computer help: Need help with computers… basically my other laptop is been acting up a bit. - Help.com

At the very worst, you might need to reinstall Windows. But it might be worth checking that there isnt anything in your floppy or cd/dvd drives, as sometimes computers are set to try to boot from those drives if anything is in there.

You don’t need to buy a new computer just because Windows won’t start. I would advise to reinstall Windows and it will fix all your problems in one go.

The problem is you are missing a file, or the file has been corrupted.(a file that apparently is needed to start Windows up). You could go through the trouble of finding what file(s) it is and try and fix it, but I think reinstalling is better because
A. It will work, almost for sure.
B. It takes less time and effort.

dotspot: if it had something to do with the boot order, she would not get to that screen in the first place.

Your missing the startup INI file. Do a system restore that should make it work again. Hope this helps :-)

Installing windows is not a hard task. First you will need to see if you have a restore disk. ACER’S, Gateway’s, Dell’s and Lenovo (IBM) in the last 3 years have been putting restore partions on there computers. What this means is depending on your laptop you should be able to press f12 or f10 to restore your laptop. If not you will need your restore disk if you do not have that you can purchase one from a mom and pop shop fairly cheap as long as you get a disc with out the xp license’s from there the it will be step by step instructions on what to do next.

Stop right now before you wipe your hard drive ??????

1) How do I stop this start screen from coming up?
put in your XP cd , boot to it , choose recovery it will ask what operating system you want to log into , type in administrator password , and type in “chkdsk c: /f”
let it fix any errors and reboot . (this error occurs and loops like this after a power cut/battery drain / or another unexpected power drain its just telling you that a file either can’t be found or corrupt , chkdsk will scan your pc and hopefully fix it)
The black screen will not bother you again ?

2) Is it best to get another laptop? have you the money
3) Was the corrupted file possibly to do with the problem? most likely

Good post ritchiebaby, but most of the new pc’s and laptops do not come with the system disks. You eith have to make a restore disk or the already have them with the pc. Running that command doesnt work with those type of disks. So I keep it basic, just do a system restore with the disks. You may have to reinstall some of the recent programs but that is a small price to pay to get the system back up and running. :-)

The Clue wrote:
Good post ritchiebaby, but most of the new pc’s and laptops do not come with the system disks. You eith have to make a restore disk or the already have them with the pc. Running that command doesnt work with those type of disks. So I keep it basic, just do a system restore with the disks. You may have to reinstall some of the recent programs but that is a small price to pay to get the system back up and running. :-)

Why would chkdsk not work ? even with sata drives it still works , are you sure your doing it right ? I run it on work pc’s , home pc’s , no problem ! I have run it on old pc’s amd week old pc’s. dell’s, packard bells, compaq ,hp , toshiba’s , acer , fujistu, IBM(lenovo),Sony , Woolworth specials , armada’s emachines, rm ,,,,etc yet to find one that won’t run it ?

You can run chkdsk but it will not put the informaton back into the system files from a restore disk.

I think the fact that its called “chdsk” says what it does! it simply checks the drive and fixes any error and your right it wont put back system files it does not need to as every build of pc already has the build files copied on install, in the c:\i386 folder (if built correctly lol)