I need HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We downloaded the service pack on our friends computer
and then she started having trouble with the reboot it
would only come to the first screen it would not even get
to the window xp screen but a message on along the bottom
showed up with hit tab for exit and hit delete for setup.
I went into the setup section by accident and hit
something now the screen is completely blank. Nothing
comes up. We have tried rebooting insafe mode and
everything PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Deb

Debbie--

"We have tried rebooting insafe mode and everything" Do you have an XP
CD-ROM? I want you to boot from the CD-ROM if you cannot F8 to a screen
with options. If you can boot to the screen with options (and it doesn't
sound like it), try Safe Mode and then System Restore or as a last ditch try
Last Known Good Configuration--two disadvantages--it goes to the last time
you booted which could have been many settings ago, and it seldom works.

I'm not sure what else you have tried. I don't know if the "and
everything" is a figure of speech or stands for other things you tried you
haven't told me. If you can't F8 to the Windows Advanced Options screen
that includes trying to boot into Safe Mode, then depending on who is the
maker of your bios find out what key you tap to get into the bios setup.
Find out from your friend's computer manual or maker website who makes the
bios or what key to enter. You can usually get a screen with the maker of
your computer, the Firmware or POST screen that will tell you on the top or
the bottom what key to press. If you don't have that screen or a manual,
and don't know, you can use this to find out who makes the bios--hit the red
download hyperlink:

http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

After you download this, clicking the icon will give you a listing of your
hardware and software and you'll know the bios maker. Then you can use one
of these to find out what key to tap when you turn on your computer. See if
pressing the button will give you the firmware screen or start any screen at
all and tap the key these advise to use:

http://www.usbman.com/Guides/bios_update_sites.htm

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_b.htm

Change the order so that you can boot from your friend's XP CD. Then follow
the directions here to do an inplace upgrade. This will not format or lose
information, but should get you back into setting up XP with your data and
settings intact. Then you can try to download and install SP2 after your
friend is thorougly backed up.

How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

How to perform an in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default...;en-us;q315341

Doug Knox on Repair Install
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/tips/xp_repair_install.htm

Here are some screenshots of the repair/upgrade no format install to help
you context--whether you have Home or Pro it's going to be the same.

http://www.windowsreinstall.com/winx...pair/index.htm

Also as a general reference for Emergency Recovery:

Resources for troubleshooting startup problems in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default...&Product=winxp

A Repair Install will replace the system files with the files on the XP CD
used for the Repair Install. It will leave your applications and settings
intact, but Windows updates will need to be reapplied.

If the inplace upgrade does not work, and it should, then you can do a
parallel install of XP to another folder or partition, but that is
considerably more time consuming because it entails extracting your data
from the other partition. A parallel install is detailed he

How to install or upgrade to Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default...&Product=winxp

hth,

Chad Harris
__________________________________________________ ____________


"Debbie" wrote in message
...
We downloaded the service pack on our friends computer
and then she started having trouble with the reboot it
would only come to the first screen it would not even get
to the window xp screen but a message on along the bottom
showed up with hit tab for exit and hit delete for setup.
I went into the setup section by accident and hit
something now the screen is completely blank. Nothing
comes up. We have tried rebooting insafe mode and
everything PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Deb

Chad, read her post again carefully.
"now the screen is completely blank. Nothing comes up".
IOW, it NOW doesn't do anything, Debbie can't even get into Safemode!
Definitely sounds like a hands on job, not something that can be advised on
via a NG.

--

johnf

Debbie--

"We have tried rebooting insafe mode and everything" Do you have an XP
CD-ROM? I want you to boot from the CD-ROM if you cannot F8 to a screen
with options. If you can boot to the screen with options (and it
doesn't sound like it), try Safe Mode and then System Restore or as a
last ditch try Last Known Good Configuration--two disadvantages--it
goes to the last time you booted which could have been many settings
ago, and it seldom works.
I'm not sure what else you have tried. I don't know if the "and
everything" is a figure of speech or stands for other things you tried
you haven't told me. If you can't F8 to the Windows Advanced Options
screen that includes trying to boot into Safe Mode, then depending on
who is the maker of your bios find out what key you tap to get into the
bios setup. Find out from your friend's computer manual or maker
website who makes the bios or what key to enter. You can usually get
a screen with the maker of your computer, the Firmware or POST screen
that will tell you on the top or the bottom what key to press. If you
don't have that screen or a manual, and don't know, you can use this to
find out who makes the bios--hit the red download hyperlink:

