on to the next screen with a blue backround and saying "HP" in the center... after then it goes black for a second then switches to the pick a user screen.

    Except today, it goes from the "HP" screen and sticks on the black screen, it does not move on to the select a user screen.  I tried turning it off and on, even turning off all the power.  It doesn't work. 

    I'm no computer wiz.. by any stretch. So I was wondering is my computer gone, and can it be saved?

     Some backround that may be relevant... a few ppl in house were turning computer off inappropriately for awhile and then the computer would make a humming noise.  Finally they stopped but the noise continued getting worse.. almost like a reving engine.  (Not nearly as loud obviously)  It lasted awhile, but.. today it obviously decided to stop working so well.  Thanks in advance!!

LawfulJoe

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Re: It my computer 'crashed' ?
« Reply #1 on: September 02, 2009, 04:23:55 PM »
The sound makes me think your hard drive gave up the ghost. If it is SATA connected, try opening you computer, unplugging the cable at the drive, NOT AT THE MOTHER BOARD, and plug it back in. These can wiggle loose sometimes. Other than that, I think your compute is looking for the boot info on your hard drive and since it cannot find the drive, can go no further.

Things to Try:
1. Unplug your computer and hold down the power button for 60 seconds. Then plug it back in and try to start up.
2. Boot off of your Window OS Disk and see if you can access your files.
3. Check www.newegg.com or www.tigerdirect.com for good prices on Hard Drives. Go for a Western Digital, they seem to be a good name.

LeslieMS

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Re: It my computer 'crashed' ?
« Reply #2 on: September 02, 2009, 04:29:01 PM »
That sounds like maybe a bad hard drive... if its not too old most manufacturers offer a hard drive warranty...

If it isn't the hard drive then check and make sure everything is plugged in in the back before you panic... sometimes my older pc won't boot unless the mouse and keyboard are plugged in...

or it could be a recent software conflict... but from what you say I would say you either need a new drive or you may need to reformat.

when its booting up look for the 'press TAB for system info' or some such bits... see if it even shows your hard drive as being there... if you can get to the boot post screen and that has any error messages of any kind that would be monumentally handy in tracing down the problem... look on your initial HP screen for commands... also see if it will boot in safe mode... [usually by pressing F8 at startup] if it boots into safemode then its at least more likely to be a software issue or a hardware compatibility issue, and less likely the hard drive... also means that backing up info is possible in case you need to reformat...

I am no expert except by experience, but maybe you can find some useful bits and get pointed possibly in a more right than normal direction =)

Yeah if you have to buy a new one... Tiger Direct has about the best prices that I have found =) Good luck!

superman300038

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Re: It my computer 'crashed' ?
« Reply #3 on: September 02, 2009, 05:19:33 PM »
    Thank you both for your quick assistance!

    The first thing I tried was LawfulJoe's first suggestion; Things to Try number 1.  And it worked!  So now that I got this far, I thought I would halt and ask if that indicates anything specific?  I will reread your post again to make sure you did not answer that and I just didn't read past it.

    THank you both again!

LeslieMS

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Re: It my computer 'crashed' ?
« Reply #4 on: September 02, 2009, 05:23:44 PM »
Well it could indicate that something glitched in a bad shutdown... could be a precursor to a larger problem...

Just to be safe back everything important up just in case there is a huge crash... also do a thourough check for viruses/spyware.

Glad you are up and running, hope it lasts :D

LawfulJoe

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Re: It my computer 'crashed' ?
« Reply #5 on: September 02, 2009, 07:02:51 PM »
    Thank you both for your quick assistance!

    The first thing I tried was LawfulJoe's first suggestion; Things to Try number 1.  And it worked!  So now that I got this far, I thought I would halt and ask if that indicates anything specific?  I will reread your post again to make sure you did not answer that and I just didn't read past it.

    THank you both again!
Glad that worked, sounds like it was a bad shut down. You can always run a scan disk on you C drive, and see if there are any bad sectors. While you are doing maintenance, might as well defrag too.
(Right click on C drive in My Computer, go to Properties then once there, go to the tools tab.) Might take awhile, so set it up, go watch some TV or a Movie or whatever, and come back to it later.