jhs1970426

OK... so i tried doing the F10 through F12. Upon startup, i hit F8, it takes me to an "advanced option menu". There was a "reboot" option. I hit that option... yet it STILL brings me to this "problem detected" blue screen. Does this mean my desktop is toast? SHould we be saving up for a new computer? I mean this one is 7+ years old, so maybe its time to move on?

My desktop is a Dell. This is my mothers computer, so there is nothing on there that we will miss if we run the recovery (she has all her pics on the digital camera still... some from 6 years ago). I will try everything that you guys are telling me tonight after work and ill post the results. Thank you guys!!

I really appreciate all this info and help everyone. I just found the CDs that came with the computer. So i am trying to reboot the computer with the 'reinstallation cd for the operating system.' But how do I reboot the computer? Im still having the problem with the blue screen, as stated above. So i cannot get to the startup menu or anywhere else for that matter, to reinistall the cd. so im really at a loss as to what i do.

OK, now I have a whole new set of issues. When I try to start up in Safe Mode and run the disc check, a blue screen appears that says "Problem detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damages to your computer." Then it says UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME. Then TECH INFO: ***STOP: OxOOOOOO ED. I try restarting again and again in safe mode but this keeps popping up and i cant get past this and into the computer to get the promp screen. From what i have read in other posts, this is when you upgrade to a new windows. I never did that, nor have i even thought about doing it. So i really do not know why this is happening.

Thank you for the quick responses!! Geej- Nothing happened prior to this problem. No windows, updates, error messages, etc. The computer has Norton that is always running and checking files and finding something. Thats the ONLY thing that was running. Ponch- What does "HDD dying" mean? And the checkdisc automatically came on after restarting the computer many times. So i would not know how to restart this check.

Good Evening everyone! I am new to this forum because i am having a problem with my computer. I really do not know much about computer software but I do try my hardest to learn. Here is my issue: My desktop will NOT start up properly. It turns on and the Windows flag and loading bar appears. Then it just stops and the screen becomes blank. Then i restart it again and a window comes up that says "Did not start properly" and "a hardware or software change may have caused it." Then I try to start up in safemode, which works, but i do not know what to do about this problem. Just now, a screen came up that said the computer was running a NTFS scan and checking files. After that was over, nothing happened again. What do I do? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.