http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

After you download this, clicking the icon will give you a listing of
your hardware and software and you'll know the bios maker. Then you
can use one of these to find out what key to tap when you turn on your
computer. See if pressing the button will give you the firmware screen
or start any screen at all and tap the key these advise to use:

http://www.usbman.com/Guides/bios_update_sites.htm

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_b.htm

Change the order so that you can boot from your friend's XP CD. Then
follow the directions here to do an inplace upgrade. This will not
format or lose information, but should get you back into setting up XP
with your data and settings intact. Then you can try to download and
install SP2 after your friend is thorougly backed up.

How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

How to perform an in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default...;en-us;q315341

Doug Knox on Repair Install
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/tips/xp_repair_install.htm

Here are some screenshots of the repair/upgrade no format install to
help you context--whether you have Home or Pro it's going to be the
same.
http://www.windowsreinstall.com/winx...pair/index.htm

Also as a general reference for Emergency Recovery:

Resources for troubleshooting startup problems in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default...&Product=winxp

A Repair Install will replace the system files with the files on the XP
CD used for the Repair Install. It will leave your applications and
settings intact, but Windows updates will need to be reapplied.

If the inplace upgrade does not work, and it should, then you can do a
parallel install of XP to another folder or partition, but that is
considerably more time consuming because it entails extracting your data
from the other partition. A parallel install is detailed he

How to install or upgrade to Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default...&Product=winxp

hth,

Chad Harris
__________________________________________________ ____________


"Debbie" wrote in message
...
We downloaded the service pack on our friends computer
and then she started having trouble with the reboot it
would only come to the first screen it would not even get
to the window xp screen but a message on along the bottom
showed up with hit tab for exit and hit delete for setup.
I went into the setup section by accident and hit
something now the screen is completely blank. Nothing
comes up. We have tried rebooting insafe mode and
everything PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Deb

What do you do when *you can't get into Safe Mode John*? Lay it on me.
Because if that box will turn on, she might be able to change her bios order
to boot from a CD."Debbie can't even get into Safemode!" *So what she
can't get into Safe Mode?* The fat lady ain't done sung because of that
piece of info--or has she for you when that happens?What do you do when *you
can't get into Safe Mode John*? Lay it on me. Until I know "fer sure", I
can't assume that the box won't turn on, nor that the advice I gave her
isn't viable.

People can't get into safe mode but can recover a high percent of the time.
See:

http://groups.google.com/groups?q=Ht...ie=UTF-8&hl=en

I think the point is whether she can boot from the CD or she has a dead
box--whether there is a software problem that can be repaired or a hardware
problem where she and her friend will have to summon help. I don't know for
certain, because I'm not in Debbieland right now. That's *why we have
these groups John*. Until we know whether she can turn the box on and see a
firmware or POST screen and enter the bios, then boot from the CD--the fact
that she sees a blank screen that's blue or dark gray or black doesn't rule
that out. I've seen plenty of "blank screens" where you pushed the button,
got into bios setup, changed the boot order, and booted from a CD of some
type and repaired the OS.

I've been reading posts like hers for years, and much of the time
restoration was possible via a repair or parallel install and even rarely
and I mean rarely via Last Known Good, and a sketchy post like that may
mean a wide gamut of things from hardware failure to the possibility that if
she hard button starts, she can boot from the CD. I don't know if nothing
will come up when she tries to manually restart her friend's computer or
not. I'm not Carnack the Magician, and I can only prompt people for more
information they should have given me in the first place.



I see scores of posts on these groups where the version of Office or flavor
of the OS is needed and never given not to mention other relevant pieces of
history?

BTW, what does "can't get into Safe Mode" mean to you? I'd be really
interested. It certainly doesn't mean that she's never going to see Windows
on that machine does it my man? Take a look at some recent posts I've
helped with on the XP General group?

