Computer Suddenly Won't Boot

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Simon Tunnicliffe

Member
Hi All!

Suddenly out of the blue my desktop comp won't boot (Windows 10).

I get the blue screen Automatic Repair come up with Restart or Advanced Options to choose.

I get the feeling it was my webcam that did it. I've tried taking all my usb's out and rebooting, same thing happens and tried leaving all usb's unplugged but same thing happens.

Can anyone help?
Thanks
 
johnb35

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
What is the code on the bluescreen. Take a picture of it if you can and attach it to your next post.
 
johnb35

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
That is not a blue screen(bsod). I misinterpreted what you were saying. Most likely a couple things.

1. A windows update was recently installed and now there are boot issues
2. Hard drive is failing
3. Possible malware issue

Not much you can do besides do a diagnostic on the hard drive if you aren't computer savvy you might have to take it in to have it looked at.
 
johnb35

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
You will probably have to get someone to backup your data first and then make sure the hard drive is good and then reinstall windows from scratch then put your data back. I don't think you can even boot to recovery options at this point.
 
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Simon Tunnicliffe

Member
johnb35 said:
You will probably have to get someone to backup your data first and then make sure the hard drive is good and then reinstall windows from scratch then put your data back. I don't think you can even boot to recovery options at this point.
Click to expand...
You're kidding me, no way. I think it was an update that did it, why has this happened then?
 
johnb35

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
Unfortunately, windows updates have been known to cause booting issues afterward, I've had to reinstall windows for my clients when this happens. It's not very common but it does happen. Do you have a windows 10 install DVD or usb? If not, you can create one using a different computer. You might be able to access recovery options using that and then do a system restore back to a time before the update. This isn't an issue with just windows 10 its been like this since the beginning.

How old is the pc? Is it possible the hard drive may be failing? Were you having any weird issues before this happened?
 
S

Simon Tunnicliffe

Member
johnb35 said:
Unfortunately, windows updates have been known to cause booting issues afterward, I've had to reinstall windows for my clients when this happens. It's not very common but it does happen. Do you have a windows 10 install DVD or usb? If not, you can create one using a different computer. You might be able to access recovery options using that and then do a system restore back to a time before the update. This isn't an issue with just windows 10 its been like this since the beginning.

How old is the pc? Is it possible the hard drive may be failing? Were you having any weird issues before this happened?
Click to expand...
The computer is only 21 months old and wasn't having any issues beforehand no.

I don't have a cd / dvd drive on my computer and W10 was installed via the Internet so now USB etc. Guess I need to back everything up.

Just suddenly thought, when I bought the computer, I'd recently lost my job. I paid £730 for it and the w10 that came with it was an unregistered version and I never registered it, could that have been an issue?
 
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johnb35

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
You mean it wasn't activated? The OS doesn't have to be registered but it does need to be activated. But no that wouldn't cause the issue.
 
Intel_man

Intel_man

VIP Member
If none of the automatic repair options fix anything for you, like john has mentioned you'll need to reinstall Windows.

If you don't have another computer to chuck the harddrive into to copy any important data over, BUT have a spare USB flash drive that's large enough to back up all your data on it, you can bring up the command prompt in the automatic repair menu through Advanced Options-->Troubleshoot--->Command Prompt.

Once you're in command prompt, type in notepad.exe

With notepad open, you can use the File-->Open menu to access the file explorer menu to drag important data off your C drive to your USB flash drive.
 
S

Simon Tunnicliffe

Member
Intel_man said:
If none of the automatic repair options fix anything for you, like john has mentioned you'll need to reinstall Windows.

If you don't have another computer to chuck the harddrive into to copy any important data over, BUT have a spare USB flash drive that's large enough to back up all your data on it, you can bring up the command prompt in the automatic repair menu through Advanced Options-->Troubleshoot--->Command Prompt.

Once you're in command prompt, type in notepad.exe

With notepad open, you can use the File-->Open menu to access the file explorer menu to drag important data off your C drive to your USB flash drive.
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Thanks John.

I'm currently (today) installing a bootable Ubuntu (and something do with Rufus too) on a memory stick and going to transfer files onto an external hard-drive through that then reinstall Windows.
 
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