I killed a friend's computer!!

Great!

" Pam" wrote in
:

I'm thrilled! Thanks to you guys, I have the computer back up and
running beautifully. That trick about tapping the F-8 key did the
trick. I was able to start the computer in safe mode, go to System
Restore, and restore the computer to the time just before I killed it.
I wish I could give each of you a big hug! Thanks again! .....Pam
" Pam" wrote in message
...
I just talked to the lady who owns the computer, and I'm going to get
it from her this afternoon. I'll work on it then and will post back.
I'll try everyone's suggestions until I've exhausted them all. At
that point I'll probably just pay someone to fix it. Thank you so
much for your help.
"Menno Hershberger" wrote in message
news:Xns9DEF123B377C7butter@wefb973cbe498...
" Pam" wrote in
:

Please forgive the vagueness of the following description of my
problem, but I don't know any more than what I'm about to write.
Someone gave my friend a used HP Pavilion computer. It was running
slowly, so she asked me to help. The computer had not been used in
two or more years and needed an antivirus program, firewall, etc.
After I installed the Comodo firewall, I checked the applications
that were running in the memory. I was given the choice of
terminating or of terminating and blocking. I chose the
terminating option and eliminated about 10 unnecessary
applications. That did speed the computer up, so I shut it down ,
restarted it, and checked to see that those same 10 items did in
fact reappear on that list. Since terminating them had not
affected the computer in any way, I decided to terminate and block
them permanently. Just as I was clicking on one of them, my friend
came up from behind, and startled me. I guess my mouse hand
slipped and highlighted the wrong application, and I accidentally
terminated and blocked something that had to do with system32. A
box popped up saying that the computer was getting ready to
terminate the application and restart in 60 seconds. (I think that
was how long) I tried to stop that termination but could not find
a way to do it. Suddenly the computer shut off without shutting
down WindowsXP. When it restarted, it put up the HP logo screen
followed by the WindowsXP logo screen (the one with the little bar
that moves back and forth) that comes up before the computer
starts. When that disappeared, the only thing left was a black
screen with the white mouse pointer. I could move the pointer with
the mouse. That's it. I held down the power button on the CPU to
turn it off, but when I started it up again, the same thing
happened. The original owner of the computer doesn't have the XP
installation CD. Is there anything I can do to bring this thing
back to life? Any help will be appreciated.

Having read the other replies, no one has yet come up with what I
would probably do, considering the symptoms. Use your own XP CD to
boot up. It has to be in the drive when you turn the computer on.
Hopefully your friend's computer is set up so that booting from the
CD drive is at the top of the boot priority list. If not, that can
be fixed too, but I won't get into that unless it turns out to be
necessary. You will fdirst get a message that says "Press any key to
boot from CD". Make sure to do so before the message goes away. When
the computer finally gets booted up to a blue screen, one of the
options you'll have is "R" for the recovery console. Pick that
option. The screen will go black for a bit and eventually you'll
come to a prompt that will look something like this: (1) C:\WINDOWS
(2) - There probably won't be a second option
Then it'll tell you to choose which system you want to access.
If option 1 is C:\WINDOWS, the type in the number 1 and press enter.
If C:\WINDOWS is NOT #1, then type in whatever number IS and press
enter. At this point you may come to a prompt asking for a password.
If you do, don't enter anything, just push ENTER. You will then come
to a prompt that says "C:\WINDOWS". At this prompt type in "CHKDSK
/P" (without the quotes). This process can take quite a while. It
will hang at 50% and again at 75% but it'll eventually end. You'll
get a summary message will will most likely include "CHKDSK found
one or more errors on this drive. Regardless of what it says, then
type "FIXBOOT" and then "Y" at the next prompt. When that one is
done then type "EXIT" abd push the ENTER key. This will reboot your
computer. Take the CD out whiole it is rebooting. Cross your
fingers. There's a pretty good chance you've got it fixed. If not,
you haven't hurt it any... :-) I'm sure the people who understand
what I'm talking about are probably amused at my efforts, but I
tried. I'm better at understanding it than I am at explaining it!

--
--- Hurry before this group goes away! ---








--
-- Being "over the hill" is much better than being under it! --

Pam,
You've just experienced something akin to an orgasm, i.e. seeing a computer
that you thought you had hopelessly trashed miraculously come back to life.
Nothing quite like that feeling!

================================================== ==============
" Pam" wrote in message ...

