installed a windows update and now computer wont work

[venkmon]

couple of days ago i installed the windows genuine advantage update, pc worked as normal after that...

have just installed another update that came through today. said there were 2 updates, didnt really take notice of what they were but one of them said something like..'malicious soft ware remover' (or something like that). promted to restart after that...restarted and now windows wont boot, just a blank screen

my copy of xp is genuine, have had it installed on my desktop for 4 years or so.

really worrying as my whole life is on that machine.

please advise.

thanks.

 

[Blackmirror]

Try a system restore

start up in safemode
tap F8 on restart

 

[venkmon]

hi,

thanks...i keep hiting f8 when the bios screen comes up and nothing is happening.

how do i start in safe mode ? by pressing F8 ?

 

[Frank4d]

If your keyboard has an F-lock key, press it first before F8.

 

[venkmon]

No f-lock key on this keyboard.

the windows splash screen doesnt come up at all....just goes straight from bios to nothingness, a blank screen, no mouse, nothing.

 

[Blackmirror]

If the computer is running, shut down Windows, and then turn off the power
Wait 30 seconds, and then turn the computer on.
Start tapping the F8 key. The Windows Advanced Options Menu appears. If you begin tapping the F8 key too soon, some computers display a "keyboard error" message. To resolve this, restart the computer and try again.
Ensure that the Safe mode option is selected.
Press Enter. The computer then begins to start in Safe mode.
When you are finished with all troubleshooting, close all programs and restart the computer as you normally would.

 

[venkmon]

i cant get into windows at all, i installed this update and now it goes to the bios screen...no windows splash screen appears at all... i have been repeatedly tapping f8 and have tryed 10 + times now.

the only thing i can do is hit delete during the boot up screen which takes me into the bios options... after i exit this it goes to blank screen again.

 

[venkmon]

any ideas ? very worried about this, i will have lost a ton of work if im unable to recover.

 

[venkmon]

im on my laptop now and its asking me to install the same update

Windows Genuine Advantage Notification (KB905474)
Security Update for Microsoft .NET Framework, Version 1.1 Service Pack 1 (KB928366)
Security Update for Excel 2003 (KB936507)
Update for Windows XP (KB936357)
Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool - July 2007 (KB890830)
Update for Outlook 2003 Junk Email Filter (KB936557)

obviously not going to do this as it seems to have destroyed my desktop.

cannot belive this.

 

[The Hound]

You should consider pulling the drive from the desktop which won't boot, slaving it in another machine, and backing up your data. If you get an 'access denied' error while doing this, follow this guide to take ownership of the files and folders on your drive. You must be logged on as administrator.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421/en-us

After you're backed up, reinstall the drive, reboot, and when you enter bios try to find the option to restore bios defaults

 

[bluerail]

Installed this morning's update after my son had logged off windows, and all I get now is the initial HP splash screen, won't even go to a blank screen. Keyboard doesn't work at all. My windows software is OEM, and therefore obviously authentic.

Good thing I have this old laptop, which will definitely not be updated. Unfortunately the things I need to do today, tomorrow, etc, cannot be done on this one.

 

[venkmon]

mine is genuine as well.

could it be that if my windows disc is installed on more than one pc (which it might becuase this was a business machine from my uncles company) could the windows genuine advantage update have caused this becuase it already recognises another machine with the same disc ? i dont know if it is defo the case that the disc is installed on other machines tho.

 

[The Hound]

That might be possible, but it's more likely that Microsoft would let you boot to a blue screen telling you that your O/S was not genuine.

 

[venkmon]

this sucks, i have all the songs i have written on there, all the cubase project files i have ever used... a lot of which arent backed up.

is recovering data from harddrives a simple procedure ?

im going to get it looked at tomorrow but im not a happy bunny at the moment.

 

[bluerail]

Is there any way I can create a boot CD from my laptop to use on my HP? The OS is the same, but unfortunately it's not an HP (it's a Toshiba which at least came with all its CDs in the box, unlike the one that's broken).