Is there a point I'm missing in can't get up to Safe Mode? How about an
inplace upgrade booting from the CD? We don't really know if her box is a
door stop at this point or she still has some booting ability, and after
posting 35 or so exclamation points since 5:34AM Debbie hasn't favored us
with more helpful information.

The worst that could happen is that she tries every which way to Christmas
to tap to the bios setup and can't and then gets a "hands on" help. But
until then, my man, we don't know.

Would you assume everytime a doctor sees an isoelectric EKG on a street or
in a hospital room or a living room that the person is just dead and
non-resuscible, or that there might be moves that can get things back to
normal--or that it might even be fine fib masking as a straight line? If a
person is lying fairly still does that mean they're dead--leave them alone?

I don't know whether that box will turn on and you don't either--and I can't
press the button for her.

I don't know whether she has an XP CD or her friend does or her friend's
friend does? I can only work with the hand that's dealt me. If she does
get some action out of the box, maybe I'll here from her. Some people post
and then decide to throw the box in their car and take it some where. I can
only work with what I see.

She and some other people also have a decent blue print for what to try when
they can't get into Safe Mode, and I have something I can paste to help the
next person, when in a few hours or days from now someone else can't get
into safe mode but can boot from the CD.

Best,

Chad Harris
__________________________________________________ _____________


"johnf" wrote in message
...
Chad, read her post again carefully.
"now the screen is completely blank. Nothing comes up".
IOW, it NOW doesn't do anything, Debbie can't even get into Safemode!
Definitely sounds like a hands on job, not something that can be advised on
via a NG.

--

johnf

Debbie--

"We have tried rebooting insafe mode and everything" Do you have an XP
CD-ROM? I want you to boot from the CD-ROM if you cannot F8 to a screen
with options. If you can boot to the screen with options (and it
doesn't sound like it), try Safe Mode and then System Restore or as a
last ditch try Last Known Good Configuration--two disadvantages--it
goes to the last time you booted which could have been many settings
ago, and it seldom works.
I'm not sure what else you have tried. I don't know if the "and
everything" is a figure of speech or stands for other things you tried
you haven't told me. If you can't F8 to the Windows Advanced Options
screen that includes trying to boot into Safe Mode, then depending on
who is the maker of your bios find out what key you tap to get into the
bios setup. Find out from your friend's computer manual or maker
website who makes the bios or what key to enter. You can usually get
a screen with the maker of your computer, the Firmware or POST screen
that will tell you on the top or the bottom what key to press. If you
don't have that screen or a manual, and don't know, you can use this to
find out who makes the bios--hit the red download hyperlink:

http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

After you download this, clicking the icon will give you a listing of
your hardware and software and you'll know the bios maker. Then you
can use one of these to find out what key to tap when you turn on your
computer. See if pressing the button will give you the firmware screen
or start any screen at all and tap the key these advise to use:

http://www.usbman.com/Guides/bios_update_sites.htm

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_b.htm

Change the order so that you can boot from your friend's XP CD. Then
follow the directions here to do an inplace upgrade. This will not
format or lose information, but should get you back into setting up XP
with your data and settings intact. Then you can try to download and
install SP2 after your friend is thorougly backed up.

How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

How to perform an in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default...;en-us;q315341

Doug Knox on Repair Install
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/tips/xp_repair_install.htm

Here are some screenshots of the repair/upgrade no format install to
help you context--whether you have Home or Pro it's going to be the
same.
http://www.windowsreinstall.com/winx...pair/index.htm

Also as a general reference for Emergency Recovery:

Resources for troubleshooting startup problems in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default...&Product=winxp

A Repair Install will replace the system files with the files on the XP
CD used for the Repair Install. It will leave your applications and
settings intact, but Windows updates will need to be reapplied.

