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.

 

[holdum333]

Never ran Vista! But wondering if 64-32 bit would make a difference?? Also I like @kemical's site better for the Vista disc!
Would be nice to know if the PC would boot to a live DVD/CD.

 

[Carol Smith]

Holdum....
Okay I'll go check that out. I need to make a screaming emoji!

 

[Carol Smith]

Kemical....
Stupidly I just thought I had a better chance using a vista recovery disc. Dumb dumb girl! I already have Ubuntu and imgburn downloaded. As soon as my teenager brings my car back, I'll run out and grab some more CDS and try it. You're a doll for trying so hard to help me. Much appreciated.

 

[holdum333]

Holdum....
Okay I'll go check that out. I need to make a screaming emoji!

OK ! I don't want to get in @kemical's way. I checked out the site you mentioned for the recovery disc and it don't look to whoppy to me

 

[kemical]

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

In that case then it was almost certainly asking for the full install disk.

Kemical....
Stupidly I just thought I had a better chance using a vista recovery disc. Dumb dumb girl! I already have Ubuntu and imgburn downloaded. As soon as my teenager brings my car back, I'll run out and grab some more CDS and try it. You're a doll for trying so hard to help me. Much appreciated.

Hi Carol,
ok sounds good but if for whatever reason this fails to work then we do of course still have the option to download the full install disk.
Best of luck and any problems then please post back.

 

[holdum333]

Hi I've heard too many cooks in the kitchen can ruin the food and I sure don't want to do that, but I'm wondering.
How were these pictures put on your PC? Are there not copies of these some where else, like a digital camera (ect.)
It would be nice to get the old PC going too, but you say the pictures are what's important. Just thinking out load like usual.
Any way don't get discouraged. @kemical has other ways to Get-er-Done

 

[kemical]

OK ! I don't want to get in @kemical's way.

I think that ship already sailed.

Can we not confuse Carol and stick to one process at a time please.

 

[holdum333]

Sorry! Have a safe trip mate. Only wanting help and try to assure the OP.
I'm gone!

 

[Carol Smith]

Kemical....
Yep, that shipped sailed. lol
My kiddo has been delayed getting home but I'm still on it. Thanks darlin


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[kemical]

My kiddo has been delayed getting home but I'm still on it. Thanks darlin

Hi Carol..

Your very welcome.

I'm sure you'll do fine. Just take your time and any problems crop up, post and we'll try and help.

 

[Carol Smith]

Kemical. ....
I'm sure you will just shake your head at my stupidity but.....
There are all sorts of CDs
R- R+ RW- RW+. What in the world do I get?



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[RichM]

RW cds are erasable more expensive and more perishable in the long run. R disks are more economical and many believe last longer as well.
+r are what are most used today and thought to be for multiple sessions as they are easily added to whereas -r are considered to be single session disks.
CD/DVD -R +R RW – what does it all mean ?
/

 

[kemical]

Kemical. ....
I'm sure you will just shake your head at my stupidity but.....
There are all sorts of CDs
R- R+ RW- RW+. What in the world do I get?



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Hi Carol,
not at all, we all have to start somewhere. If your only going to use them once then get R+, if you want to write to the disk again and again then get the RW+.
-ROM, -R, +R, +RW? Understanding the optical drive alphabet soup

I have to hit the sack I'm afraid but will check back later. Hope all goes well.

 

[RichM]

I am almost afraid to mix in here but feel bound to suggest something. This pc is at least 9 years old, has the hard drive ever been replaced?
I suspect not which makes me think if we can get a Windows Vista disk to boot to so as to enter "Repair your Computer" so we can choose "cmd"
and then run "chkdsk /r" which might get the drive back enough to boot and retrieve the files....still better to use a linux Live-Cd first like Ubuntu to
remove whatever files and data you need first. In addition to Ubuntu, Puppy Linux makes a much smaller Linux OS that can run from memory once booted to and then easier and faster to remove the files and data.
Link Removed

 

[Carol Smith]

For all parties.....
For reasons I can't possibly explain. I left the computer on the BSOD possibly asked it to restart. But never went back today to look at it. Tonight I went to turn it off and Voila.... ITS ON! I'm so confused. But I'll take it. I'm sure the computer is still basically history but I should be able to get my stuff off of it.
Thank you for so much wonderful support and advice, especially Kemical who's wasted countless hours calming me down.


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[RichM]

Great news now please backup the pictures and files you need now to an external drive, flash drive or burn to cd.

 

[Carol Smith]

Lol, yes I understand. Backing up to the cloud even as we speak. I will copy to disc first thing tomorrow. Weirdest thing I've ever seen. To my knowledge, the vista recovery disc never even ran. Lucky lucky lucky girl. Feel like I should be buying a lotto ticket


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[kemical]

Glad to hear it all worked out ..

 

[RichM]

Good for you Carol. We techs have a nasty habit of saying "whatever you didn't backup must be things you obviously don't care about"
so I am glad you can learn from your "second chance" here. You can never have enough backups!

 

[BIGBEARJEDI]

Sent from my iPhone using Windows Forums mobile app[/QUOTE]

Lol, yes I understand. Backing up to the cloud even as we speak. I will copy to disc first thing tomorrow. Weirdest thing I've ever seen. To my knowledge, the vista recovery disc never even ran. Lucky lucky lucky girl. Feel like I should be buying a lotto ticket


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>>>Hi Carol; that's great you got your computer working again (at least temporarily!). I wanted to mention something to you as a follow on for RichM's very good suggestion of making a local backup in addition to your Cloud backup. It's really important to have at least 3 backups on different types of media, but for most home Users, 2 will do. The problem with a Cloud backup is, if you ever lose your Internet connection say to a nasty virus or a faulty Modem or Wi-Fi router; you have NO access to your photos on the Cloud! Additionally, depending on which company you have your Cloud backup with, they can go out of business and you may lose all your photos that way. I would recommend taking RichM's suggestion to back up those photos from your now working computer to external hard drive, flash drive, or DVD/CD discs and take those backups and stick in a drawer or safe in your home. This way, if you ever have to move let's say it can take weeks or months to get access to your Internet at a new home or apartment location, but with external local media (Hard Drive, Flash Drive, or DVD/CD discs), you don't need Internet to access them, just your computer that's working, or even a friend or family member's computer that you can borrow to get to your photos to print, or E-mail, or just look at.
Be aware that in the Business world, 3 backups are required at a minimum for Best Practice, and so you should have no less than 2 to cover yourself adequately in the future. I've been doing this stuff for over 4 decades, and am giving you some very good free advice that most home Users have no idea of.
Best of luck to you,
<<<BBJ>>>