Computer wont start Windows? Try this:

If you are able to print from another computer, it may be helpful to print these directions out for reference as you follow the steps.

To access the files on your hard drive(and rescue/back them up), or to try and check the hard drive for errors and fix them, you will need to use another computer to burn a 'bootable' CD from what is called an ISO file.

To do this, you will first need to download the ISO file. Get it here.

You will need to scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the "End" link to go to the last page of the thread and then scroll all the way down again to see the download link. The file is about 300 megabytes, not overly huge, but still big enough to take a while to finish downloading.

Once you have that ISO file completely downloaded, you will need to burn it to a blank CD using your working computer. When burning an ISO onto a CD, be sure when you start your burning program that you select whatever option there is in order to 'burn an image to disc', because that is what the ISO file is, a CD-image file.

An image file must be decompressed by the CD burning program to make the information in the ISO 'image' actually usable by your computer. If you just drag the ISO file into a 'compilation' and burn it that way, the data we need to use from the ISO will not be 'decompressed' into a usable format.

Note: for burning the ISO file to CD, I recommend using a burn speed no faster than 4x. If you are given the option to set burn speed, keep this in mind, because faster burns can often have errors, or issues being read by some CD drives.

Once the CD is burned, then put the CD in your computer that is having the issues booting.

Make sure the computer having problems is set to boot from CD first in the BIOS. For a handy guide to check and make sure of this, have a read through this tutorial. Some of the screenshots will not match exactly what you will see, just try to interpret them as best you can. If you have trouble you can PM me with a question.

If all goes well, the system will boot to the new CD (instead of the hard drive), and you will be given a menu. Select "Mini Windows XP" from the list. This should cause the system to load a stripped-down temporary version of Windows XP. This will hopefully allow you access to the files on the hard drive if you wish to rescue them and/or back them up to an external USB drive or a USB flash drive, or even burn them onto a CD.

If you choose to burn to CD, you will need to use the InfraRecorder program included in Mini Windows XP. If there is no open window for the Hiren's BootCD WinTools menu, then double click the icon on the desktop with the same name. This will pull up the menu window. Now click the 'menu' link in the upper left of the little window, go down to Backup, and then select InfraRrecorder. When the program opens, select new data disc. Drag the file or files you want to burn from the top window pane to the bottom one. Then put a blank CD in the drive, and burn the disc. Should be straightforward and easy. If not, PM me.

This mini Window XP will also allow us to attempt to fix errors on your hard drive. To do this you will double-click the icon on the desktop labelled 'My Computer', which will bring up a window where you will then right-click on the icon labelled 'C: drive', which will bring up a small menu where you will left-click on 'Properties'. This will bring up a small window with some 'tabs' along the top edge. One of the tabs will be labelled 'Tools', and you will need to left-click on it. This will change the information in the window, and you will see the top section says 'Error-Checking'. Left-Click on the 'Check Now' button, as shown in the picture below:



Now you will see a small window pop up, and you will need to make sure both boxes are checked by left-clicking in each one. Once both boxes are checked, you will click the 'Start Scan' Button as shown in the picture below:



The full scan of your hard drive can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 4 or more hours. It all depends on the speed of the computer and the size and condition of the hard drive (large drives with many errors can take a long time to finish scanning). In some cases, this scan will correct problems with the hard drive not booting to windows. Sometimes the drive may be too badly worn (too many 'bad sectors'), or the cause of the problem may be outside the capabilities of a simple error check to fix. In those cases, more advanced techniques must be used. It is also very helpful if the computer came with the Windows installation disc, as it has utilities for recovering from some nasty errors, and the ability to attempt to repair some tougher problems than a simple error check. If you run into such a situation, PM me and I will try to help further.

Now you have some info, and some instructions to get started on. Good luck, I am crossing my fingers for
you. If you get stuck, have problems, etc, PM me and we will work through it.

Just a bump for this with additional info. Obviously if you are reading this post, you have some way of getting online. Depending on how you are getting online, if you contact me via PM we may be able to communicate effectively enough for me to walk you through some information gathering and troubleshooting.

Ventrilo, Instant Messenger, these forum's Chatbox, and even my company's public phone number are possible options.