so the computer was working fine i use windows XP, i accidently tripped over the power cable and obviously shut down the computer. well when we restarted it, it reboots to a black screen that says,

"apologize for the inconvenience windows did not start successfully a sent hardware of software change might have caused this"

it then gives you 4 options to start in safe mode, start in safe mode with networking, start normally and last known configuration. none of these options work, whatever i click into it will start to load windows and then flicker and go back to the black screen... its REALLY annoying =( and can not get into my computer now

any help is VERY appreciated. thanks

This post has been edited by tiffin: Oct 13 2008, 09:57 PM

Hi Tiffin

Tripping over a power cord or any cord is not only a bummer and dangerous, but can obviously cause problems for your machine's operating system since the sudden loss of power prevents Windows from shutting down normally (a process that allows windows to put various files back to disk and allows the registry to take note of the present configuration.
Sounds like this is what got scrambles.

However, the physical event could also have caused some physical damage.
Did anything noticeable get bent or broken on the outside of the machine or at the power cord connection?
Is this a laptop or desktop?

If a careful physical inspection of your machine concluded that nothing is bent or broken, the instructions below may be of use to you.

Keep us posted with your progress.
We always like to know what finally resolved the situation for future reference and learning.
Also many hundreds of guest readers benefit from reading solutions posted like the ones you'll be developing here in this thread.

Best Regards to you,
Doug


Follow the instruction set below:

You can use the procedure below to gain access to System Restore and set your machine back to a previous point at which the registry and all of the OS system files were present and free of corruption: