[David (UK)]

My computer wouldn't shut down - the screen was black, so I had to switch it off at the tower. I don't normally switch off manually at the tower but as far as I know, I had no other choice. Since then, my computer has refused to start up, as follows, even after switching off and trying it 30 minutes later:

1. My computer loads halfway into Start Up then an error screen appears stating several options including:
a - Safe Mode
b - Safe Mode with Networking
c - Something like Restart at the point your computer last worked

No matter which of the above and other options I choose, the computer returns to the same error screen every time and I'm back at square one.

I've also tried pressing F8 during the start up procedure and clicking on "Del" during this procedure but nothing is changing.

As well as this, while No red light was displayed, I clicked on "Reset" on the tower, hoping that I haven't lost my entire Works programs, browser and e-mail client.

I've also tried interrupting Start Up by clicking on "DEL", which gives me several other options, but I've cautiously tried some, still to no avail.

As local callout engineers are very unlikely to be able to come round until the New Year, and I was recommended your forum, I thought it would be worthwhile asking for advice about the above on this forum, which looks very good. I hope there's a quick way to resolve the fault so I can re-access my Works documents and go online again on my own computer as soon as possible, preferably before Christmas, as I have some important documents to work on that I've not yet saved onto floppy disk or CD diskettes.

Many thanks in advance, and Merry Christmas to you all, from David.

[David (UK)]

The computer fault is now fixed.

Windows had a corrupted file, which disrupted Shut Down and Start Up.

I phoned a local callout service, which was luckily able to come round this morning and has now fixed the problem for me by loading the Windows XP Start Up Disk and following several procedures.