My computer won't start...

I accidentally clicked on a nasty movie website yesterday (in a spammer's profile on another forum ), and now my computer won't boot up . And of course, right next to me sits the cd's I was going to use to back up all my pics- that would be, pretty much all my pics for the last 4 years! Did I do it? No, of course not- I was going to do it- tomorrow... Fortunately, my best friend's DH is a computer guy, so we're going to see what he says- prayers please that he can fix it, or at least retrieve all our pics!

I feel your pain! I hope they can fix it. Maybe it was just coincidence with the site you went to. Would be nice if it was just the power supply.
DH's pc crashed last month and he couldn't retrieve all his data. You know that is bad for a guy. He does have a program that will scan the hard drive to see what it can retrieve but it's going to take 120 hours. LoL He goes away in two weeks so he may try it then.

Good Luck!

That stinks, I'm sorry to hear that. Hopefully your computer friend can resolve it without having to delete everything and start over.

Thanks everyone. It keeps giving us a message (about a paragraph long) that it didn't start correctly, and to "select one" of about 4 ways to start windows, the first being "start normally", and then repeats... I think I'll post in the tech/computer section here too, just in case someone has any advice on what it might be, or what to do, or those thousand other things I have no clue about... I feel forum withdrawl coming on...DH will have to have his laptop back sometime soon...like, by Monday at the latest...

Even if your friend can't do it, don't despair -- there are specialists who have miraculous retrieval powers, using the same kinds of programs the FBI uses to reconstruct hard drives that have been erased or burned.

And once you get your photos back, you can burn them off onto CD and put them in a safe place. Maybe keep a backup CD in a safe deposit box, if you have one. Pictures are so precious!

Oh that sucks- I'm sending many computer vibes your way!!

I think my DH did- I handed it to him and he fiddled with it (as I know nothing about computers except how to turn them on- well, at least until today ) and he said we are going to have to have someone look at it... Thanks for the suggestion, though- that was one of the 4 options that came up...

o no! Thats horrible! I am sending many start working and dont loose anything computer vibes ur way!

Originally Posted by catsallover

I accidentally clicked on a nasty movie website

Click to expand...

I accidently click on them once or twice a day.

Hey!

If I told you it took me a second to realize what I was looking at, would you believe me? That's the really embarrassing part- "Huh? What are those pics of? - ... ... ... ... Where's the little red x? WHERE'S THE LITTLE RED X?!?"

I got my first computer in March of 2000. The only time I had used a computer was at school in 1995 and 1996 but it wasn't connected to the internet. I used it to type up papers for Sociology and to play those built in computer games that comes with Windows. So when I got my first computer I really had no clue about the internet.

The first or second day that I was on the net I did a Yahoo search for solitaire games. I found a site that had loads of different ones and went there to play a game of pyramid solitaire.

I was part way through the second game when suddenly my screen went black. I had no clue what was going on. I saw that a web page was starting to unfold very slowly from the top down (I was on dial up). There was no "X" to close the window and I didn't know about CTRL ALT DEL. Eventually I saw a teensy weensy "click here to close" at the top, but everytime I closed it the window just came back and started to unfold slowly again. I sat there and let it unfold...omg! It was ghastly XXXXXXX type stuff. I couldn't get the window to go away no matter what.

I panicked and pressed the OFF buttom and unplugged my computer from the wall and didn't go near it for 3 days because I thought if I turned it on again that it would still be there, LOL

It wasn't until a friend of mine called and I confided in her as to what happened that she told me it was safe to turn my computer back on, haha

I hope you get your computer sorted out. I asked a few friends about your problem and they think you have a trojan. One suggested a really strange co-incidence that it might be your power supply that went just at that time.

You are going to have to open up the boot up display before it boots, best for a technician to look at.....Good luck!

Thanks! There have been a couple of people on another forum who have had problems with trojans lately...hmmm....And that's the second time someone has mentioned the power supply...HMMMM....

I'm going to see my friend on Tuesday, and will drop off my computer for her DH to look at. I am hoping he can fix it, and at the very least, tell me where to take it... Saying my prayers and getting that menu plan togther for the great big steak dinner we'll be fixing for them if he can, not to mention all the babysitting we're gonna owe them...

Originally Posted by catsallover

Hey!

If I told you it took me a second to realize what I was looking at, would you believe me?

That's the really embarrassing part- "Huh? What are those pics of? -

...

...

...

... Where's the little red x? WHERE'S THE LITTLE RED X?!?"

Click to expand...

Once your computer is about to start, you should be able to select safe mode. If you can then you will be able to see your desktop and access some things. You should be able to open an anti-virus program (if you have one) to scan your system and repair it. If you don't have an anti-virus program then you will need to have a technician look at it to see if the problem can be removed or fixed.

I do have an anti-virus program, and it updates every day, so still . The wait is awful , but Tuesday will be here before I know it, right? Thanks everyone- at least now I may have a clue at understanding what is wrong when I take it . I'll let you know! (and I'll be seeing a lot less of you all for a little while, at least... - feeling the faintness... coming on... again... maybe I'll get my house cleaned... )

Ah! Good news! Our friend can retrieve our info, reformat it, and I'm back in business! Apparently, it "hicupped" in the middle of shutting down an important part of a program, and did itself in- no virus, no new harddrive needed, nothing special! I'm so happy! Thanks for the computer wellness prayers and advice!

YAY glad everything turned out to be ok

Whew! What a relief!