Help...my Windows XP won't open

[shmoore]

When I turn my computer on, it gets to the page that says Windows XP and there is a rectangle box with blue buttons running across it like it is trying to start, but gets no farther. When I called Dell they just want me to wipe my hard drive clean and reinstall.

Is there any way to open it from a disc like I could with my Mac? I have tried the install disc and tired starting it in a safe mode, ans reverting to the last workable configuration (I know it didn't use the right words...sorry).

Then I tried the installation disk and couldn't run the repair and didn't want to run the install because I have data that I want to get off.

Help, help, and thanks guys. You are always so helpful.

Sandy

 

[somerville]

I had a similar problem last week. I was having problems, which I suspected were motherboard problems, and put in a new motherboard. My computer started freezing up and then would not boot up at all, even in the Safe Mode. I tried reinstalling Windows XP, but that didn't work well, so I reformatted my hard drive and reinstalled everything. Before doing so, I used the Repair mode from the XP install disk to copy of the contents of the C drive to an external USB hard drive. I was using a regular Windows XP install program. I know Dell has their own install disks, but if you can go to the Repair mode, you should have access to the DOS Copy command. You have to use the DOS commands to copy the files.

 

[Bonnie_Raitt]

Runnig Repair will not destroy your data. You will however have to reinstall any updates since the date of your Repair disks. DO a search on Google with "reinstall XP"

BR

 

[Kozman]

Restore

Have you tried to boot into safe mode? If you can, then restart to normal mode after it completes the safe mode boot. Sometimes this will cure the problem. If the computer won't start normally then, reboot to safe mode again and do 'restore' by the following:

start
programs
accessories
system tools
system restore.....restore your system to an earlier date. Hopefully this will work.

If you can't boot to safe mode, try physically disconnecting or removing any non essential hardware and try again. I once had the same problem caused by an added usb card.

Good luck. If this doesn't work, I'm sure the other TUG computer geeks will chime in.