Looking for general advice on what to do

[Bounty130]

My first post on this forum, sorry if this isn't the right place for this.

 

My 'current' computer was custom built about 5 years ago, but its now stuck in an preparing auto prepare loop.

I've tried everything I can think of to fix it but i'm beginning to accept that it might be time for a new build.

 

I'm looking for advice on what my options might be regarding my current PC:

-Maybe a potential fix?

-If its a lost cause, Is there any way I could still get my data of the hard disk?

-Would a new build be able to utilize any of the parts of my old PC, windows or parts,

I could try to gather a parts list but I cant get it to even boot so it might be difficult

 

Other than that I am looking for advice on where to start with a new build.

I would like to keep my build under 1200, preferably closer to 1000.

I already have all the peripherals such as mouse and keyboard.

Not sure what other information I can give but any advice on my situation would be greatly appreciated.

 

[K3rupt]

There has been a few major windows updates recently and i would say you have become victim to a failed install

 

1809 build was common for this from Windows

 

Try tapping F8 on startup and boot to safe mode to begin with

 

I would suggest either booting from a USB with Windows GO or even remove the hard drive and recover your data, It should be perfectly safe

 

A clean install of 10 should have the PC back up and running however that will wipe the drive obviously

[SenKa]

3 hours ago, K3rupt said:

There has been a few major windows updates recently and i would say you have become victim to a failed install

 

1809 build was common for this from Windows

 

Try tapping F8 on startup and boot to safe mode to begin with

 

I would suggest either booting from a USB with Windows GO or even remove the hard drive and recover your data, It should be perfectly safe

 

A clean install of 10 should have the PC back up and running however that will wipe the drive obviously

F8 hotkey was removed AFAIK

 

The rest of this accurate. But, you can only get to safe mode via letting it boot loop until it gives you "advance startup options"

[K3rupt]

8 minutes ago, SenpaiKaplan said:

F8 hotkey was removed AFAIK

 

Oh man! This is why we cant have nice things 

[SenKa]

3 hours ago, K3rupt said:

Oh man! This is why we cant have nice things 

Yeah, it's really annoying. 0 reason for it other than making people who work on Windows machines for a living mildly more annoyed.

[Enderman]

Plug the drive into another computer to get the important files and documents off of it, then move it back and clean install windows.

[Bounty130]

I don't have another desktop available to hook it up to, is there some sort of adapter I would need ti get it setup with my laptop?

[PGRacer]

You can use one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/TeckNet-Docking-Including-External-Tool-Free/dp/B00IS7Y96I/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=usb+hdd+caddy&qid=1557795558&s=gateway&sr=8-3

 

HDD or SSD goes in the caddy, plugs in via USB. I just googled for a caddy as a reference btw, I'm not recommending that particular one. Just make sure you get one that is USB2 compatible unless you have a USB3 port on your laptop. If you do have USB3 port then try and get a USB3 caddy as it will copy the files much quicker.

[PGRacer]

I forgot to add, you need to match the caddy to your hard drive type. SATA is the most common, IDE is ancient and unlikely, M.2 will need a different adapter, possibly too new if your PC is 5 years old.

[K3rupt]

Best way with minimal cost involved would be to install windows on a USB then boot off that in bios and create a network share to your laptop... but that’s a complicated way

 

Or buy the caddy and wait, if it’s not urgent!

[Slayer3032]

Make a bootable USB with the Ubuntu LTS using Rufus, boot into it and copy any files you need then reformat windows.

 

Since you mentioned hard drive, if you're not using an SSD for your operating system you can find a 120gb SSD for as low as $17.99 when they go on sale or a 240gb for like $27.99 even. It's really not worthwhile to boot to a HDD anymore, you'll notice a massive different just in usability.