Posted on 10/19/2010 11:44:54 PM PDT by Keltik
My laptop has crashed. My PC froze while a flashdrive was connected to it. I tried to restart it but could not even reboot, not even in safe mode.
My problem is almost exactly the same as the one described on this page: http://www.sevenforums.com/crashes-debugging/94457-windows-unable-start-startup-repair-system-restore-wont-work.html
Unfortunately, that page does not give a solution.
It's an Asus K60 Laptop, Windows 7. Startup Repair doesn't work, it will not let me do a system restore and I don't know which file to choose in a re-imaging (see article).
PLEASE help!!
Computer help ping! Empty the nerdery!
Is the flash drive still in the laptop? You might take it out and see what happens.
Hope you listened to Rush and have Carbonite! Sounds as if you will be rebuilding from backup disks.
Your ASUS model could/should still be within warranty. Did you contact them yet?
Sounds like the magic I enjoy with Vista. Blue screen death is a way of life.
Some laptops have a fairly inconspicuous hole somewhere, in the back or underneath.
It amounts to a BIOS reset switch. Sticking a toothpick or non-conducting point in there will reset the bios.
DO NOT stick anything into the machine unless you are absolutely, positively sure what you are doing!
DO check the owners manual, or, if not available, check with ASUS tech support.
Good luck!
bookmark
Remove the flash drive and unplug everything, if you haven’t already. Allow some cooling time, and try again. That’s just a basic thing to try; anything else becomes a trip to a computer repair shop for me.
It sounds like a component failure to me, caused by static electricity discharge into the USB port. The possibility exists that the computer's BIOS settings got scrambled somehow, but it's not very likely. Wrong BIOS settings could prevent reading the hard drive properly, BUT....modern BIOS software and the accompanying hardware do an excellent job of automatically re-reading drive parameters and updating those settings stored in the BIOS memory.
I think a hard drive substitution test will be required to determine if the drive is at fault or the motherboard damaged. If it's the motherboard you are looking at a new computer.
Does it come on?
Does it even post?
Can you get into the setup screen and reset to default settings?
If it doesn't post or even get to setup screen, then you could have a hardware problem.
Try booting with the Hard drive out. If you have 2 memory strips remove one and then try the other by itself. Are the fans coming on? If your fan is dead, the CPU will quit in about a minute or even less.
You may have interrupted the shut down procedure by pulling the flash drive out without closing it out first.
I did that. Could not get the computer to boot.
Where exactly does it fail on startup, how eactly does it fail, and what is the error message if a blue screen appears?
I’m suspecting the reason you are experiencing this is because there is an incompatibility in the drivers that were installed along with the USB/flash device you plugged in. What’s happening is there is a smart card interface in Windows 7 that’s crashing whenever the logon portion of Windows is initiated.
To work around this, hit the space bar on startup to show the “safe mode” screen. When it appears, select the “Last Known Good Configuration” option.
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Using-Last-Known-Good-Configuration
If this fails, you’ll want to go into “Safe Mode With Command Prompt” from the same screen by hitting the space bar. You should be at a BLACK command prompt after logging in with your Administrator account (this was created with password when the laptop was installed). Type in MSCONFIG at the command prompt, then hit enter. This will bring up the Microsoft Configuration utility where you can disable and enable startup options.
http://www.eggheadcafe.com/forumarchives/WindowsXPbasics/Aug2005/post23883512.asp
Disable everything from the MSCONFIG utility and reboot the workstation. Nothing will come up correctly but you should be able to get into the workstation and re-install the correct USB/flash drivers from the manufacturer. You’ll need to save this to a CD/DVD from another workstation. Nothing, including the network connections, will be operational in this mode.
Restart the workstation again. Load the MSCONFIG utility from the “Search” option on the START menu by typing in MSCONFIG again. Re-enable everything you disabled using MSCONFIG originally, then reboot. The workstation should now come up correctly.
More on MSCONFIG can be found here:
http://netsquirrel.com/msconfig/msconfig_win7.html
Even if you can get back into the workstation using MSCONFIG but can’t without disabling items, you can still complete a system restore from the windows interface. The key here is to be able to get back into the workstation desktop.
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You may have interrupted the shut down procedure by pulling the flash drive out without closing it out first.
I did that. Could not get the computer to boot.
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Anybody have a solution for this?
When I get the blue screen..the laptop goes in the creek. Must be 4 of em in there..
Once you recover your data, load linux.
We really need more info on this.
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When you say it will not reboot does that mean you get nothing. NO screen display at all or does the Asus splash screen come up but no windows.
We really need more info on this.
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This page tells what happens to me almost exactly:
1. I get the company logo
2. “A recent hardware or software change might be the cause” etc... It recommends I launch strem repair
3. “Startup Repair cannot repair this computer automatically” Etc etc etc... See the link for details
Apparently this is all b/c I removed the flashdrive at the wrong nanoceond. Is there a solution? Perhaps DLing new drivers?
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