oh boy

lbjandai · 10-11-2006, 05:31 PM

so i was trying to open firefox or any other program for that matter on my laptop and it says like cant find key or some crap like that... or not key. I really cant remember what it said but it wouldnt open anything it was strange, so i tried to system restore but in the middle of that it froze. turned off pc, now its been sitting at the screen after the windows xp screen with the cursor showing, which SHOULD come up next is the log in screen, but its not. I have tried running in safe mode, safe mode with networking, last working settings, and starting windows normally, nothing.

All i want to do is get on the computer, save some documents and refotmat the HD and reinstall windows so i can start fresh, so i really need some help here guys, i would LIKE to be able to get on to the computer, heck even get it half way running again, its a good comp, only a year old.

BoboChimp · 10-11-2006, 09:30 PM

Since it's a laptop, it's not as easy to just pull the drive and grab the documents you want while it's connected to another computer.

If it were me in this situation, I would use a linux LiveCD and a USB hard drive to get the docs off there. Basically, a LiveCD allows a user to preview an operating system before they elect to install it onto their hard drive and make it "permanent". It loads the OS kernel into memory and runs applications off the CD Rom. If you drop one of those into your machine, then plug in a USB hard drive, you'll be able to access your Windows C: drive and basically just drag and drop everything you want onto the USB drive.

I use Ubuntu. Assuming you have access to another computer, internet connection and CD burner with good burning software, you can get the LiveCD image here:
http://www.ubuntu.com/download

I'm sure there are other ways to do what you want to do. Lately this has been the easiest for me because its all grapical user interfaces much like windows and very easy to understand.

lbjandai · 10-12-2006, 03:05 PM

well i decided to just reformat and reinstall, just needed to couldnt live with it anymore, needed to get stuff done. Luckily, this has made me move to completely online docs (no more wasted money on microsoft office for me) and spreadsheets and such. Everything is online for me now a days, and i just have to trasnfer my music and vids to my computer, other than that i know what programs i have i think im gonna end up being fine.

thanks for the response/solution too!

**TheMatt** · 10-12-2006, 07:51 PM

OpenOffice is very similar to MS Office except that its free. If you don't want to buy MS Office this is a good alternative.

**laboye** · 10-13-2006, 06:22 PM

That it is, Matt. Do you need any assistance with the format and install process or are you set from there?

lbjandai · 10-13-2006, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by laboye

That it is, Matt. Do you need any assistance with the format and install process or are you set from there?

no im pretty good with reformatting and reinstall prob done format and install 3 times and reinstall like 5 times.

lbjandai · 10-13-2006, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheMatt

OpenOffice is very similar to MS Office except that its free. If you don't want to buy MS Office this is a good alternative.

yea i know about OO, never really liked it, its ok, i can get micro office pretty easily anyways

**laboye** · 10-14-2006, 08:09 AM

Excellent! Well, it's now safe to lock this thread if it is necessary.

10-11-2006, 05:31 PM	#1 (permalink)
lbjandai Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 6 OS: winxp	oh boy so i was trying to open firefox or any other program for that matter on my laptop and it says like cant find key or some crap like that... or not key. I really cant remember what it said but it wouldnt open anything it was strange, so i tried to system restore but in the middle of that it froze. turned off pc, now its been sitting at the screen after the windows xp screen with the cursor showing, which SHOULD come up next is the log in screen, but its not. I have tried running in safe mode, safe mode with networking, last working settings, and starting windows normally, nothing. All i want to do is get on the computer, save some documents and refotmat the HD and reinstall windows so i can start fresh, so i really need some help here guys, i would LIKE to be able to get on to the computer, heck even get it half way running again, its a good comp, only a year old.

10-12-2006, 07:51 PM	#4 (permalink)
TheMatt TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 13,702 OS: Win 3.1, 98, NT 4.0, XP Debian 4.0, Kubuntu 6.06 My System Blog Entries: 3	OpenOffice is very similar to MS Office except that its free. If you don't want to buy MS Office this is a good alternative. __________________ - Matt M - KB1OSC - Folding@Home 85015 [url="http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/"] If TSF has helped you, please consider donating. If I have stopped responding to a thread, feel free to send me a PM with a link to the thread. It is advisable to subscribe to threads so you will receive updates when replies are posted. You can subscribe to threads from the "Thread Tools" Menu. »Memtest86 »Prime95 »UBCD »SpeedFan »NHC Personal »Everest »Sandra »PC Wizard »RivaTuner »ATi Tool Click here for Useful Articles and Guides

10-13-2006, 06:22 PM	#5 (permalink)
laboye TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Hollywood, FL Posts: 1,246 OS: Windows xp Pro/Vista Beta 2/Ubuntu 6.06 LTS My System	That it is, Matt. Do you need any assistance with the format and install process or are you set from there? __________________ Repair Windows XP Guide --- Resolutions Crazy Computer that I'm saving up for::Antec P180 Case;PC Pwr&Cooling 1kW Quad SLI PSU;Asus P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe;Intel Core2 XE X6800;Corsair TWIN2XP2048 2GB PC2-6400 DDR2 RAM;2xAsus GeForce 7950 GX2;BFG PhysX Accel.;IBM DVD-RAM/Plextor DVD±RW;Seagate 750GB HD 7200RPM;WDX 150GB 10000RPM;Vigor Monsoon TEC Cooler

10-14-2006, 08:09 AM	#8 (permalink)
laboye TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Hollywood, FL Posts: 1,246 OS: Windows xp Pro/Vista Beta 2/Ubuntu 6.06 LTS My System	Excellent! Well, it's now safe to lock this thread if it is necessary. __________________ Repair Windows XP Guide --- Resolutions Crazy Computer that I'm saving up for::Antec P180 Case;PC Pwr&Cooling 1kW Quad SLI PSU;Asus P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe;Intel Core2 XE X6800;Corsair TWIN2XP2048 2GB PC2-6400 DDR2 RAM;2xAsus GeForce 7950 GX2;BFG PhysX Accel.;IBM DVD-RAM/Plextor DVD±RW;Seagate 750GB HD 7200RPM;WDX 150GB 10000RPM;Vigor Monsoon TEC Cooler

10-11-2006, 09:30 PM	#2 (permalink)
BoboChimp Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 15 OS: Vista RC1/Windows XP Pro/Ubuntu 6.06 "Dapper Drake"	Since it's a laptop, it's not as easy to just pull the drive and grab the documents you want while it's connected to another computer. If it were me in this situation, I would use a linux LiveCD and a USB hard drive to get the docs off there. Basically, a LiveCD allows a user to preview an operating system before they elect to install it onto their hard drive and make it "permanent". It loads the OS kernel into memory and runs applications off the CD Rom. If you drop one of those into your machine, then plug in a USB hard drive, you'll be able to access your Windows C: drive and basically just drag and drop everything you want onto the USB drive. I use Ubuntu. Assuming you have access to another computer, internet connection and CD burner with good burning software, you can get the LiveCD image here: http://www.ubuntu.com/download I'm sure there are other ways to do what you want to do. Lately this has been the easiest for me because its all grapical user interfaces much like windows and very easy to understand.

10-12-2006, 03:05 PM	#3 (permalink)
lbjandai Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 6 OS: winxp	well i decided to just reformat and reinstall, just needed to couldnt live with it anymore, needed to get stuff done. Luckily, this has made me move to completely online docs (no more wasted money on microsoft office for me) and spreadsheets and such. Everything is online for me now a days, and i just have to trasnfer my music and vids to my computer, other than that i know what programs i have i think im gonna end up being fine. thanks for the response/solution too!