If the inplace upgrade does not work, and it should, then you can do a
parallel install of XP to another folder or partition, but that is
considerably more time consuming because it entails extracting your data
from the other partition. A parallel install is detailed he

How to install or upgrade to Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default...&Product=winxp

hth,

Chad Harris
__________________________________________________ ____________


"Debbie" wrote in message
...
We downloaded the service pack on our friends computer
and then she started having trouble with the reboot it
would only come to the first screen it would not even get
to the window xp screen but a message on along the bottom
showed up with hit tab for exit and hit delete for setup.
I went into the setup section by accident and hit
something now the screen is completely blank. Nothing
comes up. We have tried rebooting insafe mode and
everything PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Deb

"Chad Harris" wrote in message
...
What do you do when *you can't get into Safe Mode John*? Lay it on me.
Because if that box will turn on, she might be able to change her bios
order to boot from a CD."Debbie can't even get into Safemode!" *So what
she can't get into Safe Mode?* The fat lady ain't done sung because of
that piece of info--or has she for you when that happens?What do you do
when *you can't get into Safe Mode John*? Lay it on me. Until I know
"fer sure", I can't assume that the box won't turn on, nor that the advice
I gave her isn't viable.

People can't get into safe mode but can recover a high percent of the
time. See:

http://groups.google.com/groups?q=Ht...ie=UTF-8&hl=en

I think the point is whether she can boot from the CD or she has a dead
box--whether there is a software problem that can be repaired or a
hardware problem where she and her friend will have to summon help. I
don't know for certain, because I'm not in Debbieland right now. That's
*why we have these groups John*. Until we know whether she can turn the
box on and see a firmware or POST screen and enter the bios, then boot
from the CD--the fact that she sees a blank screen that's blue or dark
gray or black doesn't rule that out. I've seen plenty of "blank screens"
where you pushed the button, got into bios setup, changed the boot order,
and booted from a CD of some type and repaired the OS.

I've been reading posts like hers for years, and much of the time
restoration was possible via a repair or parallel install and even rarely
and I mean rarely via Last Known Good, and a sketchy post like that may
mean a wide gamut of things from hardware failure to the possibility that
if she hard button starts, she can boot from the CD. I don't know if
nothing will come up when she tries to manually restart her friend's
computer or not. I'm not Carnack the Magician, and I can only prompt
people for more information they should have given me in the first place.



I see scores of posts on these groups where the version of Office or
flavor of the OS is needed and never given not to mention other relevant
pieces of history?

BTW, what does "can't get into Safe Mode" mean to you? I'd be really
interested. It certainly doesn't mean that she's never going to see
Windows on that machine does it my man? Take a look at some recent posts
I've helped with on the XP General group?

Is there a point I'm missing in can't get up to Safe Mode? How about an
inplace upgrade booting from the CD? We don't really know if her box is a
door stop at this point or she still has some booting ability, and after
posting 35 or so exclamation points since 5:34AM Debbie hasn't favored us
with more helpful information.

The worst that could happen is that she tries every which way to Christmas
to tap to the bios setup and can't and then gets a "hands on" help. But
until then, my man, we don't know.

Would you assume everytime a doctor sees an isoelectric EKG on a street or
in a hospital room or a living room that the person is just dead and
non-resuscible, or that there might be moves that can get things back to
normal--or that it might even be fine fib masking as a straight line? If
a person is lying fairly still does that mean they're dead--leave them
alone?

I don't know whether that box will turn on and you don't either--and I
can't press the button for her.

I don't know whether she has an XP CD or her friend does or her friend's
friend does? I can only work with the hand that's dealt me. If she does
get some action out of the box, maybe I'll here from her. Some people
post and then decide to throw the box in their car and take it some where.
I can only work with what I see.

She and some other people also have a decent blue print for what to try
when they can't get into Safe Mode, and I have something I can paste to
help the next person, when in a few hours or days from now someone else
can't get into safe mode but can boot from the CD.

Best,

Chad Harris


The problem with a cut-and-paste post with the complexity of yours is that
while some of it may be completely on target for a given situation, other
parts won't apply at all, and may confuse the person getting the message or
convince them that you didn't read their message and can't possibly have a
useful answer, thus they'll ignore the good advice given.

In this case, given the lack of clarity in the original question, an attempt
to get back into the bios or to boot from the CD make sense. But the
suggestion to download and run belarc to determine the bios is a bit of a
problem, as the poster isn't getting into Windows to be able to run the
program. Some people will key in on that bit of advice and assume that you
haven't read the question at all and are just posting general repair advice
that's not targeted at the particular problem at hand.

D. Currie--

I think your suggestion about display and the monitor to Debbie is a very
good one well worth considering. The problem is we're not sure what's
happening on that box and we may never know.

