Here's what happened:
I was playing a game on my laptop (specifically Hearthstone) when my computer started freezing. After about five minutes of it freezing and unfreezing, and then finally crashing to a blue screen, I restarted the computer. I was frustrated, but this didn't seem like anything out of the ordinary.
Upon startup, it took me to the "starting Windows" screen, accompanied with the Windows logo. After about 3 minutes of sitting and staring at this screen, I angrily restarted it again. It had been a long day and I had had enough. (As I say this, I spent 30 minutes typing this up on my phone only for my web browser to crash.)
I was a little aggressive with it this time, and banged on the keyboard a bit. I noticed a bit of a clunky noise, though, so I froze and let it do its thing. Instead of starting up correctly, it took me to this screen:
"Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause.
If Windows files have been damaged or configured incorrectly, Startup Repair can help diagnose and fix the problem. If power was interrupted during startup, choose Start Windows Normally.
Launch Startup Repair (recommended)
Start Windows Normally
Description: Fix problems that are preventing Windows from starting"
Selecting the first option, Launch Startup Repair, takes me to a screen that says "Windows is loading files..." with a loading bar underneath it that fills up about two-thirds of the way, and then takes me to this screen:
"Windows has encountered a problem communicating with a device connected to your computer.
This error can be caused by unplugging a removable storage device such as an external USB drive while the device is in use, or by faulty hardware such as a hard drive or CD-ROM drive that is failing. Make sure any removable storage is properly connected and then restart your computer.
If you continue to receive this error message, contact the hardware manufacturer.
Status 0xc00000e9
Info: An unexpected I/O error has occurred."
Selecting the second option, "Start Windows Normally", takes me to the "Starting Windows" screen, but this time without a logo. After maybe 15 seconds, it takes me to the "Windows is loading files..." screen, which then takes me back to the 0xc00000e9 screen.
I restarted my computer a bunch of times, and when that didn't work, I Googled my problem; however, I'm ashamed to admit that I have no idea how computers work. Most of the terminology used in these solutions went completely over my head.
That aside, I tried what I could decipher - the first thing I tried was taking the battery out and putting it back in after 10 or 15 minutes. Didn't work. Next I tried hitting F2 upon starting the computer up. I messed around with the priorities but nothing helped. Lastly, I hit F8 and tried starting the computer in safe mode with command prompt, but it took me to the "Windows is loading files..." screen with the incomplete bar, which then sent me to the 0xc00000e9 error screen.
What do I do? Is my laptop toast? Did I maybe knock something loose when I got rough with it?
For the record, I have a Vaio VPCEB with Windows 7.
I was playing a game on my laptop (specifically Hearthstone) when my computer started freezing. After about five minutes of it freezing and unfreezing, and then finally crashing to a blue screen, I restarted the computer. I was frustrated, but this didn't seem like anything out of the ordinary.
Upon startup, it took me to the "starting Windows" screen, accompanied with the Windows logo. After about 3 minutes of sitting and staring at this screen, I angrily restarted it again. It had been a long day and I had had enough. (As I say this, I spent 30 minutes typing this up on my phone only for my web browser to crash.)
I was a little aggressive with it this time, and banged on the keyboard a bit. I noticed a bit of a clunky noise, though, so I froze and let it do its thing. Instead of starting up correctly, it took me to this screen:
"Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause.
If Windows files have been damaged or configured incorrectly, Startup Repair can help diagnose and fix the problem. If power was interrupted during startup, choose Start Windows Normally.
Launch Startup Repair (recommended)
Start Windows Normally
Description: Fix problems that are preventing Windows from starting"
Selecting the first option, Launch Startup Repair, takes me to a screen that says "Windows is loading files..." with a loading bar underneath it that fills up about two-thirds of the way, and then takes me to this screen:
"Windows has encountered a problem communicating with a device connected to your computer.
This error can be caused by unplugging a removable storage device such as an external USB drive while the device is in use, or by faulty hardware such as a hard drive or CD-ROM drive that is failing. Make sure any removable storage is properly connected and then restart your computer.
If you continue to receive this error message, contact the hardware manufacturer.
Status 0xc00000e9
Info: An unexpected I/O error has occurred."
Selecting the second option, "Start Windows Normally", takes me to the "Starting Windows" screen, but this time without a logo. After maybe 15 seconds, it takes me to the "Windows is loading files..." screen, which then takes me back to the 0xc00000e9 screen.
I restarted my computer a bunch of times, and when that didn't work, I Googled my problem; however, I'm ashamed to admit that I have no idea how computers work. Most of the terminology used in these solutions went completely over my head.
That aside, I tried what I could decipher - the first thing I tried was taking the battery out and putting it back in after 10 or 15 minutes. Didn't work. Next I tried hitting F2 upon starting the computer up. I messed around with the priorities but nothing helped. Lastly, I hit F8 and tried starting the computer in safe mode with command prompt, but it took me to the "Windows is loading files..." screen with the incomplete bar, which then sent me to the 0xc00000e9 error screen.
What do I do? Is my laptop toast? Did I maybe knock something loose when I got rough with it?
For the record, I have a Vaio VPCEB with Windows 7.