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  • #2244913

    PC wont trun back on

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    by taroehm ·

    My fathers computer recently has been having problems. It started when a box popped up asking for a Microsoft disc, which he says he does not have. It prevented him form being able to do any other task on the computer. Because of this he decided to turn off the computer by pressing in the button on the tower. Now when he tries to turn it back on it will light up and start for a few seconds and quickly turn back off. Any ideas on why? Is it the Microsoft disc he needs, if so how would a computer that works fine all of a sudden need a disc. Or is it because of the way he turned it off. If this is the case how would I coach him to fix it? Thanks for your time and knowledge, I hope you can help.

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    • #2454938

      Clarifications

      by taroehm ·

      In reply to PC wont trun back on

      Clarifications

    • #2454934

      Re: PC wont trun back on

      by Anonymous ·

      In reply to PC wont trun back on

      Sounds to me that you might have a virus on the system.
      If possible get another hdd and install a fresh copy of Windows, then you will be able to have access to the old drive. What Windows do you have XP or VISTA?
      Hope this helps you.

      Please post back if you have anymore problems or questions.

    • #2454932

      Not sure why…..

      by thumbsup2 ·

      In reply to PC wont trun back on

      Maybe it won’t turn back on because of a hardware problem. It’s hard to tell from the little bit of information you’ve provided.

      However, without the CD that the system is requiring, even if you found and fixed any hardware problems, the requirement for the CD would still be there.

      Chances are that they system needed to update something due to a patch being installed. Hence the requirement for the MS disk. Does he have any disk at all that came with the computer? It may not actually SAY it’s a Microsoft disk. It may say that it’s a recovery disk.

    • #2454929

      Enforced shutdown is not fatal 999 times out of a 1,000

      by older mycroft ·

      In reply to PC wont trun back on

      Your father is perhaps 1 in a 1,000 !

      Holding in the power button, therefore forcing a shutdown, is not quite as dangerous as turning the power off at the AC outlet, but it runs a close secomnd.

      When Windows is running it has all kinds of files open and the hard disk controller may also have data in the cache that has not been written to the disk yet. If you force the system to shutdown, sometimes that data gets lost and those open files don’t get closed correctly. This messes up the filing system’s records of which files go where.

      Sometimes you get lucky and nothing gets damaged – usually if something does get damaged it is only a temporary file or something unimportant and the mess can be fixed with a quick spin through Scandisk (which gets launched automatically in such circumstances).

      But every now and again one of the files that is needed to start Windows will get corrupted, possibly even the Master Boot Record.

      At this point I would normally be advising that you insert the Windows Install disc to boot from and effect a ‘Repair Install’ but since your father doesn’t have the Windows disc, I can’t advise that. 🙁

    • #2454835

      We need to know what is actually happening

      by oh smeg ·

      In reply to PC wont trun back on

      When it gets turned on is there any display at all?

      If there is what is it?

      If it is just staying on for a few seconds and there is no display the Power Supply is shot or maybe the M’Board has been damaged by a power spike while it was sitting there unused.

      Once the Hardware is fixed the M$ Disc will still be required to fix whatever thing Windows wanted fixing. Inserting the Makers Recovery Disc if the system is an Off the Shelf type will do but f it is a White Box it should have come with M$ OEM Install Disc’s. Unfortunately some system builders load their computers with M$ Volume License Product and do not supply M$ Install Disc’s this is more likely with Windows XP as it doesn’t require Activation where as Vista dose on a Volume Licensee so if it’s loaded with XP and he has no Install Disc’s contact M$ Anti Piracy Hot Line and report the System Builder.

      They are criminals and deserve to be hit with the fines that the Courts Dish out to them.

      Col

    • #2454816

      It maybe time

      by zlitocook ·

      In reply to PC wont trun back on

      To take his computer to a repair shop because if you do not have access to the CD’s that came with the system you can not update or repair the O/S.
      If you are a person who feels that you are up to date with computer repair you can try some of the live CD’s that are free on the web and may help.
      With these you can copy his files to an external drive and try to fix his computer.
      You can try to use a XP CD and repair his computer but you could loose every thing on it.
      I tell every one I work with to back up once a month, ether to CD or external USB drives.

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