Dr Reid is dead

[innerslytherin]

My computer is dead.

It started acting weird last night after Windows installed updates on Wednesday. Watching a DVD crashed it. I finally gave up and went to bed after the third crash. This morning it booted fine and I started checking email and stuff. It worked a good half hour at least.

Then I got interrupted by a phone call and when I came back to it, it had crashed again. Now when I say it crashed what I man is that the comp is apparently still running but the monitor says there is not input. I have to manually power it off and do a hard reboot. All morning I got it to boot up but not to stay on when idle.

Suspecting it might be related to the screensaver or video card (which I just installed 5 months ago) I tried turning off the screensaver. Didn't work. Called my dad, who suggested a system restore. I've never done one of those aside from when Windows XP SP2 screwed up my last computer. But okay, I'll give it a try.

BIG MISTAKE.

The computer crashed in the middle of the system restore, and now it WONT BOOT AT ALL.

My father, usually a thoughtful and kind man, apparently cares so much about this that he is taking a nap while I am in tears and trying to make the computer boot.

Just Thursday I helped a friend pick out a laptop that would meet her needs. We went to Fry's and although I am usually envious of the person getting a new computer, I wasn't this time.

I knew my computer was more than adequate for what I do with it, and I wasn't even tempted to buy a new one. Which is good, because I'm broke since paying off the car and buying an iPhone. So I guess this is my reward.

My life sucks.

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Comments

[ayashi-mikage.livejournal.com]

M.. which system do you use?
Won-t boot at all - which symptoms? Black screen or? Can you get the list of options with F8?

[innerslytherin]

I'm running Windows Vista and have never had trouble with it though I know other ppl do. I can enter the setup utility and it works fine. I'm sure now that it isn't the video card or the monitor, but something keeps telling the monitor that there's no input signal.

It tries to boot but hangs up somewhere after the little Microsoft screen and won't do anything from there.

[ayashi-mikage.livejournal.com]

There's an list of load options if you press F8 on the start-up, so maybe you could try to run it in safe mode from there - also, "use last known good configuration" could work too.
If you still have discs with the system - in case you got them, you could try running set-up from them - need to make pc load from cd-drive, and choose "restore" option from there.
The far-reach guess would be that there's something wrong not with the system, but with the wiring inside it. Hence the "no input".
Which model do you have?

p.s. - sorry, replied in the wrong place.

[innerslytherin]

Safe mode gives me the same problem as normal. :-(. And I was stupid and lazy so I never got around to creating the boot disks. *sigh*

It's an HP Pavilion Media Center m8200n.

[ayashi-mikage.livejournal.com]

I meant the Windows CD which came with the system. In case you had one.

As it was pointed out in the comments below - system restore from the start-up options is the best option right now.
Just in case - here's errors fixing guide from HP site, it lists some of the recovery options, maybe it could be of some help:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&product=3548185&docname=c00847289

[kelachrome]

I just had to replace my hard drive a month or so back--if you call HP, they'll mail you the boot disks. It's ~$20, shipping included, which is still way way better than having to buy setup disks D:

Good luck!

[innerslytherin]

Yeah, it sounds like I'm going to need those. Fortunately I bought the extended warranty, which I had forgotten about for most of the day. The computer was the floor demo, which was why I did that -- usually I only buy extended warranties on laptops because I wouldn't be able to replace those components as easily as I can work on my desktop. So as soon as I get the recovery discs, they're going to send someone out to fix the computer. Yay!

[blue-cage.livejournal.com]

Nnnngrk, that's terrible! I'd actually recommend you try to run a diagnostic on the drive just to clear that concern, and what OS are you running? Just in case you're using Vista or Win7, try running a system restore using the OS cd.

*hugs* We're here to make sure you're going to get it up and running, don't worry!

[innerslytherin]

The system restore is what killed it entirely. And I was a dumbass and never made boot discs... Running Vista, which has always behaved well for me.

[blue-cage.livejournal.com]

Can you try selecting Directory services restore mode in the windows advanced options? What I'm concerned about is that no input signal you're getting. Are you using an add in card, or integrated video?

(frozen)

[innerslytherin]

I'm using a video card I installed earlier this year. But it displays plenty of things fine right until it goes idle... Then the no input error pops up.

Trying the restore mode now and we'll see what happens.

[innerslytherin]

No dice. What startup recovery or restore options there are don't work. I'm going to try pulling the hard drive and seeing if the system will boot in my spare tower. If it does I'll know it's not a software issue.

[piperwest12.livejournal.com]

Your back up battery is probably dead. It happened to me with my old computer. You can get it changed but it might have damaged your motherboard when it crashed, thats what happened to me. I ended up having to get a new comp. It was easier than trying to fix the old one cause there was no guarantee the old one would work. But call geek squad or take it to staples, I've used both companies and they are both very good. Good luck!

[innerslytherin]

Back up battery, huh? Weird. Fortunately (and unusually) for me, I had purchased the 3-year warranty on this, so they're going to send someone out to fix it. Hurrah! I don't usually do that, but I'm glad I did on this one!