[SOLVED] Gateway M460 won't boot

tanusgreystar · 08-13-2008, 03:20 PM

My friend's Gateway M460 won't start. BIOS will start, then I get the black screen giving the options "start Windows normally, "start in safe mode," etc. When you choose any of these options, the computer gets to the Win XP screen, then the Blue screen of death very briefly, then it starts over and will continue to do this indefinitely until you shut it down. I went into BIOS to check it out and at one point there didn't appear to be a HDD, but when I checked it again, there was. I put the XP disk in to see if the comp would boot from it and it would. Is there something I should try before I just wipe the drive and start over??

**TriggerFinger** · 08-13-2008, 04:56 PM

I would definitely start with an HDD diagnostic. If the HDD passes the test with flying colors, I would try to repair Windows (steps on the link): http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1664082/posts

If symptoms persist, I will check for overheating (just to be sure) and of course I will run Memtest86+ to test the RAM. If you run Memtest, run it overnight or test each RAM stick individually (remove one while you test the other and vice versa.. around 2 hours each stick).

Now if HDD and RAM check out OK then I have no choice but do a reinstall of Windows.

AquariusFX · 08-13-2008, 05:58 PM

When you see the option that you said, look for an option that said disable automatic restart when error or something like that. Then see what error the blue screen said.
Then go from there.

If you can't get into the safe mode, the choice would be to do Windows Repair installation.

tanusgreystar · 08-17-2008, 03:37 PM

I ran Gateway's HDD diag utility. It picked up errors and automatically fixed them, and now the laptop is running very well. Is there something else I should do just in case there may be future problems??

**TriggerFinger** · 08-18-2008, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tanusgreystar

I ran Gateway's HDD diag utility. It picked up errors and automatically fixed them, and now the laptop is running very well. Is there something else I should do just in case there may be future problems??

Wow! That's great news. Thank you for sharing.

I use this as a guide http://www.techsupportforum.com/f174...ow-247566.html

I do not wait until I am in too deep to run the steps/tests in that document. What I do is to follow the steps once every 3 to 6 months depending on my use.

Make sure you back up your files as there is no saying when these devices will break down.