I need help with my computer!!!

[AwsomeStuff]

Yeah I need help. So all your advice is apreciated
so my computer (Sony vaio windows xp) was working fine on Tuesday and yesturday when I tried to use it again it wasn't working.
It takes me to this page where it tells me to choose whether I want to started normally, safe mode, or restorefrom last settings.
It doesn't matter which one I choose because it just keeps on restarting it self and it takes me back to the same page. If u think u can help me please let me know.
I taugh about restarting it to normal factory settings but I don't want to lose all my pics, vids, documents and songs I have in there

 

[mike_n_herrin]

well...as you've figured Window's is messed up if it wont start in even "safe mode." What you can do on your own depends on how much stuff you need to get back off of it. You can get yourself a "live" cd version of Linux (i prefer to use a version of linux call Knoppix for this sort of thing, but any live version will work). this will boot into a non-windows operating system running off the CD so it will not touch your hard drive or your data. then once that has loaded and if you have a flash drive or external hard drive you can then copy the files you want from your computer onto the flash drive or external drive. it's difficult to explain all the steps in doing this so if you have a nerdy computer friend you might want to ask him. if you don't you can usually go to the bookstore and look for a linux magazine and see if there is a "live" linux cd included in the magazine. live just means the program runs off the CD and doesn't install anything.

when i first starting trying to repiar windows system with Linux i got the book "hacking knoppix" it comes with a Live cd and tells you step by step now to fix several windows problems. it's the best computer book i own. there is a web site with some info about the book and ways to fix widnows, but you still need the CD. http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1918391,00.asp

 

[Corny]

This sounds an awful lot as if you have this problem:

http://blogs.technet.com/msrc/archive/2010/02/11/restart-issues-after-installing-ms10-015.aspx

 

[AwsomeStuff]

Thanks to those who responded
that last website was of big help.
I decided to restore everythig to it's original factory settings.
I guess I'm gonna lose all of my pics, songs, and vids

 

[csinick]

It could be a Hardware or Software error. So really you might be erasing all of your stuff for nothing.

1. Have you added anything new?
2. If so try removing it and try again.
3. Try to scan your HDD for physical problems. To do so check the manufacture of your drive and download the bootable disk. Run the Extended test. Sony might have a bootable hdd partition.

You can still backup your stuff by doing downloading a linux distro (Such as ubuntu) Fire it up and choose the first option. Which is try with out making changes. One open plug in a flash drive and drag all your stuff. Your "Windows drive" should be on the desktop.

Hope that helps a little bit.

 

[T-Rexx]

Thanks to those who responded
that last website was of big help.
I decided to restore everythig to it's original factory settings.
I guess I'm gonna lose all of my pics, songs, and vids

I presume you've lost all your pictures, songs, and videos by now (sorry, I don't log into JUB that much).

If you had listened to mike_n_herrin above, you could have recovered ALL of that stuff off your "unbootable" computer with knoppix.

 

[trinket]

I guess I'm gonna lose all of my pics, songs, and vids

Well, not necessarily. Like T-Rexx, I'm only just seeing this thread now, but in addition to the tip given to pull that stuff off, it depends. It depends on your restore methodology. If do a basic reinstall of Windows, in theory your data is still safe on your drive - it's not going to clobber the files and folders you've got sitting there. (An exception might be \Documents and Settings\ folders). So if you have an "AwesomeStuff" folder at root on your C: drive, Windows would leave it be. If you're doing a complete system restore/re-image (say, from a provided disc or a separate partition on the drive that many PC's come with for restore purposes), depending, your results may vary in what it might overwrite.

Heck, you could even take your drive out of the PC, put it on a hard drive dock or external drive shell case, and connect it to a working computer and copy all your data off. It's still there safe and sound even if Windows is messed up.

I hope it all worked out for you though. Let us know!