Help! windows vista completely crashed on me.

i hope someone can help, as the official help is �£1 per minute and no one answers the phone !!!

My other computer is windows Vista, basic home. it crashed on me but I was able to get it into safe mode by doing the F8 button over and over.
Was working fine even when switched on and off....did a scan and no nasties, seemed nothing wrong at all with it.... that was till today ... I can't even get to the safe mode menu now.

when I switch on I am faced with a picture and motherboard logo thing --- so i press delete and then f8 loads of times, but it goes straight to telling me to reboot the system WHICH I CAN'T!!!!

I didn't get a back up disk, i got an upgrade disk which we put in today but didn't seem to help.

I rang Asda as the bumpf had Asda offers, �£19.99 for back up cd, but when I rang about it I got passed around and no one knew what to tell me except bring it in for a refund ... but my pictures are on it, i don't want to lose them.

I have read that the updates can cause Vista to crash. infact I've read that Vista really isn't very reliable at all.

can anyone advise me what to do? I can't as yet find the recept for it, and I would rather get it back up and running at least to get my photos from it.

many thnaks.

 

just incase you need this info, it's an evesham pc.i got it from Asda around october last year. the only previous problems were now and then it would freeze.

thanks.

 

mgn ive got a vista basic laptop, and it freezes a LOT, and sometimes its really slow, so when that happens i shut it down for a while, that seems to work...probably not much help but confirming that vista really is c**p...Dee..

 

MGN, if you know the folder that your pics are in,try and boot your Vista machine into DOS( at the opening sreen)and manually copy the folder off the PC.
If you can manage to boot up your Vista machine into Windoze,do a system restore, that may help.As I'm not a Vista user,that's the only help I can offer but a system crash like you describe sounds pretty terminal to me. I think a good idea would be to find a small local computer workshop/shop where the people know what they're doing and ask them to retrieve your pics and other personal files, then do a system reload.

 

I'm 99% certain Vista will not run DOS and XP does not have the full set of dos commands.

Mgn - if Asda have offered you a refund and you want to keep hold of your pictures here's a suggestion -
Take your hard disc out of the PC (or get someone to do it for you) it's not difficult.
Return your PC to Asda and get your refund.They are highly unlikely to to try to refurbish and sell the PC and will probably just s**** it.
Use the refund to buy another PC but preferably one that runs XP rather than Vista.
Buy a 'disc caddy' (�£15 to �£20) and fit your old hard disc into it (or get a shop or friend to do it for you).
Plug the caddy into a usb port on the new PC and drag and drop the picture files and any other important data files from your old disc onto your new PC.
Once you've rescued all the old files, you can re-format the old drive and use it as a back-up drive for the new PC.

 

Dave
I thought Vista was the only option now as XP no longer available???

I am currently having problems with computer freezing and find I have lots of malware which is causing it.

I have heard that Linux is very good at preventing viruses so I am thinking of trying it.

 

jjordie - You should still be able to get XP, though the major "names" have all but stopped supplying it with new PCs. Dell completely abandoned XP in favour of Vista, but due to demand started supplying it again on a limited range of PCs. I've built 3 PC systems in the past but had my last two built for me to the spec that I wanted. It was only very slightly more expensive and had the advantage of a guarantee, so if anything failed I could get things replaced and also excellent tech support. I can recommend an excellent company if you want.
With regard to malware, I used to use Norton and it was good but have now got Bit Defender on 2 out of three of our PCs as it is reckoned to be better (it auto-updates virus definitions every hour) and is also a bit cheaper. I'll be putting on the 3rd PC when my annual Norton subscription expires.
Linux as you say is less prone to virus/malware attack, but for my purposes I really need a Windows system.

 

ah hi guys, thanks for your replies. I have been told to ring a man in the paper who comes out, no fix no fee and he's supposed to be really cheap - if he gets it up and running i'm to make a back up disk!!!

i think i'll have lost my photos for good, it seems knackered, but it might be he can reboot it to how it was.

I might consider just putting my xp on it though, as honestly this pc has been running fine and is easily rebooted.

I think i'll have to leave it to the professional as i am pretty clueless!

i still havnt found my recept either so it's my only option.

Wouldnt advice anyone to get vista yet, i even read it shouldnt be on the market yet as it has too many faults. Apparantly windows 98 is actually the most reliable, and mackintoshes are the best - which i had known that before!

And if buying a new pc think twice before buying from a supermarket as they can't help afterwards.

 

dee, i have to agree with your post there!
and the amount of updates, sheesh! and yes mine froze alot.
the one i'm on is a self build and although it doesnt run as fast as vista its reliable.

 

Windows XP with service pack 2 is now pretty well bomb proof and also runs faster than Windows 98.
Vista however, as you've found is still very much in its early stages and bugs and the fixes for them are coming out almost weekly. Beta testing before release of a new operating system is supposed to pick up the bugs and glitches, but it doesn't find them all. I'd never migrate to a new operating system until it had been out on general release for at least a year and the initial version had been properly revised.

MGN - I doubt if your photos are lost. Your man from the paper ought to be able to recover them if he knows his stuff.

 

MGN,there was a computer Dr on our local radio station last week and he was saying that you can buy software which will retrieve your lost photos so all is not lost.It will pay you to look into this,so don't get dishearted

 

I dont think it makes any difference what you have they all have their problems, i have windows xp and mine has been running slow at times and crashed on me yesterday, luckily i never lost anything and i have back up discs just in case.
good luck anyway hope you get it sorted