I'm thrilled! Thanks to you guys, I have the computer back up and running
beautifully. That trick about tapping the F-8 key did the trick. I was
able to start the computer in safe mode, go to System Restore, and restore
the computer to the time just before I killed it. I wish I could give each
of you a big hug! Thanks again! .....Pam
" Pam" wrote in message
...
I just talked to the lady who owns the computer, and I'm going to get it
from her this afternoon. I'll work on it then and will post back. I'll try
everyone's suggestions until I've exhausted them all. At that point I'll
probably just pay someone to fix it. Thank you so much for your help.
"Menno Hershberger" wrote in message
news:Xns9DEF123B377C7butter@wefb973cbe498...
" Pam" wrote in
:

Please forgive the vagueness of the following description of my
problem, but I don't know any more than what I'm about to write.
Someone gave my friend a used HP Pavilion computer. It was running
slowly, so she asked me to help. The computer had not been used in
two or more years and needed an antivirus program, firewall, etc.
After I installed the Comodo firewall, I checked the applications that
were running in the memory. I was given the choice of terminating or
of terminating and blocking. I chose the terminating option and
eliminated about 10 unnecessary applications. That did speed the
computer up, so I shut it down , restarted it, and checked to see that
those same 10 items did in fact reappear on that list. Since
terminating them had not affected the computer in any way, I decided
to terminate and block them permanently. Just as I was clicking on
one of them, my friend came up from behind, and startled me. I guess
my mouse hand slipped and highlighted the wrong application, and I
accidentally terminated and blocked something that had to do with
system32. A box popped up saying that the computer was getting ready
to terminate the application and restart in 60 seconds. (I think that
was how long) I tried to stop that termination but could not find a
way to do it. Suddenly the computer shut off without shutting down
WindowsXP. When it restarted, it put up the HP logo screen followed
by the WindowsXP logo screen (the one with the little bar that moves
back and forth) that comes up before the computer starts. When that
disappeared, the only thing left was a black screen with the white
mouse pointer. I could move the pointer with the mouse. That's it.
I held down the power button on the CPU to turn it off, but when I
started it up again, the same thing happened. The original owner of
the computer doesn't have the XP installation CD. Is there anything I
can do to bring this thing back to life? Any help will be
appreciated.

Having read the other replies, no one has yet come up with what I would
probably do, considering the symptoms. Use your own XP CD to boot up. It
has to be in the drive when you turn the computer on. Hopefully your
friend's computer is set up so that booting from the CD drive is at the
top of the boot priority list. If not, that can be fixed too, but I won't
get into that unless it turns out to be necessary. You will fdirst get a
message that says "Press any key to boot from CD". Make sure to do so
before the message goes away. When the computer finally gets booted up to
a blue screen, one of the options you'll have is "R" for the recovery
console. Pick that option. The screen will go black for a bit and
eventually you'll come to a prompt that will look something like this:
(1) C:\WINDOWS
(2) - There probably won't be a second option
Then it'll tell you to choose which system you want to access.
If option 1 is C:\WINDOWS, the type in the number 1 and press enter. If
C:\WINDOWS is NOT #1, then type in whatever number IS and press enter. At
this point you may come to a prompt asking for a password. If you do,
don't enter anything, just push ENTER. You will then come to a prompt
that says "C:\WINDOWS". At this prompt type in "CHKDSK /P" (without the
quotes). This process can take quite a while. It will hang at 50% and
again at 75% but it'll eventually end. You'll get a summary message will
will most likely include "CHKDSK found one or more errors on this drive.
Regardless of what it says, then type "FIXBOOT" and then "Y" at the next
prompt. When that one is done then type "EXIT" abd push the ENTER key.
This will reboot your computer. Take the CD out whiole it is rebooting.
Cross your fingers. There's a pretty good chance you've got it fixed. If
not, you haven't hurt it any... :-)
I'm sure the people who understand what I'm talking about are probably
amused at my efforts, but I tried. I'm better at understanding it than I
am at explaining it!

--
--- Hurry before this group goes away! ---

I hope this is a lesson learned allways back up youre files before trying to
fix a system .
and most importlantly dont mess with what ya don't know for sure about
changeing deleteing ect.
AL'S COMPUTERS

" Pam" wrote in message
...
I'm thrilled! Thanks to you guys, I have the computer back up and running
beautifully. That trick about tapping the F-8 key did the trick. I was
able to start the computer in safe mode, go to System Restore, and restore
the computer to the time just before I killed it. I wish I could give
each of you a big hug! Thanks again! .....Pam
" Pam" wrote in message
...
I just talked to the lady who owns the computer, and I'm going to get it
from her this afternoon. I'll work on it then and will post back. I'll
try everyone's suggestions until I've exhausted them all. At that point
I'll probably just pay someone to fix it. Thank you so much for your
help.
"Menno Hershberger" wrote in message
news:Xns9DEF123B377C7butter@wefb973cbe498...
" Pam" wrote in
:

