Windows shut down - restart attempt fails

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ParisArkw Posts 1 Registration date Saturday May 3, 2008 Status Member Last seen May 4, 2008 - May 4, 2008 at 05:11 PM
 surgam - Aug 26, 2013 at 09:18 AM
Desperate need of help! My laptop froze and I had to manually shut it off to restart it. When it restarted it came up with the black screen/white letters that reads:

"We apologize for the inconvenience, but Windows did not start successfully...etc..."

And it gave me options as to continue in "Safe Mode" and to continue normally...I've tried each of the options and each one results in a blue screen that flashes really quickly with white words but my computer shuts off automatically, not giving me time to read any of it. It restarts on its own and does the same thing. I've tried not selecting anything and letting it "start windows" in its own "in 30 seconds". And still it goes to the blue screen.

So I grabbed my camera and recorded it so I could pause and read it. What I see is that:

"A problem has occurred and Windows has been shut down to protect damage to your [somethingorother]."

And then it says that it could be because of hardware/software that's been unproperly downloaded or something and to make sure that it's downloaded correctly. But I can't get on the computer to do that! (Keeps shutting off after that.) Is this fixable? I can say goodbye to the computer - but I can't say goodbye to the files!!! Are they rescuable to put onto another computer somehow if it can't be fixed? Please help.
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94 responses

ok here's what I did to finally get it (my laptop) to boot up. I downloaded the microsoft memory diagnostic tool (from microsoft.com) with another computer onto a cd. on my problem laptop I changed the BIOS setting to read the DVD first, then floppy, then hard drive, so I could boot from the cd. (to change the BIOS setting after you turn the computer on keep tapping F8 to get to the BIOS menu, go to boot, then prioritize, depending on your system. thats how I changed it in mine). ok, so once the setting was changed to read the DVD drive first, I shut the computer down, inserted the CD with the tool program in the DVD drive, and restarted it. after it did its thing for a few it went right into running the memory checks. unfortunately, that seems to be the propblem with my computer (all the tests failed) but once all six packets were completed, I exited from the test (it will continue to run until you exit it) and surprizingly it finally brought my to my log in screen. once I logged in I was able to save my data to an external hard drive, just in case it was the last chance I had. I did remove the CD once I logged in (if you leave it in the computer will consistently run the diagnostic on turn on) and after I saved the data I shut down the computer to see if I could log in normally now, and I was able to (i left the BIOS setting to DVD first). I didn't get the error message again that wouldn't allow me to log in but my original problem, the blue screen of death, was still there. thankfully I was able to get the data off my computer and brought the laptop in for service, still under warranty. I hope this helped someone out there. I know how frustrating it is.
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Oh my god Danielle, you are a legend!!!!!!! I had read through so many things on how to fix my problem and for some reason I felt yours was the best answer. So everything you said I tried. I went to microsoft and downloaded both the memory diagnostic tool and the Resource kit tools, cause that's what microsoft said to do, and what do you know!!!! It loaded onto my troublesome computer and best of all I won't lose my photos... YAY!! Like you, I will buy some discs tomorrow and save my photos to disc... Even if after that I can't start it up I don't care but I have very important photos of my babies being born and was almost dying thinking I would never have them again. So to you, YOU ARE MY LIFESAVER, THANK YOU!!!!! I think it's amazing that I would have probably paid through the nose to get a tech to do that for me and yet if your patient enough and do your own research alot of these things you can fix yourself. To a certain degree anyway....

YOU GO GIRL..
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A few stupid questions Danielle (or any others who could answer)... (sorry about slight necro-posting)

A) Could I use a USB flashdrive in lieu of a blank CD to run the program aforementioned?
B) I tried to continuously hit F8, with one successful time.. Otherwise, it just repeats the same symptoms, i.e flashing a blue screen of death, then restarting itself...
C) I'm not an entirely computer-savvy individual, but say I have some files to be salvaged... Would it be possible to access the hard drive, even though my computer is inaccessable?
D) My computer model is a Sony Vaio VGN-S360 (about 4-5 yrs old i'd say... its running slow either way)... Would it be worth it just to get a new computer?


Thanks!

-Michael
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