You wrote:

"The problem with a cut-and-paste post with the complexity of yours is that
while some of it may be completely on target for a given situation, other
parts won't apply at all, and may confuse the person getting the message or
convince them that you didn't read their message and can't possibly have a
useful answer, thus they'll ignore the good advice given."

That's why no cookie cutter cut and pastes are ever launched from me.

I don't think it's that complex a situation. When you can't boot to
Windows, and you're dealiing with an NTFS File System or a Win-FS file
system in the next Windows OS, you don't have a wide panopoly of options.
There are actually relatively few simple ones. Here though, I agree we just
don't know what the dark screen means. It may well be a monitor problem or
bios triggered problem.

In addition to cutting and pasting, I delete and write the posts and tailor
them to the situation. Mosf of them are on the fly, because I either can't
get to folders with stashed references or it's just faster for me to nail
the article by searching. I tend to want to respond to an "I can't get to
Windows--I'm gonna lose my data and settings help!!!!!--(I may not have
backed up adequately)" type post and I get about 100% feedback on them and
lately that hasn't been the case that they are convinced I didn't read their
message and can't possibly give a useful answer and will ignore. That's not
what the tone of the feedback has been on the "can't boot to Windows."

I figure the reason I learned to write was not to shove cookie cutter "one
size fits all" solutions at people. However, I think everyone who tries to
help on the usenet/groups/forums stashes posts with links they can borrow so
they don't have to go throught the time consuming painstaking search trying
to find the system restore, system file checker, or recovery console link or
KB, when all of us are trying to help with the demands and pressures of
making a living.

Best,

Chad Harris
_________________________________________________


"D.Currie" wrote in message
...

"Chad Harris" wrote in message
...
What do you do when *you can't get into Safe Mode John*? Lay it on me.
Because if that box will turn on, she might be able to change her bios
order to boot from a CD."Debbie can't even get into Safemode!" *So what
she can't get into Safe Mode?* The fat lady ain't done sung because of
that piece of info--or has she for you when that happens?What do you do
when *you can't get into Safe Mode John*? Lay it on me. Until I know
"fer sure", I can't assume that the box won't turn on, nor that the advice
I gave her isn't viable.

People can't get into safe mode but can recover a high percent of the
time. See:

http://groups.google.com/groups?q=Ht...ie=UTF-8&hl=en

I think the point is whether she can boot from the CD or she has a dead
box--whether there is a software problem that can be repaired or a
hardware problem where she and her friend will have to summon help. I
don't know for certain, because I'm not in Debbieland right now. That's
*why we have these groups John*. Until we know whether she can turn the
box on and see a firmware or POST screen and enter the bios, then boot
from the CD--the fact that she sees a blank screen that's blue or dark
gray or black doesn't rule that out. I've seen plenty of "blank screens"
where you pushed the button, got into bios setup, changed the boot order,
and booted from a CD of some type and repaired the OS.

I've been reading posts like hers for years, and much of the time
restoration was possible via a repair or parallel install and even rarely
and I mean rarely via Last Known Good, and a sketchy post like that may
mean a wide gamut of things from hardware failure to the possibility that
if she hard button starts, she can boot from the CD. I don't know if
nothing will come up when she tries to manually restart her friend's
computer or not. I'm not Carnack the Magician, and I can only prompt
people for more information they should have given me in the first place.



I see scores of posts on these groups where the version of Office or
flavor of the OS is needed and never given not to mention other relevant
pieces of history?

BTW, what does "can't get into Safe Mode" mean to you? I'd be really
interested. It certainly doesn't mean that she's never going to see
Windows on that machine does it my man? Take a look at some recent posts
I've helped with on the XP General group?

Is there a point I'm missing in can't get up to Safe Mode? How about an
inplace upgrade booting from the CD? We don't really know if her box is a
door stop at this point or she still has some booting ability, and after
posting 35 or so exclamation points since 5:34AM Debbie hasn't favored us
with more helpful information.

The worst that could happen is that she tries every which way to Christmas
to tap to the bios setup and can't and then gets a "hands on" help. But
until then, my man, we don't know.

