[caitiebugg87]

My boyfriend bought a new video card for my computer, and tried installing it. Now the computer won't boot. It first shows the E logo and options DEL and F12, one going to bios, not sure where F12 goes. Anyways, after that it goes to a screen saying

Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause.
To fix the problem:

the first one was a repair mode and the other was start normally.

When I choose repair windows, it loads files, then goes to a black screen, and does nothing. Starting normally just reboots over and over again.

I checked the bios and the video card is enabled. Because the computer took a dump he took the new video card out to see if it would work again, and it sure doesn't. So now i have got no clue what to do.

My computer:
Emachines ET1221G-03w
Windows 7HOme premium 64 bit
AMD Athlon II 235e dual-core processor
NVIDIA GeForce 6150E integrated
750 GB HDD
6GB DDR2 Memory

The new video card is a NVIDIA GeForce GT 430 VERTO Graphics card, for gaming.

So, at this point, I don't care about his video card, I just want my computer to work.

Thanks.

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Remove the graphics card from the computer.
Then you should be able to access the BIOS by hitting the F2 key while the computer is starting up( just keep hitting F2 until you either start getting beeps or it boots to the BIOS blue screen. Once in the bios reset the video back to the ONBOARD video, back out to the main screen and save the settings(usually F10). The computer should restart in normal mode, but you may have to choose normal mode from a list.

If that does not work you might want to try a restore. The below is from the dell website.

Unable to Access the Desktop.

1 Restart the computer.

2 Tap <F8> during startup until the Windows Advanced Options menu appears. If the Windows Advanced Options menu does not appear, restart the computer, and try again.

3 Press the <Down Arrow> until Repair Your Computer is highlighted, and press <Enter>.

4 In the System Recovery Options click to select your language, and click
Next
.

5 In the System Recovery Options window, log in as a user with administrative rights, and click
OK
.

6 Click System Restore.

7 In the System Restore window, click
Next
to display the most recent restore points in chronological order.

8 Click the Show more restore points check box for a complete listing of restore points.

9 Click to select a restore point.

A good starting point is to attempt to restore from the most recent restore point. If this fails to correct the problem, then try the next oldest restore point until the issue is resolved. Any software installed after the selected restore point needs to be reinstalled.

10 Click Next and then
Finish.

SRX660

[SRX660]

Remove the graphics card from the computer.
Then you should be able to access the BIOS by hitting the F2 key while the computer is starting up( just keep hitting F2 until you either start getting beeps or it boots to the BIOS blue screen. Once in the bios reset the video back to the ONBOARD video, back out to the main screen and save the settings(usually F10). The computer should restart in normal mode, but you may have to choose normal mode from a list.

If that does not work you might want to try a restore. The below is from the dell website.

Unable to Access the Desktop.

1 Restart the computer.

2 Tap <F8> during startup until the Windows Advanced Options menu appears. If the Windows Advanced Options menu does not appear, restart the computer, and try again.

3 Press the <Down Arrow> until Repair Your Computer is highlighted, and press <Enter>.

4 In the System Recovery Options click to select your language, and click
Next
.

5 In the System Recovery Options window, log in as a user with administrative rights, and click
OK
.

6 Click System Restore.

7 In the System Restore window, click
Next
to display the most recent restore points in chronological order.

8 Click the Show more restore points check box for a complete listing of restore points.

9 Click to select a restore point.

A good starting point is to attempt to restore from the most recent restore point. If this fails to correct the problem, then try the next oldest restore point until the issue is resolved. Any software installed after the selected restore point needs to be reinstalled.

10 Click Next and then
Finish.

SRX660

[caitiebugg87]

okay, I did that,and I did Repair computer, and it showed a black screen saying windows is loading files...

Then it freezes and does nothing. and I just tried again, and this time, it went from saying loading files to a black screen doing nothing.

it won't even let me start it up in safe mode

[caitiebugg87]

I also just tried to restart it and my computer is making a constant beep noise....

[SRX660]

A continuous beep is usually caused because of a defective RAM,Power Supply Unit, or Motherboard.

[caitiebugg87]

Okay, well every once in a while it will actually do the repair, and it asks if I want to do a reset point, and when I say yes, it fails after awhile, and I get the BSOD. I've removed the new video card, and made sure the integrated one is enabled. Not sure what to do now.

[caitiebugg87]

Oh, and now when I try to go to safe mode, it shows the screen saying loading windows files, please wait, then it loads a bunch of files, then the screen gets all distorted and colorful :/

[SRX660]

Most likely your motherboard has been zapped by static electricity when the video card was installed. I have done the same thing to customer computers just by being a little bit careless and not properly grounding myself before tearing into a computer. My expense to fix those computers. Finding a factory motherboard is not easy or cheap.

SRX660

[caitiebugg87]

Oh, wonderful, I was hoping that wasn't the case. I guess I will be buying a new computer then. Is there a way to get all my pictures off?

[SRX660]

Usually when customers ask me that question i tell them it is possible. Not easily, but possible.

The scoop here is most people put their pictures, videos and music where windows tells them to. Windows puts them in folders under the user's name that downloaded(or however) the files. Here's the fun part. When you move a hard drive to a different computer, windows will lock you out of the user files unless you take ownership of the files. You may be able to type in a password(if you know it) for that user and be able to access the files so you can move them to a different hard drive. When you do not have the password, or it doesn't work because it's a different computer, then you must take ownership of the files to move them. If possible always take ownership of a folder so you can transfer the whole folder over to a new hard drive.

Take Ownership of a File or Folder
http://technet.micro...y/cc753659.aspx

SRX660

[caitiebugg87]

Thanks so much for your help!