Please forgive the vagueness of the following description of my
problem, but I don't know any more than what I'm about to write.
Someone gave my friend a used HP Pavilion computer. It was running
slowly, so she asked me to help. The computer had not been used in
two or more years and needed an antivirus program, firewall, etc.
After I installed the Comodo firewall, I checked the applications that
were running in the memory. I was given the choice of terminating or
of terminating and blocking. I chose the terminating option and
eliminated about 10 unnecessary applications. That did speed the
computer up, so I shut it down , restarted it, and checked to see that
those same 10 items did in fact reappear on that list. Since
terminating them had not affected the computer in any way, I decided
to terminate and block them permanently. Just as I was clicking on
one of them, my friend came up from behind, and startled me. I guess
my mouse hand slipped and highlighted the wrong application, and I
accidentally terminated and blocked something that had to do with
system32. A box popped up saying that the computer was getting ready
to terminate the application and restart in 60 seconds. (I think that
was how long) I tried to stop that termination but could not find a
way to do it. Suddenly the computer shut off without shutting down
WindowsXP. When it restarted, it put up the HP logo screen followed
by the WindowsXP logo screen (the one with the little bar that moves
back and forth) that comes up before the computer starts. When that
disappeared, the only thing left was a black screen with the white
mouse pointer. I could move the pointer with the mouse. That's it.
I held down the power button on the CPU to turn it off, but when I
started it up again, the same thing happened. The original owner of
the computer doesn't have the XP installation CD. Is there anything I
can do to bring this thing back to life? Any help will be
appreciated.

Having read the other replies, no one has yet come up with what I would
probably do, considering the symptoms. Use your own XP CD to boot up. It
has to be in the drive when you turn the computer on. Hopefully your
friend's computer is set up so that booting from the CD drive is at the
top of the boot priority list. If not, that can be fixed too, but I
won't
get into that unless it turns out to be necessary. You will fdirst get a
message that says "Press any key to boot from CD". Make sure to do so
before the message goes away. When the computer finally gets booted up
to
a blue screen, one of the options you'll have is "R" for the recovery
console. Pick that option. The screen will go black for a bit and
eventually you'll come to a prompt that will look something like this:
(1) C:\WINDOWS
(2) - There probably won't be a second option
Then it'll tell you to choose which system you want to access.
If option 1 is C:\WINDOWS, the type in the number 1 and press enter. If
C:\WINDOWS is NOT #1, then type in whatever number IS and press enter.
At
this point you may come to a prompt asking for a password. If you do,
don't enter anything, just push ENTER. You will then come to a prompt
that says "C:\WINDOWS". At this prompt type in "CHKDSK /P" (without the
quotes). This process can take quite a while. It will hang at 50% and
again at 75% but it'll eventually end. You'll get a summary message will
will most likely include "CHKDSK found one or more errors on this drive.
Regardless of what it says, then type "FIXBOOT" and then "Y" at the next
prompt. When that one is done then type "EXIT" abd push the ENTER key.
This will reboot your computer. Take the CD out whiole it is rebooting.
Cross your fingers. There's a pretty good chance you've got it fixed. If
not, you haven't hurt it any... :-)
I'm sure the people who understand what I'm talking about are probably
amused at my efforts, but I tried. I'm better at understanding it than I
am at explaining it!

--
--- Hurry before this group goes away! ---

In ,
Pam typed:
Please forgive the vagueness of the following description
of my problem, but I don't know any more than what I'm
about to write. Someone gave my friend a used HP Pavilion
computer. It was running slowly, so she asked me to help. The computer
had not been used in two or more years and
needed an antivirus program, firewall, etc. After I
installed the Comodo firewall, I checked the applications
that were running in the memory. I was given the choice of
terminating or of terminating and blocking. I chose the
terminating option and eliminated about 10 unnecessary
applications. That did speed the computer up, so I shut it
down , restarted it, and checked to see that those same 10
items did in fact reappear on that list. Since terminating
them had not affected the computer in any way, I decided to
terminate and block them permanently. Just as I was
clicking on one of them, my friend came up from behind, and
startled me. I guess my mouse hand slipped and highlighted
the wrong application, and I accidentally terminated and
blocked something that had to do with system32. A box
popped up saying that the computer was getting ready to
terminate the application and restart in 60 seconds. (I
think that was how long) I tried to stop that termination
but could not find a way to do it. Suddenly the computer
shut off without shutting down WindowsXP. When it
restarted, it put up the HP logo screen followed by the
WindowsXP logo screen (the one with the little bar that
moves back and forth) that comes up before the computer
starts. When that disappeared, the only thing left was a
black screen with the white mouse pointer. I could move
the pointer with the mouse. That's it. I held down the
power button on the CPU to turn it off, but when I started
it up again, the same thing happened. The original owner
of the computer doesn't have the XP installation CD. Is
there anything I can do to bring this thing back to life? Any help will be
appreciated.

As with any used computer, the only sensible thing to do is to perform a
clean install of the operating system and all programs that go with it. That
way you not only know how to do it, but you also get rid of the myriad
problems present on someone else's computer and wll only have your own junk
to trouble-shoot. It's the only sane way to set up a used computer for use.
It's also where you'll discover all the things the seller owed you but
didn't give you for disks and having the proper keycodes to go with
everything so you won't be pirating anything.
Start from scratch: delete/recreated the partitions, reformat all drive,
reinstall all software. Make a record of each and every keycode for every
program you install; you'll be mighty glad you did later on.

HTH,

Twayne`