System Restore

I performed the system restore provided by microsoft.com and my system
appears to be locked up or something. All I get is a black screen with a
cursor. Anyone know how I can get myself out of this hole?
--
Thanks for all your help.

Could you be referring to the System Restore feature of Windows XP?

Exactly what steps did you follow and what happened at each step?

Ted Zieglar

"Diana" wrote in message
...
I performed the system restore provided by microsoft.com and my system
appears to be locked up or something. All I get is a black screen with a
cursor. Anyone know how I can get myself out of this hole?
--
Thanks for all your help.

Yes, I am referring to the Windows XP feature. I had contacted Gateway to
try to get help and since my computer is out of the 1 year warranty, they
really didn't want to help. The technician told me to use the system restore
feature on Windows XP and use a date when I last remember the system working
properly. I went to Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools and
System Restore. I then entered the date when I last remember the system
working properly and this box came up on the screen stating 'system
restoring' or something to that effect. I went downstairs for about 10
minutes and when I came back to the computer, there was a black screen. I
tried to reboot and nothing happened, so I turned off the computer. When I
turned it back on, the Windows XP logo came onto the screen, but at the time
that I thought my desktop would appear on the screen, the screen just stayed
dark. I tried contacting Gateway again, but they told me I had to pay $60 to
get further assistance. Do you happen to know what I can do to fix this
problem, or is it not fixable? thanks

"Ted Zieglar" wrote:

Could you be referring to the System Restore feature of Windows XP?

Exactly what steps did you follow and what happened at each step?

Ted Zieglar

"Diana" wrote in message
...
I performed the system restore provided by microsoft.com and my system
appears to be locked up or something. All I get is a black screen with a
cursor. Anyone know how I can get myself out of this hole?
--
Thanks for all your help.

Great info. Now I can help you:

System Restore will not restore your system to an unstable state. There are
two possibilities he

1) The restore point you used was too old. Your system is continually
changing as you add/remove programs, install/remove hardware, download
software from the Internet, etc. If you restore to a date too much earlier
than the present day, you are mixing old system files into a very changed
system. This can cause big problems.

2) System Restore had nothing to do with it; there is another cause. You may
have a virus or spyware, or you may have misconfigured your system in some
way. In other words, there was a problem waiting to happen, and using System
Restore finally brought it out.

To get yourself out, always start with the conservative solutions, and then
work your way toward increasingly invasive solutions. Here is the first
thing to try:

"How to start your computer by using the Last Known Good Configuration
feature in Windows XP"
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;307852

Ted Zieglar

"Diana" wrote in message
...
Yes, I am referring to the Windows XP feature. I had contacted Gateway to
try to get help and since my computer is out of the 1 year warranty, they
really didn't want to help. The technician told me to use the system
restore
feature on Windows XP and use a date when I last remember the system
working
properly. I went to Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools and
System Restore. I then entered the date when I last remember the system
working properly and this box came up on the screen stating 'system
restoring' or something to that effect. I went downstairs for about 10
minutes and when I came back to the computer, there was a black screen. I
tried to reboot and nothing happened, so I turned off the computer. When
I
turned it back on, the Windows XP logo came onto the screen, but at the
time
that I thought my desktop would appear on the screen, the screen just
stayed
dark. I tried contacting Gateway again, but they told me I had to pay $60
to
get further assistance. Do you happen to know what I can do to fix this
problem, or is it not fixable? thanks

"Ted Zieglar" wrote:

Could you be referring to the System Restore feature of Windows XP?

Exactly what steps did you follow and what happened at each step?

Ted Zieglar

"Diana" wrote in message
...
I performed the system restore provided by microsoft.com and my system
appears to be locked up or something. All I get is a black screen with
a
cursor. Anyone know how I can get myself out of this hole?
--
Thanks for all your help.

The RP I used was just 12/25/04, a little over 2 weeks ago. We haven't added
or removed anything from the system since July of 2004. I will try that link
below and see if that will help. Since I don't have an operable system at
home, I will let you know tomorrow if that worked, or not.

Thanks for your help.

"Ted Zieglar" wrote:

Great info. Now I can help you:

System Restore will not restore your system to an unstable state. There are
two possibilities he

1) The restore point you used was too old. Your system is continually
changing as you add/remove programs, install/remove hardware, download
software from the Internet, etc. If you restore to a date too much earlier
than the present day, you are mixing old system files into a very changed
system. This can cause big problems.

