[jenny0786]

I was working on my computer on Friday and the power went out for a quick second. When I turned my computer back on it only goes up to the windows logo and freezes there. It also freezes when I choose safe mode and last good configuration. My keyboard works because I select the choices with the arrows, but the lights don't even light up. My biggest concern is losing all my files. Can anyone please give me some insight into what may have happened and how to fix it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.Edit: I've been talking to a friend who is good with computers. He thinks it's only windows that is frozen and I can install windows onto an external hard and use that to boot my computer. He said once I'm in I can retrieve all of my old stuff. Does anyone know if that might help? Please??

[mphenterprises]

Hi Jenny, as a TEMPORARY resolution, yes, you can install the operating system on an external drive....I stress TEMPORARYI take it you do not have your computer connected via a surge protector, correct? :rolleyes: I have warned so many people about this situation. I had to even create a clause in my contracts stating as such.Anyway, if you have an external drive, here are the steps you would take to get to your files, assuming the hard drive itself is not damaged:- Restart your computer. As it is restarting, look at the bottom of the screen for some key instructions. To get to the BIOS section, you will need to tap either: Delete Tab F1 F2- Once you get to the BIOS section, look for something that says "Boot Sequence" or "Boot Priority- When you get to that section, change the Boot startup to something like this: 1st ODD (CD or DVD Drive) 2nd HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 3rd (Anything else you may have)- Put in your Operating System CD, I am assuming it is Windows XP, and tap F10 to save changes, exit the BIOS, and restart the computer- When the computer restarts, you should see something similar to "Press Any Key to Boot from CD"- Once this process starts, you will see a series of blue screens with instructions on them. Follow the on screen instructions. When you get to the section asking where you what to install the Operating System, choose the partition associated with your external drive.- Continue to follow the on screen instructions. The Installation process will eventually begin installing the Operating System in the external drive.- Once the process is complete, the computer will restart. At this point, you should go back to the BIOS and change the Boot Sequence so that the external drive is the first option.- Since there are essentially two Operating Systems in your computer, the system will ask you from which Operating System would you like to boot. Always pick the first one.- Once complete and your computer is able to boot successfully using the external Operating System, verify that the original drive is actually still recognized by the computer. If it is not, or if the files within that drive are not accessible, that drive has died and all the files in it are dead as well.- If you are able to successfully recover all of your files and if you see that everything within the original drive is how it should be, you can reformat the original hard drive through Windows.- Finally, you can start the whole process over again; BUT, this time you are going to put the Operating System back into the original drive.NOTEOnce you have finished this process, reformat the external drive so that the Operating System is not on more than one partition.Also, if you have not already done so, BUY A SURGE PROTECTOR. That is unless you want to go through this again. :shock:*My fellow forum mates, please fill in anything I may have overlooked since I was doing this from memory.

[jenny0786]

Thank you sooo much! But yes, I do have a surge protector haha. My dad made sure we had one when we first got a computer. I don't know why, but it obviously didn't work. It's always on and the comp. is always plugged into it.

[mphenterprises]

Okay well...follow the steps I laid out. If you have any questions at all, please post :-)

[rgreen4]

The surge protector may have worked, you only get the surge when the power is suddenly reactivated. If a surge took out your electonics on the drive, it would not even get to the windows logo, it wouldn't even start.What probably got you is the sudden shutdown. Windows does not react well to a sudden shutdown and while it may not react badly to all of them, it will some. It depends on what process it had active at the time.After recovering from the situation, if you leave your comuter on all the time, you might want to invest in a UPS (Uninteruptable Power Supply) that basically has a large battery to provide power to the systems for a short period of time when AC is interrupted. I have had one on my systems for years, and when I lose power, I have time to do an orderly shutdown. If you leave your system on all the time, they now have a program and a link between the PC and the UPS to automatically start the shutdown process when the UPS is running off battery. Check the specifications on the one you look at to make sure it has this link.Those of us out in the boonies and on Electric Co-Ops are familiar with frequent, thankfully short outages. We sometime average 1 a quarter. Most of the time, it during the day and I have to reset clocks. That's also why I never go off and leave the computers on.

