Windows Vista Desperate .... BSOD ISSUE

[Carol Smith]

Short version if that's possible....
I turned on my Gateway PC today running Vista and was given the BSOD. Did not panic, simply rebooted. Unfortunately it never got past the initial screen. I did go into BIOS but am unsure what to look for. Did go into Advanced boot menu... Safe mode and safe mode with command pretend they are going to start but kind of just get stuck and never do anything more then say please wait....
Advanced Boot screen option repair your computer also does nothing but kick me back to BSOD.
MY SYSTEM DID NOT COME WITH A DISK.
Here's the big issue, my daughters grad photos from last week are on my hard drive. I had not had time to put them into discs yet. This was the most important day of her life. Please please help me.

 

[kemical]

Hi Carol,
if you can boot into safe mode and advanced options it might be worth trying 'Last known good configuration'. This will not effect any of your personal files and will hopefully get you running again. If it doesn't work the first time please do try a few times. This page from Microsoft may help:
Using Last Known Good Configuration - Windows Help

Also as you have access to safe mode I wonder if you can grab a couple of files for me. When a computer blue screens, as long as settings are configured correctly, a 'dump' file is produced which contains a record of what drivers were being used as well as a probable cause. We can read these dump files and usually get a good idea on what is causing the issue.
The 'dump' files will be found in the main Windows folder on the C drive. Look for a folder marked 'minidump' and they will be in there. If you cannot find a minidump folder or any dump files within then chances are you need to change some settings.

If you do manage to get hold of anything then please zip it up and post in the forum.

If you don't have any dump files see if you can change your settings. (safe mode might not let you)
Open the run application.
Type sysdm.cpl in the run box and click ok.
Look across the top of the system properties box for 'Advanced' and click that.
Look for 'Startup and Recovery' near the bottom and click 'settings'.
Near the bottom you'll see a drop down menu under the heading 'write debugging information'.
In the drop down menu choose ' small memory dump (256KB)'
Under 'small dump directory' make sure it says %SystemRoot%\Minidump.
Click ok and your good to go.

You will of course need to bsod again before a dump file is produced but with you looping on start up that shouldn't be too hard..

Post back if you have any questions.


Lastly just a quick thought have you tried grabbing those photo's in safe mode or won't it let you?

 

[Carol Smith]

Kemical....
Thank you for getting back to me.
Unfortunately, I have repeatedly tried to boot up in safe mode and safe mode with command. Neither works. It will start listing files but stops after a couple of seconds and says please wait at the bottom. After a couple of hours, no change.
Last known good configuration produces the same result.
I have a very aged computer, still, I'm confused as to what changed that caused this. Nothing has been changed, nothing is new, I'm rarely if ever on the web this desktop.
Every boot to nowhere breaks my heart as I realize I'm never seeing those graduation pictures again. I've considered taking it to someone but as a single mom, I honestly can't afford it.
Thanks for trying to help. I appreciate it.

 

[kemical]

Hi Carol,
first let me apologise as i misread your post and thought you could access safe mode, sorry..
If you can get access to another pc say like a friends you can use this page to download the Vista iso. I'm not entirely sure how safe it is but this is an emergency right?
Windows Vista ISO Download (Bootable) 32 Bit 64 Bit - Web For PC

You will have to burn it to disk but once you've done that you can then boot off the disk and run a repair.

If this does ultimately fail then those photo's will still be on the drive and you just need to find a way to access them. You can have the data found for you by a proffessional but thats gonna cost money.

See if you can get a friend to let you download and burn a disk. If that's possible then please post again and we'll advise you on what to do next once you have the disk.

Ultimately though you should be able to get the photo's back so do't worry too much.

 

[Carol Smith]

Sandbox....
Is that an option? Can I remove the hard drive and pull everything off of it? I'm not very computer savvy, so how might I accomplish that? I don't care so much about losing the computer if I can save the graduation pics and the video of the graduation address, which happened to be given by my kiddo.
My whole life I've always back up to discs and the one time I wait a week... BLAM! Ugh, I appreciate the help. Thank you

 

[kemical]

Sandbox....
Is that an option? Can I remove the hard drive and pull everything off of it? I'm not very computer savvy, so how might I accomplish that? I don't care so much about losing the computer if I can save the graduation pics and the video of the graduation address, which happened to be given by my kiddo.
My whole life I've always back up to discs and the one time I wait a week... BLAM! Ugh, I appreciate the help. Thank you

It something that you would try probably at the end. Once we've exhausted other avenues. I would have gone on to explain this but Sandbox has a tendency to jump the gun somewhat.

 

[Carol Smith]

Kemical....
Okay I can probably accomplish that. It was suggested to me that I obtain a Ubuntu Live CD to boot off of. Do you have any knowledge of this program and if that is a viable option? Id sure hate to mess up someone else's computer in the process of saving my own.

 

[Carol Smith]

Sandbox....
Sadly I'm not very confident with computers. All I have been able to do so far was just from reading for hours off of websites, blogs, etc. I'm not quite sure how to try what you're suggesting but at this time, I'll try anything. I'd set the thing on fire if there was a chance the pictures would run out trying to save themselves! Lol. I appreciate all the help.
Thanks again

 

[kemical]

Do you have any knowledge of this program and if that is a viable option?

It certainly is a viable option.