2) System Restore had nothing to do with it; there is another cause. You may
have a virus or spyware, or you may have misconfigured your system in some
way. In other words, there was a problem waiting to happen, and using System
Restore finally brought it out.

To get yourself out, always start with the conservative solutions, and then
work your way toward increasingly invasive solutions. Here is the first
thing to try:

"How to start your computer by using the Last Known Good Configuration
feature in Windows XP"
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;307852

Ted Zieglar

"Diana" wrote in message
...
Yes, I am referring to the Windows XP feature. I had contacted Gateway to
try to get help and since my computer is out of the 1 year warranty, they
really didn't want to help. The technician told me to use the system
restore
feature on Windows XP and use a date when I last remember the system
working
properly. I went to Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools and
System Restore. I then entered the date when I last remember the system
working properly and this box came up on the screen stating 'system
restoring' or something to that effect. I went downstairs for about 10
minutes and when I came back to the computer, there was a black screen. I
tried to reboot and nothing happened, so I turned off the computer. When
I
turned it back on, the Windows XP logo came onto the screen, but at the
time
that I thought my desktop would appear on the screen, the screen just
stayed
dark. I tried contacting Gateway again, but they told me I had to pay $60
to
get further assistance. Do you happen to know what I can do to fix this
problem, or is it not fixable? thanks

"Ted Zieglar" wrote:

Could you be referring to the System Restore feature of Windows XP?

Exactly what steps did you follow and what happened at each step?

Ted Zieglar

"Diana" wrote in message
...
I performed the system restore provided by microsoft.com and my system
appears to be locked up or something. All I get is a black screen with
a
cursor. Anyone know how I can get myself out of this hole?
--
Thanks for all your help.

"We haven't added or removed anything from the system since July of 2004."

You don't think so, but your system has changed tremendously since then.

You mean to say you haven't visited Windows Update since last July? Or
updated your virus signatures or spyware detector?
--
Ted Zieglar


"Diana" wrote in message
...
The RP I used was just 12/25/04, a little over 2 weeks ago. We haven't
added
or removed anything from the system since July of 2004. I will try that
link
below and see if that will help. Since I don't have an operable system
at
home, I will let you know tomorrow if that worked, or not.

Thanks for your help.

"Ted Zieglar" wrote:

Great info. Now I can help you:

System Restore will not restore your system to an unstable state. There
are
two possibilities he

1) The restore point you used was too old. Your system is continually
changing as you add/remove programs, install/remove hardware, download
software from the Internet, etc. If you restore to a date too much
earlier
than the present day, you are mixing old system files into a very
changed
system. This can cause big problems.

2) System Restore had nothing to do with it; there is another cause. You
may
have a virus or spyware, or you may have misconfigured your system in
some
way. In other words, there was a problem waiting to happen, and using
System
Restore finally brought it out.

To get yourself out, always start with the conservative solutions, and
then
work your way toward increasingly invasive solutions. Here is the first
thing to try:

"How to start your computer by using the Last Known Good Configuration
feature in Windows XP"
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;307852

Ted Zieglar

"Diana" wrote in message
...
Yes, I am referring to the Windows XP feature. I had contacted
Gateway to
try to get help and since my computer is out of the 1 year warranty,
they
really didn't want to help. The technician told me to use the system
restore
feature on Windows XP and use a date when I last remember the system
working
properly. I went to Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools
and
System Restore. I then entered the date when I last remember the
system
working properly and this box came up on the screen stating 'system
restoring' or something to that effect. I went downstairs for about
10
minutes and when I came back to the computer, there was a black
screen. I
tried to reboot and nothing happened, so I turned off the computer.
When
I
turned it back on, the Windows XP logo came onto the screen, but at
the
time
that I thought my desktop would appear on the screen, the screen just
stayed
dark. I tried contacting Gateway again, but they told me I had to pay
$60
to
get further assistance. Do you happen to know what I can do to fix
this
problem, or is it not fixable? thanks

"Ted Zieglar" wrote:

Could you be referring to the System Restore feature of Windows XP?

Exactly what steps did you follow and what happened at each step?

Ted Zieglar

"Diana" wrote in message
...
I performed the system restore provided by microsoft.com and my
system
appears to be locked up or something. All I get is a black screen
with
a
cursor. Anyone know how I can get myself out of this hole?
--
Thanks for all your help.