Would you assume everytime a doctor sees an isoelectric EKG on a street or
in a hospital room or a living room that the person is just dead and
non-resuscible, or that there might be moves that can get things back to
normal--or that it might even be fine fib masking as a straight line? If
a person is lying fairly still does that mean they're dead--leave them
alone?

I don't know whether that box will turn on and you don't either--and I
can't press the button for her.

I don't know whether she has an XP CD or her friend does or her friend's
friend does? I can only work with the hand that's dealt me. If she does
get some action out of the box, maybe I'll here from her. Some people
post and then decide to throw the box in their car and take it some where.
I can only work with what I see.

She and some other people also have a decent blue print for what to try
when they can't get into Safe Mode, and I have something I can paste to
help the next person, when in a few hours or days from now someone else
can't get into safe mode but can boot from the CD.

Best,

Chad Harris


The problem with a cut-and-paste post with the complexity of yours is that
while some of it may be completely on target for a given situation, other
parts won't apply at all, and may confuse the person getting the message or
convince them that you didn't read their message and can't possibly have a
useful answer, thus they'll ignore the good advice given.

In this case, given the lack of clarity in the original question, an attempt
to get back into the bios or to boot from the CD make sense. But the
suggestion to download and run belarc to determine the bios is a bit of a
problem, as the poster isn't getting into Windows to be able to run the
program. Some people will key in on that bit of advice and assume that you
haven't read the question at all and are just posting general repair advice
that's not targeted at the particular problem at hand.

Exactly. It was the Belarc advice that prompted me to reply.
We have a situation here of an apparently inacessible PC, at least as far as
Debbie & her friend are concerned.

Also we have an egotistical "I want you to" reply from Chad, with advice
ranging from a simple 'try hitting this key' to a complete Repair/Reinstall.

It's quite apparent from what he said that he doesn't fully understand what
Debbie's trying to say, so the obvious thing would be is just to ask a
couple of pertinent questions to get some clarification, instead of
surmising, going through all the fixes he thinks he knows and probably now
has completely confused the poor girl.

I'll sit back a bit on this one until I see Debbie's response & also how Mr.
("Lay it on me/The fat lady ain't done sung/fer sure") Harris sorts it out.

--

johnf

"Chad Harris" wrote in message
...
What do you do when *you can't get into Safe Mode John*? Lay it on me.
Because if that box will turn on, she might be able to change her bios
order to boot from a CD."Debbie can't even get into Safemode!" *So
what she can't get into Safe Mode?* The fat lady ain't done sung
because of that piece of info--or has she for you when that
happens?What do you do when *you can't get into Safe Mode John*? Lay
it on me. Until I know "fer sure", I can't assume that the box won't
turn on, nor that the advice I gave her isn't viable.

People can't get into safe mode but can recover a high percent of the
time. See:

http://groups.google.com/groups?q=Ht...ie=UTF-8&hl=en

I think the point is whether she can boot from the CD or she has a dead
box--whether there is a software problem that can be repaired or a
hardware problem where she and her friend will have to summon help. I
don't know for certain, because I'm not in Debbieland right now. That's
*why we have these groups John*. Until we know whether she can
turn the box on and see a firmware or POST screen and enter the bios,
then boot from the CD--the fact that she sees a blank screen that's
blue or dark gray or black doesn't rule that out. I've seen plenty of
"blank screens" where you pushed the button, got into bios setup,
changed the boot order, and booted from a CD of some type and repaired
the OS. I've been reading posts like hers for years, and much of the time
restoration was possible via a repair or parallel install and even
rarely and I mean rarely via Last Known Good, and a sketchy post like
that may mean a wide gamut of things from hardware failure to the
possibility that if she hard button starts, she can boot from the CD. I
don't know if nothing will come up when she tries to manually
restart her friend's computer or not. I'm not Carnack the Magician,
and I can only prompt people for more information they should have
given me in the first place. I see scores of posts on these groups where
the version of Office or
flavor of the OS is needed and never given not to mention other
relevant pieces of history?

BTW, what does "can't get into Safe Mode" mean to you? I'd be really
interested. It certainly doesn't mean that she's never going to see
Windows on that machine does it my man? Take a look at some recent
posts I've helped with on the XP General group?

