Has my computer died?

[[Ray]]

Hi

Do not wipe the disc.

If you really must go down that route, then buy another hdd and load a fresh copy on that.
(the data on the original hdd "should be safe", you "should be able" use it as a data drive and copy your old data from it)

If the hdd is faulty then you do not want to use it, buy another hdd.

Let's assume that the hdd is not permanently faulty (just bad sector(s) where bootmgr resides)
First step really is to copy "bootmgr.exe" from another drive/system
Your techsavvy buddy should be able to do that
Should he/she not know, then come back here

Ray

[Midase]

If you have the Operating System disc then you can do a system repair with it. This will entail booting from the disc at start up. No doubt your friend will be able to do this if he hasn't already.

If all else fails I would do as Ray says, get another hard drive and reinstall on that. Your old drive can then be connected as slave drive where you can recover any imporant files you have.

[Hampshire Lass]

Hi

Do not wipe the disc.

If you really must go down that route, then buy another hdd and load a fresh copy on that.
(the data on the original hdd "should be safe", you "should be able" use it as a data drive and copy your old data from it)

If the hdd is faulty then you do not want to use it, buy another hdd.

Let's assume that the hdd is not permanently faulty (just bad sector(s) where bootmgr resides)
First step really is to copy "bootmgr.exe" from another drive/system
Your techsavvy buddy should be able to do that
Should he/she not know, then come back here

Ray

I think that's maybe what he was thinking of doing actually. Wiping the drive being his last option.
I ended up a little confused by the time he left today. He was talking of copying something from his system anyway but I'll discuss your advice  with him tomorrow.

If you have the Operating System disc then you can do a system repair with it. This will entail booting from the disc at start up. No doubt your friend will be able to do this if he hasn't already.

If all else fails I would do as Ray says, get another hard drive and reinstall on that. Your old drive can then be connected as slave drive where you can recover any imporant files you have.

I do have the operating system disc and he tried to do a system repair (which took a very long time) and then the situation was exactly the same afterwards, hence why he was mystified. There was a bit more to it but I can't remember or understand  what the problem was.

Thank you Ray and Midase anyway....I will keep you informed.

[Hampshire Lass]

Thank you all for your advice. 

 In the end I took the computer to the local repair shop. They were very good and I collected it yesterday. The HDD was faulty and I had to buy a new one. They managed to save almost everything and transfer it to the new HDD. I'm now busy installing a few things and changing a few things and rescuing a few things which were lost for some reason.

All in all, I was very lucky that I didn't lose more and I'm happy to have my pc back.

I'm really glad I kept hearing your words "do not wipe the disc" or the outcome would have been very different....so many thanks for your help once again.

[[Ray]]

Hi

That's good news!

[get soapbox out, turn on microphone, turn up volume]

NOW TAKE A BACKUP OF ALL YOUR IMPORTANT DATA.

 

Ray

[gaffy]

Hi

That's good news!

[get soapbox out, turn on microphone, turn up volume]

NOW TAKE A BACKUP OF ALL YOUR IMPORTANT DATA.

 

Ray

A salutary experience for Hampshire Lass and big lesson for me and others no doubt, I am guilty of that sin, will take backups today, thanks. 

 

[Rosie (MaccHistorian)]

Just remember, a really easy way to take instant backups of your most important data is to register for a Dropbox account, install the software so you have a Dropbox folder on your drive and save things in there. As long as you are connected to the internet, anything saved in your Dropbox folder will be instantly uploaded to dropbox "in the cloud" and you will have a backup. Ideal for your family history data.
I also use XMarks to save my internet bookmarks to the cloud so it's easy to switch browsers.

But perhaps not a good idea if you have a very low broadband usage limit.

[Hampshire Lass]

I hear you loud and clear Ray   

I did back some of my data up though, so I'm refuse to sit on the naughty step 

Having said that, it definitely was a learning curve for me....and I'm not too sure that I'm out of the woods yet.   I asked them at the hospital (   to try to save all my data and they did. When I collected it, I had documents with the correct titles and photographs in the correct folders. However, this morning I tried to look at some of these documents and photographs and in many instances was greeted by the message "cannot open, corrupt file".

Now I know I'm easily confused but I'm left wondering if the corrupt documents and photographs were damaged somehow on my old HDD or whether in the transfer, the original problem has transferred......if you see what i mean.

It's a strange problem because some of the more recent photos are fine and some of the photos from years ago are not.....likewise with the documents.  In other words, there is no timeline for the damage.

I plan to delete the corrupt documents and photos and then transfer the photos I have on my external hard drive.....and then just hope for the best.

and remember to back up regularly in future

[[Ray]]

Hi HL

No, do not delete, yet.

Let's first think about it, no harm in keeping bits .................. [ I'm an OCD / hoarder ]

Is there any other common link as to what you cannot read/view?
eg files of the nature .jpg .gif .tif .doc .pdf .............er? etc...... er?     

Ray