[mphenterprises]

That is a great point, RGreen. I have never used an UPS but I do leave my computer on all the time. As a matter of fact, I have not restarted my computer in about a week, since the last Windows Update.Jenny, and anyone else interested, here is a link for an Uninterruptable Power Supply on Newegg.com.*As with a regular Power Supply, the bare minimum is 450-500 Watts. The one in the link is 600 Watts.

[rgreen4]

That is a nice one, but does not have the automatic shutdown option. Here is a moderatedly priced one that does APC UPS. Note the cables and CD in the photo of supplied parts. It will not keep the PC running that long, just long enough to shut it down. And the UPS will shut down the PC automatically when power goes out.The power rating in a UPS is not the throughput, but the battery power. So you can hook a 500watt PC power supply to a 350W UPS without a problem, other than the length of time it will run the PC. But what we are after is an orderly shutdown, not extended operations.

[mphenterprises]

Great. Thanks for the advice. Would it be safe to assume that:Higher Wattage Power Supply + Higher Demand Components = Higher Rated UPS Needed

[rgreen4]

A standby UPS is not like a power supply, in that the power draw all goes throught the entire system. When operating off the AC line, the UPS may be charging the battery if it needs it, otherwise the battery is off line. There is a relay that switches from the AC line to the battery instantaneously when AC power is lost. There is a noticable CLICK you hear. In fact if the the power is in a mode where it is on/off/on/off/on, you will hear the clicks in the UPS.Most desktop PC's even with the 700 Watt PSU's don't draw that much power continuosly. While I no longer run 350Watt UPS's, I did at one time, supplying power to two PC's, monitor and Laser Printer. When the power went off, I had time to shut down the PC's, and let the print finish (unless it was real long). I didn't worry about the monitor. I usually had about 3-5 minutes.Here is one that has more power 540 Watt APC it even has protection for the DSL ethernet line as well as the telephone line. I lean toward the APC line for several reasons - they have been in the business a long time, I have had good luck with them, and they offer the automatic shutdown option on most of their line.

[smax013]

I second the recommendation of APC for UPS systems. I use two with my desktop computers (one 1000 VA unit and one 1500 VA unit...the 1500 powers the Windoze XP desktop, a 19 inch CRT, and a 19 in LCD and the 1000 VA powers a Mac G4 tower and a 19 inch CRT) and one older addition one that powers my cable box/DVR (the TV MUST live!!! :lol: ).For UPS systems it is the VAs that matter not necessarily the watts. APC has a selector guide that will help select an appropriate unit:[url]http://www.apcc.com/tools/upsselector/index.cfm

[jenny0786]

Thank you so much for all your tips and suggestions. He came over and tried to help, but my computer wouldn't load anything. The external hard drive couldn't be recognized or anything. He even popped in the windows cd's and stuff and it froze. My main concern is my pictures and documents. I will be very upset to lose pics of prom, graduation, vacations, etc. Do I have to take it somewhere to get it fixed? My friend and his dad couldn't figure it out and the dad went to school for computers. Are there people that specialize in fixing frozen windows or something?

[mphenterprises]