Is there a point I'm missing in can't get up to Safe Mode? How about
an inplace upgrade booting from the CD? We don't really know if her
box is a door stop at this point or she still has some booting
ability, and after posting 35 or so exclamation points since 5:34AM
Debbie hasn't favored us with more helpful information.

The worst that could happen is that she tries every which way to
Christmas to tap to the bios setup and can't and then gets a "hands
on" help. But until then, my man, we don't know.

Would you assume everytime a doctor sees an isoelectric EKG on a
street or in a hospital room or a living room that the person is just
dead and non-resuscible, or that there might be moves that can get
things back to normal--or that it might even be fine fib masking as a
straight line? If a person is lying fairly still does that mean
they're dead--leave them alone?

I don't know whether that box will turn on and you don't either--and I
can't press the button for her.

I don't know whether she has an XP CD or her friend does or her
friend's friend does? I can only work with the hand that's dealt me. If
she does get some action out of the box, maybe I'll here from her. Some
people post and then decide to throw the box in their car and
take it some where. I can only work with what I see.

She and some other people also have a decent blue print for what to try
when they can't get into Safe Mode, and I have something I can paste to
help the next person, when in a few hours or days from now someone else
can't get into safe mode but can boot from the CD.

Best,

Chad Harris


The problem with a cut-and-paste post with the complexity of yours is
that while some of it may be completely on target for a given
situation, other parts won't apply at all, and may confuse the person
getting the message or convince them that you didn't read their message
and can't possibly have a useful answer, thus they'll ignore the good
advice given.
In this case, given the lack of clarity in the original question, an
attempt to get back into the bios or to boot from the CD make sense.
But the suggestion to download and run belarc to determine the bios is
a bit of a problem, as the poster isn't getting into Windows to be able
to run the program. Some people will key in on that bit of advice and
assume that you haven't read the question at all and are just posting
general repair advice that's not targeted at the particular problem at
hand.

"Debbie" wrote in message
...
We downloaded the service pack on our friends computer
and then she started having trouble with the reboot it
would only come to the first screen it would not even get
to the window xp screen but a message on along the bottom
showed up with hit tab for exit and hit delete for setup.
I went into the setup section by accident and hit
something now the screen is completely blank. Nothing
comes up. We have tried rebooting insafe mode and
everything PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Deb

It sounds like you changes something in the bios, and it's possible that
what you changed (since the result was a black screen) was which display to
use, if you've got multiple options. Take a look at the back of the computer
and see if there's another place to plug the monitor it, and see if that
works.

Does your friend have an XP CD that she either bought or came with the
computer? If so she may be able to revert back to a pre-SP2 state using
either of the 2 tips at this site
http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/repair_xp.htm

--

Harry Ohrn MS-MVP [Shell/User]
www.webtree.ca/windowsxp


"Debbie" wrote in message
...
We downloaded the service pack on our friends computer
and then she started having trouble with the reboot it
would only come to the first screen it would not even get
to the window xp screen but a message on along the bottom
showed up with hit tab for exit and hit delete for setup.
I went into the setup section by accident and hit
something now the screen is completely blank. Nothing
comes up. We have tried rebooting insafe mode and
everything PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Deb

the same thing happened to me--it was because i didnt install the previous
updates before the service pack--

"Debbie" wrote:

We downloaded the service pack on our friends computer
and then she started having trouble with the reboot it
would only come to the first screen it would not even get
to the window xp screen but a message on along the bottom
showed up with hit tab for exit and hit delete for setup.
I went into the setup section by accident and hit
something now the screen is completely blank. Nothing
comes up. We have tried rebooting insafe mode and
everything PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Deb

Hi Deb,

Try starting system in Last known good config, if issue is still their then
do fast repairing of o/S.

Puneet


"clickmaheels3xs" wrote in
message ...
the same thing happened to me--it was because i didnt install the previous
updates before the service pack--

"Debbie" wrote:

We downloaded the service pack on our friends computer
and then she started having trouble with the reboot it
would only come to the first screen it would not even get
to the window xp screen but a message on along the bottom
showed up with hit tab for exit and hit delete for setup.
I went into the setup section by accident and hit
something now the screen is completely blank. Nothing
comes up. We have tried rebooting insafe mode and
everything PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Deb