[hobbaloo]

This is really more a general computer problem, but this was the most relevant category.
My problem is as follows:
I just finished setting up an old computer running XP which we moved into a different room. We plugged everything in properly and turned it on. We got this message (you know, with the black screen and the grey letters?) that said something along the lines of 'Windows was shut down unexpectedly' and told me to select several different startup options: start windows 'normally', start with the settings from last time, etc. I selected 'normally' because I guessed it was the safest one, and then it seemed to freeze. We left it for a five or so minutes and nothing changed.
I came back and restarted it manually and got the same message. Again, it froze - I moved my selection up once and then it didn't respond again. I restarted it again, but this time the monitor (a really old CRT) didn't seem to recognise that the computer had turned on (the light was still orange and the screen was totally blank). I tried to turn it off again (the computer) but it didn't respond for some reason. So I unplugged it and plugged it back in and turned it on, but the same thing happened. I'm not quite sure what to do now. It wasn't like this before. Maybe I stuffed something up by turning it off manually? It's not the end of the world, it's basically a spare, but it would be nice to have it working again. Thanks.

[DerekC]

If it's an old computer, I would first suggest opening it up, cleaning it with canned air, reseating all the connections and hardware, and make sure that the heatsink is secure.

[DKTaber]

Agree with DerekC. If that doesn't solve the problem, try booting the computer with your Windows CD in the CD-ROM. If it boots from the CD, something is probably corrupted on the hard drive, so try doing a Windows repair. I can't remember all the prompts, but you need to select something like "install Windows" first, then when it tells you Windows is already on the hard drive, select Windows Repair (by hitting the 'R' key) and let it repair the OS. It will automatically replace any missing or corrupted files.