Jenny, at this point, you should prepare yourself for the fact that the hard drive may have become corrupted and damaged; thereby rendering all documents and files in that drive gone if not damaged.You do have one last option, take that hard drive out of your computer and put it in another computer as a secondary hard drive. IF the files on the drive are salvageable, the drive will be recognized by the other computer. Then, you can transfer the files to the other computer's hard drive and discard your drive.Barring that, your only other option is to take the drive to a local computer technician in your area. I would avoid retail chains such as Geek Squad, not because they are not good but because they will charge you an astronomical amount of money for the same thing a computer technician would do.I am not going to kid you, this is not going to be easy or inexpensive. If you do not have anyone that you know that can transfer the files without taking it to a technician, the base charge for a job like this is in the hundreds, $200-$300 is not out of the realm of possibility. And even still, that does not guarantee the recovery of the files. I personally would charge a standard labor rate of $75 per hour to recover the files. Depending on the region of the country you are in, that may be just about what you can expect to pay.The latter part of this thread is great for your future reference. If you plan on leaving your computer on at all times, get an Uninterruptable Power Supply. At the very least, get a better Surge Protector. As RGreen mention, your Surge Protector did its job; however, I still believe that you were not fully protected. I have not used a UPS; however, I have a very, VERY good Surge Protector that has protected me against some serious electrical storms.Also, another rule of thumb comes to mind....BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP. You can never have too many backup methods. I have three sets of backups. I know that if I ever lose any one of my hard drives, I will still have all my valuable information to upload once I reinstall Windows.

[jenny0786]

Thank you again. He has taken my computer to his place to try to hook up my hard drive to his computer. He said he will try to get into my pictures, documents, etc. and try to back them up on dvd. I'm sitting here in anticipation waiting for him to come back and tell me the news. I appreciate all the advice. :) I wouldn't be so concerned if it weren't for all of memories on that thing. Pictures and videos from vacations, family + friends, concerts and school are priceless. :(

[mphenterprises]

I can definitely understand that, now you are a bite more informed. From now on, at the very least back up your valuable data. :-)Good Luck

[smax013]

[quote name='mphenterprises']Jenny, at this point, you should prepare yourself for the fact that the hard drive may have become corrupted and damaged; thereby rendering all documents and files in that drive gone if not damaged.> > > > You do have one last option, take that hard drive out of your computer and put it in another computer as a secondary hard drive. IF the files on the drive are salvageable, the drive will be recognized by the other computer. Then, you can transfer the files to the other computer's hard drive and discard your drive.> > > > Barring that, your only other option is to take the drive to a local computer technician in your area. I would avoid retail chains such as Geek Squad, not because they are not good but because they will charge you an astronomical amount of money for the same thing a computer technician would do.> > > > I am not going to kid you, this is not going to be easy or inexpensive. If you do not have anyone that you know that can transfer the files without taking it to a technician, the base charge for a job like this is in the hundreds, $200-$300 is not out of the realm of possibility. And even still, that does not guarantee the recovery of the files. I personally would charge a standard labor rate of $75 per hour to recover the files. Depending on the region of the country you are in, that may be just about what you can expect to pay.> > > > The latter part of this thread is great for your future reference. If you plan on leaving your computer on at all times, get an Uninterruptable Power Supply. At the very least, get a better Surge Protector. As RGreen mention, your Surge Protector did its job; however, I still believe that you were not fully protected. I have not used a UPS; however, I have a very, VERY good Surge Protector that has protected me against some serious electrical storms.> > > > Also, another rule of thumb comes to mind....BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP. You can never have too many backup methods. I have three sets of backups. I know that if I ever lose any one of my hard drives, I will still have all my valuable information to upload once I reinstall Windows.A variant on the take the drive out of the computer and put it in another computer is to take the drive out and put it in an external enclosure and try it with another computer. Sometimes you just don't have another computer available with an open drive bay, but it is not hard to find another computer with a working USB port.As a last resort if needed, there are companies that specilaize in data recovery. They can go "beyond" just attaching the drive to another computer to actually physically taking apart the drive in a clean environment to get directly at the disk's platters (where the data is actually stored). This can potentially be needed if the drive is physically damaged. This process tends to be rather expensive, so it is usually as a last resort for data that you just HAVE to have back. One such company is DriveSavers ([url]http://www.drivesavers.com/services/index.html_).My guess is that the interruption of the power causes some of the system files to be corrupted. If so, then your friend might have a good shot at getting your files back unless they also got corrupted.And I will second MPH's "back up, back up, back up" mantra. It is typically a less that people have to learn the hard way before they heed it ("been there, done that" myself...as the saying goes). :)