Need help fixing my mom's computer

[DLBMAN247]

My mom's computer crapped out on her about a year ago. It got a BSOD and can no longer get to the home screen. I said I would take a look at it, but i'm still a newbie when it comes to computers.

It's one of those HP all-in-one PCs. 

Here's what i've done so far: When I start up the computer it goes into this menu that gives me four options (Like press esc for boot menu, press f11 for system recovery, etc.) I go into the boot menu and tried booting it up normally, and in safe mode. Both options I go into a loading screen then a BSOD appears for a couple seconds. I captured what it said:

 

STOP: C0000218 {Registry file failure}

The registry cannot load the hive (file):

\systemroot\system32\config\SOFTWARE

or it's log or alternative.

it is corrupt, absent, or not writable.

 

collecting data for crash dump...

initializing disk for crash dump...

physical memory dump FAILED with status 0xC0000010

 

 

I don't know if this is also important or not, but I ran the diagnostics and everything checked out except for one thing. There were three tests for the hard drive and one was canceled.

It said: ST3500620AS (9QM54G5R) Drive - canceled.

 

My mom doesn't have a Windows installation disk so I tried to reformat the computer but everytime I hit f11 for system recovery it just sends me to the boot menu with nothing different.

 

So now i'm not sure what to do next, so i really need help pls.

[Coaxialgamer]

sounds like a software issue . Try running ubuntu and see if it runs

[oliver366370]

Hi dlbman,

 

Coaxialgamer is right here this is probably an OS issue. From what we see from what you said it looks like there was a corruption in the system files or registry. From here there is not much you can do, however you can still recover data. To do this find an empty USB drive and download a live linux distro such as Ubuntu and follow the instructions set to write the linux image onto the USB. When you have this, turn off the problematic computer and plug in the USB. As you turn on the computer make sure to keep pressing the boot menu key (esc in your case) until you get into the boot menu, when there select boot off USB. From here the linux distro should load up and show. When this shows makes sure NOT to select install on HDD because that will overwrite everything. Instead select boot live from USB or something along the lines of that. When the live distro has loaded up you will now have access to all the files on the HDD of the computer and from here I recommend getting your mum to look through her files and decide on what she wants to keep. When you have gathered all the files copy it to an external hard drive or a big enough USB drive and unplug it after so you do not make a mistake and overwrite anything on that drive. From here you should probably go into reinstalling windows on the computer.

 

(This may be done with bootable diagnostic tools)

When you have reinstalled windows download a program called crystal disk info. This program will allow you to read the S.M.A.R.T. information of the hard drive and tell you the health of the drive. This windows error may have been caused by reallocated sectors on the hard drive meaning that it is most likely to crash again. This is prone to happen if the hard drive is becoming older, this happened with my laptop after about 3 years of use. If the health is good then you may start installing back the programs you will need and using the computer again. If crystal disk shows that the HDD health is problematic I would recommend buying a replacement hard drive (or even an SSD if you think you will benefit) and installing that into the computer.

 

Good luck!

Oliver

 

EDIT: If you have the experience I would also use a bootable memory checking tool before wiping the HDD.

EDIT 2: Depending on the windows version you can download the windows installation media on the microsoft website but you will need the installation key to install it.

Edited December 1, 2015 by oliver366370

[DLBMAN247]

sounds like a software issue . Try running ubuntu and see if it runs

That's the thing, I CAN'T download anything. I can't get to the home page

[Coaxialgamer]

That's the thing, I CAN'T download anything. I can't get to the home page

try downloading it with a another computer ?

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

Which version of Windows are you running. Create a bootable Windows media through here.

This applies to all versions of Windows from Windows 7 and above. 

[DLBMAN247]

Which version of Windows are you running. Create a bootable Windows media through here.

This applies to all versions of Windows from Windows 7 and above. 

It has windows vista 

[DLBMAN247]

Hi dlbman,

 

Coaxialgamer is right here this is probably an OS issue. From what we see from what you said it looks like there was a corruption in the system files or registry. From here there is not much you can do, however you can still recover data. To do this find an empty USB drive and download a live linux distro such as Ubuntu and follow the instructions set to write the linux image onto the USB. When you have this, turn off the problematic computer and plug in the USB. As you turn on the computer make sure to keep pressing the boot menu key (esc in your case) until you get into the boot menu, when there select boot off USB. From here the linux distro should load up and show. When this shows makes sure NOT to select install on HDD because that will overwrite everything. Instead select boot live from USB or something along the lines of that. When the live distro has loaded up you will now have access to all the files on the HDD of the computer and from here I recommend getting your mum to look through her files and decide on what she wants to keep. When you have gathered all the files copy it to an external hard drive or a big enough USB drive and unplug it after so you do not make a mistake and overwrite anything on that drive. From here you should probably go into reinstalling windows on the computer.