Have a look at this guide and you'll see you can get access to your windows hdd by booting from the Ubuntu disk. You can probably grab those photo's too as well as make a back up.
Use Ubuntu Live CD to Backup Files from Your Dead Windows Computer

If this seems too complex then we'll go back to creating the iso idea.

 

[Carol Smith]

Kemical...
Thanks so much. I'm going to try first thing tomorrow and I'll let you know. I was just too frustrated today to deal with it so I walked away for awhile.

 

[kemical]

Hi Carol,
your very welcome and I hope all goes well tomorrow. If you need any further questions answering do please ask and we'll do our best to advise you.
Good luck!

 

[BIGBEARJEDI]

Hi Carol,
The computer is definitely busted, and needs a Computer Pro to fix it as stated. kemical is giving you a very safe solution of trying to access your photo files with Ubuntu LiveCD; I use this method frequently on my Customer's computers. If that fails to work, you should really stop messing with that computer and Vista--with the age of Vista computers now being at 9 years old--you probably have 1 or more failed hardware components along with a seriously scrambled Windows Vista on there.

The safest thing to do if you can't get your files off with Ubuntu is to take that computer (it's a desktop PC right?) to your local computer repair shop and pay to do a data recovery. This will cost you from $25-$75 at most shops; more at the big national computer chains such as Best Buy Geek Squad. They will most likely physically remove your hard drive from your computer and place it into another bench computer that's known to work and simply retrieve all your precious photos and burn them to DVD discs or even a Flash Drive depending on how many photos you actually have and their size and total capacity. Once you have those, you can toss that old computer out the window and never use it again!
You can insert your Recovery disc or Flash Drive into another new or borrowed working computer, and have access to all or most all of your photos for a very modest fee! I do this all the time for customers and I don't charge very much to do so.

The one thing that may be a problem for you, is that if the Technician you take your drive into tells you that your hard drive has stopped spinning and he can't read anything on it; you'll have to send it out to very expensive professional Data Recovery. This starts at $250 and goes up from there. There are only 2 companies in the U.S. that I trust to do this and they are:
1.) Best Buy-Geek Squad; their Data Recovery center is in Kentucky.
2.) Kroll OnTrack; their Data Recovery center is in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
You can google both of these to get their contact info and locations.

I just got back a busted usb external hard drive from Geek Squad last month for my son; and he had all his photos, movies, and music for the last 11 years back and they did a 97% recovery of nearly all his stuff. However, this wound up costing me just over $550, and it was his birthday present this year. Not cheap, but I wanted to let you know this is a possibility if your drive is seriously damaged. If those photos are irreplaceable and you can't afford to do it now, you should take that drive when you get it back from your local Computer Pro and stick it in a drawer until such time as you can afford the professional Data Recovery. It might be 5 years or something, but you might be able to get a friend or family member to help pay for the cost, and the photos would still be there waiting for you. Or you could win the lottery too!

Don't want to scare you; but, I've seen lots of my Customers who are not computer savvy mess up their drives by trying random repairs and destroying just about any opportunity to get their precious photos off that computer. This way, you'll know the risks by continuing to try and repair that computer to access your photos. At least now, you can make an intelligent decision.

Hope this proves helpful.
Best of luck,
<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>>

 

[kemical]

''This will cost you from $25-$75 at most shops''

I've considered taking it to someone but as a single mom, I honestly can't afford it.

Hopefully between us (the forum and you) Carol we'll get those images back for you..

 

[holdum333]

''This will cost you from $25-$75 at most shops''

Carol Smith said: ↑
I've considered taking it to someone but as a single mom, I honestly can't afford it.

Hopefully between us (the forum and you) Carol we'll get those images back for you..

This works for me! Ubuntu is great for this and cheaper! The price of a disc. Windows forum doesn't charge any thing.

 

[kemical]

Lol Gary she's trying to keep the cost down but yes they are handy things.

 

[holdum333]

Lol Gary she's trying to keep the cost down but yes they are handy things.

Yes sir! I know!! I just wanted to have my reply on the same thread with you big boys. Thought I might impress you guys a little!
You know; if Google or one of the big search engines robots picks this up. Also just wanted carol to know she's in good hands here on Windows forum and that you will get the job done for her. I have Ubuntu, but haven't really gotten into it very far. I like my docking cable.
Hey Carol! @kemical will help you Get-Er-Done!
PS welcome to the forum

 

[Carol Smith]

Kemical....
Got a vista recovery disc. You will not believe this! I have the boot menu up, I'm selecting the proper thing, I hear the disc running and it keeps kicking me a message asking me to insert a disc and press a key. I DID! 29 TIMES! I'm ready to throw it out the window. So now I paid for this dumb disc and I'm no closer. Is there anything else I can do?

 

[kemical]

I hear the disc running and it keeps kicking me a message asking me to insert a disc and press a key

Hmm... It could well be asking for your vista installation disk (which I know you don't have) which it would then use to repair the install.

So can you tell what you did exactly?

Did you change your boot order to boot from the vista recovery disk?
Try following this guide, change the boot order and boot from the recovery disk:
How to Boot Your Computer From a Disc or USB Drive

What about downloading the vista iso from the link i gave you?

 

[Carol Smith]

I did change the order and also tried booting from F10. Downloaded the vista recovery disc from NeoSmart Tech.

 

[Carol Smith]

Kemical....
And I think it's adorable that you think I understand how to use Twitter. I don't even have Facebook. Lol