[JaimeA]

I'm posting this in hardware because I'm not sure if it is a malware, hardware, or registry problem, feel free to move it if I've posted in the wrong area.

My computer has stopped completely booting up. I can still hear it as it "comes to life" it acts like its going to load, it occassionally makes it to my desktop before crashing, but the majority of the time it gets to the windows icon flashes a blue screen that I don't get a chance to read and restarts itself. rinse and repeat.

I've tried everything I can think of to fix it, but nothing has worked(I'm no computer expert).

I would LOVE to get it up and running until I can afford to replace it, but at this point I would settle for getting it running long enough to back up all my files to dvds(I'm broke so I can't afford to buy an external hard drive or an external hard case)

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Hello JanieA.... Welcome to
GeeksToGo,


I'm sorry to hear about your issue. We will try to help you resolve this as soon as possible.

• Please understand we are all volunteers and we are not here all the time.
• Sometimes it may be a extended amount of time to get back to you. If it has been
  more then 3 days please shoot me a PM and I will try to get back to you quickly
  then.
• Please do the following and supply the requested information as needed. If you
  don't understand my instructions please ask and I will try to explain them
  clearer for you.
• Do not attempt any steps unless instructed or ask before to
  make sure they will not cause any further issues.

• Start your system and at the Second post screen tap on F8 to get to the Boot Menu
• Use the Arrow Keys to Scroll down to the line that says "Auto Start On Error" and highlight it.
• Click Enter to disable it
• The system should reboot and if not then do so.
• When the BSOD shows it will stop so that you can reply with the STOP ERROR and any parameters.

[rshaffer61]

Hello JanieA.... Welcome to
GeeksToGo,


I'm sorry to hear about your issue. We will try to help you resolve this as soon as possible.

• Please understand we are all volunteers and we are not here all the time.
• Sometimes it may be a extended amount of time to get back to you. If it has been
  more then 3 days please shoot me a PM and I will try to get back to you quickly
  then.
• Please do the following and supply the requested information as needed. If you
  don't understand my instructions please ask and I will try to explain them
  clearer for you.
• Do not attempt any steps unless instructed or ask before to
  make sure they will not cause any further issues.

• Start your system and at the Second post screen tap on F8 to get to the Boot Menu
• Use the Arrow Keys to Scroll down to the line that says "Auto Start On Error" and highlight it.
• Click Enter to disable it
• The system should reboot and if not then do so.
• When the BSOD shows it will stop so that you can reply with the STOP ERROR and any parameters.

[JaimeA]

Hello JanieA.... Welcome to
GeeksToGo,


I'm sorry to hear about your issue. We will try to help you resolve this as soon as possible.

• Please understand we are all volunteers and we are not here all the time.
• Sometimes it may be a extended amount of time to get back to you. If it has been
  more then 3 days please shoot me a PM and I will try to get back to you quickly
  then.
• Please do the following and supply the requested information as needed. If you
  don't understand my instructions please ask and I will try to explain them
  clearer for you.
• Do not attempt any steps unless instructed or ask before to
  make sure they will not cause any further issues.

• Start your system and at the Second post screen tap on F8 to get to the Boot Menu
• Use the Arrow Keys to Scroll down to the line that says "Auto Start On Error" and highlight it.
• Click Enter to disable it
• The system should reboot and if not then do so.
• When the BSOD shows it will stop so that you can reply with the STOP ERROR and any parameters.

It says:
BAD_SYSTEM_CONFIG_INFO at the top

and technical information:

*** STOP: 0x00000074 (0x00000003, 0x00000002, 0x80786998, 0xc000014c)

[rshaffer61]

0x00000074: BAD_SYSTEM_CONFIG_INFO
(Click to consult the online MSDN article.)
In theory, this means that system configuration information is corrupted, especially files essential to Windows startup. In practice it is often caused by RAM problems

Above is the explanation of partial reasons this could happen.
The other possibility is the hard drive itself.
Lets test both the memory and the hd and then we'll move on to the OS itself.

Run hard drive diagnostics: http://www.tacktech....ay.cfm?ttid=287
Make sure, you select tool, which is appropriate for the brand of your hard drive.
Depending on the program, it'll create bootable floppy, or bootable CD.
If downloaded file is of .iso type, use ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/ to burn .iso file to a CD (select "Write image file to disc" option), and make the CD bootable.

NOTE. If your hard drive is made by Toshiba, unfortunately, you're out of luck, because Toshiba doesn't provide any diagnostic tool.

Thanks to Broni for the instructions






If you have more than one RAM module installed, try starting computer with one RAM stick at a time.

NOTE Keep in mind, the manual check listed above is always superior to the software check, listed below. DO NOT proceed with memtest, if you can go with option A

B. If you have only one RAM stick installed...
...run memtest...

1. Download - Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip)
2. Unzip downloaded memtest86+-2.11.iso.zip file.
3. Inside, you'll find memtest86+-2.11.iso file.
4. Download, and install ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/
5. Insert blank CD into your CD drive.
6. Open ImgBurn, and click on Write image file to disc
7. Click on Browse for a file... icon:



8. Locate memtest86+-2.11.iso file, and click Open button.
9. Click on ImgBurn green arrow to start burning bootable memtest86 CD:



10. Once the CD is created, boot from it, and memtest will automatically start to run. You may have to change the boot sequence in your BIOS to make it work right.

To change Boot Sequence in your BIOS

Reboot the system and at the first post screen (where it is counting up memory) start tapping the DEL button
This will enter you into the Bios\Cmos area.
Find the Advanced area and click Enter
Look for Boot Sequence or Boot Options and highlight that click Enter
Now highlight the first drive and follow the directions on the bottom of the screen on how to modify it and change it to CDrom.
Change the second drive to the C or Main Drive
Once that is done then click F10 to Save and Exit
You will prompted to enter Y to verify Save and Exit. Click Y and the system will now reboot with the new settings.


The running program will look something like this depending on the size and number of ram modules installed:




It's recommended to run 5-6 passes. Each pass contains very same 8 tests.

This will show the progress of the test. It can take a while. Be patient, or leave it running overnight.



The following image is the test results area:



The most important item here is the “errors” line. If you see ANY errors, even one, most likely, you have bad RAM.

[JaimeA]

Unfortunately I have a toshiba When checked in command prompt my hard drive either doesn't show up at all or is shown as healthy.

The RAM is fine, I ran 12 passes and detected 0 errors.

[rshaffer61]

OK since you didn't post any system specs I need to find that out to continue.

• Is this a desktop or laptop
• Name brand like Dell, Compaq, HP or Packard Bell
• Make and model if name brand
• Custom built what is the make and model of the motherboard
• What OS is installed on the system
• Is there a warranty still on the system
• Do you have a Genuine Microsoft OS installation disk or do you have a Recovery disk

Depending on the info above we might be able to do a Repair Installation or Parallel Installation.
If the HD is mechanically working we might be able to get to the Data by using a Linux Live CD.