 

(This may be done with bootable diagnostic tools)

When you have reinstalled windows download a program called crystal disk info. This program will allow you to read the S.M.A.R.T. information of the hard drive and tell you the health of the drive. This windows error may have been caused by reallocated sectors on the hard drive meaning that it is most likely to crash again. This is prone to happen if the hard drive is becoming older, this happened with my laptop after about 3 years of use. If the health is good then you may start installing back the programs you will need and using the computer again. If crystal disk shows that the HDD health is problematic I would recommend buying a replacement hard drive (or even an SSD if you think you will benefit) and installing that into the computer.

 

Good luck!

Oliver

 

EDIT: If you have the experience I would also use a bootable memory checking tool before wiping the HDD.

EDIT 2: Depending on the windows version you can download the windows installation media on the microsoft website but you will need the installation key to install it.

 

Hi dlbman,

 

Coaxialgamer is right here this is probably an OS issue. From what we see from what you said it looks like there was a corruption in the system files or registry. From here there is not much you can do, however you can still recover data. To do this find an empty USB drive and download a live linux distro such as Ubuntu and follow the instructions set to write the linux image onto the USB. When you have this, turn off the problematic computer and plug in the USB. As you turn on the computer make sure to keep pressing the boot menu key (esc in your case) until you get into the boot menu, when there select boot off USB. From here the linux distro should load up and show. When this shows makes sure NOT to select install on HDD because that will overwrite everything. Instead select boot live from USB or something along the lines of that. When the live distro has loaded up you will now have access to all the files on the HDD of the computer and from here I recommend getting your mum to look through her files and decide on what she wants to keep. When you have gathered all the files copy it to an external hard drive or a big enough USB drive and unplug it after so you do not make a mistake and overwrite anything on that drive. From here you should probably go into reinstalling windows on the computer.

 

(This may be done with bootable diagnostic tools)

When you have reinstalled windows download a program called crystal disk info. This program will allow you to read the S.M.A.R.T. information of the hard drive and tell you the health of the drive. This windows error may have been caused by reallocated sectors on the hard drive meaning that it is most likely to crash again. This is prone to happen if the hard drive is becoming older, this happened with my laptop after about 3 years of use. If the health is good then you may start installing back the programs you will need and using the computer again. If crystal disk shows that the HDD health is problematic I would recommend buying a replacement hard drive (or even an SSD if you think you will benefit) and installing that into the computer.

 

Good luck!

Oliver

 

EDIT: If you have the experience I would also use a bootable memory checking tool before wiping the HDD.

EDIT 2: Depending on the windows version you can download the windows installation media on the microsoft website but you will need the installation key to install it.

my mom doesn't have anything on the HDD that she needs. She just wants it to work.

My mom also doesn't have a windows installation disk. and everytime I try to do system recovery it doesn't work.

[oliver366370]

my mom doesn't have anything on the HDD that she needs. She just wants it to work.

My mom also doesn't have a windows installation disk. and everytime I try to do system recovery it doesn't work.

 

Then it may just come to the point of buying a new windows licence with windows 7+. A tip would be to buy the licence online and download the installation media as it would save a lot more then just buying a disk. However if you don't have another computer to do this on they you may be stuck with buying a disk.

[DLBMAN247]

Then it may just come to the point of buying a new windows licence with windows 7+. A tip would be to buy the licence online and download the installation media as it would save a lot more then just buying a disk. However if you don't have another computer to do this on they you may be stuck with buying a disk.

it's an all-in-one computer, and it doesn't even have an optical drive to put a disk in it.

I just want to reset it to factory settings if I can.

[oliver366370]

it's an all-in-one computer, and it doesn't even have an optical drive to put a disk in it.

I just want to reset it to factory settings if I can.

Is there no way you can access a different computer such as a laptop or another family computer?

[DLBMAN247]

Is there no way you can access a different computer such as a laptop or another family computer?

yeah I can use either my computer (the one i'm on now) or my mom's laptop

[oliver366370]

yeah I can use either my computer (the one i'm on now) or my mom's laptop

 

I have found this windows auto installer kit on the microsoft website, you should be able to find a guide on how to write the iso file of this onto a usb that you can use to boot up from and into the windows repair. This will function similar to an installer disk.

 

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=10333

 

EDIT: here is also a guide to installing the windows vista PE to a USB which will allow you to run system repairs off of https://techjourney.net/how-to-create-a-bootable-usb-flash-drive-or-usb-key-with-winpe-2-0/

[DLBMAN247]

I have found this windows auto installer kit on the microsoft website, you should be able to find a guide on how to write the iso file of this onto a usb that you can use to boot up from and into the windows repair. This will function similar to an installer disk.

 

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=10333

 

EDIT: here is also a guide to installing the windows vista PE to a USB which will allow you to run system repairs off of https://techjourney.net/how-to-create-a-bootable-usb-flash-drive-or-usb-key-with-winpe- 2-0/

thank you. I'm gonna try this now.