Windows XP will not open

[Mickgkerr79]

When I power up XP will not open. I just get an error page stating that Windows will not open properly, giving a few options (safe mode, last configuration, open normally etc) but if I choose any of these it just reboots and goes straight back to the error message.

I don't have an XP cd so really dont know what to do. I have lots of important holiday and wedding pics on the hard drive so I dont want to format if I can avoid it.

Any ideas how I can get this going again?

Thanks

 

[strategic]

I won't claim that I can help but I'll try, we know you have XP, but we also need to know what the system specs are, any sequences of beeps you may have upon start up, etc. How long has it been doing this, has the computer been sitting, has any hardware/software changes been made? Without the o/s CD, your options may be limited.

 

[Mamut0o1]

When I power up XP will not open. I just get an error page stating that Windows will not open properly, giving a few options (safe mode, last configuration, open normally etc) but if I choose any of these it just reboots and goes straight back to the error message.

I don't have an XP cd so really dont know what to do. I have lots of important holiday and wedding pics on the hard drive so I dont want to format if I can avoid it.

Any ideas how I can get this going again?

Thanks

Since you dont have the XP CD; You can't do much to troubleshoot so I would suggest burning a copy of a Live cd such as "BackTrack" (LINUX). Download the image then burn it into a cd; use that CD to boot-up your machine then once BackTrack is up and running make a backup of all you data to several cd's or an external drive. Then you need to find a copy of XP to troubleshoot or re-install OS.

 

[strategic]

Since you dont have the XP CD; You can't do much to troubleshoot

This is why it's very important to listen for the beeps when starting the system. Depending on the sequence, it might tell you the video card is damaged and needs replacing, do that and presto!, you're up and running again.

 

[luvhuffer]

Can you get into safe mode with command prompt? If you can type in

c:\windows\system32\restore\rstrui.exe

then hit enter. It will open system restore and you can try restoring it to a point before the problem started. Or if you are using a proprietary system (Dell, HP, Compaq etc.), when the command prompt windows opens hit ctrl+alt+delete. The task manager will open. Hit file\new task and type in

sfc /scannow

and hit OK The system file checker will start and examine and replaced any damaged/corrupted system files. If it's not proprietary you will need a XP disk, so that won't work.