Computer won't start. BSoD

[BenjaminTM]

Apologies if this is in the wrong section of the forum, but since I don't know what's causing the problem, I'm not sure which section it goes in.

I don't know the details of my computer, and since I can't turn it on, I can't really check.

Basically, when I turn on the computer, it starts to load up as usual, and it always goes to the mode screen, where it asks me to boot in safe mode, or normal, etc. Then, when windows starts to load, I get a flash of the BSoD, and it restarts as before.

I managed to take a picture of the BSoD with a digital camera, and it's a standard error message, the code being ***stop: 0x00000024, with a long string of numbers afterwards, but they're obscured by the windows symbol.

I don't think it's a coincedence that my computer broke the first time it was turned off since I installed Spore, so if anyone knows of any problems with that, it could help.


Unfortunately, all the solutions I've seen to this sort of problem fail to take into account the fact that I can't actually use my computer, so anything asking me to use the 'Run' dialog box, or go to My Computer is useless.

[RayDude]

Have you tried booting in safe mode or booting into "last known good configuration."

If spore borked it then the last known config should uninstall it and fix the problem.

[BenjaminTM]

It doesn't matter which mode I try, I always get the same result from the computer.

[RayDude]

Okay, because you tried last known config and it didn't work, lets assume for the moment its a hardware problem.

Remove all hardware except the CD/DVD, video card and hard drive and boot again to see if the problem goes away.

That means unplug every usb device except the keyboard.

If it boots, plug in the mouse so you can move your cursor.

If that doesn't help and you can't get any more information from the BSOD then it seems more like a software issue again...

At this point you should boot the windows CD that came with the computer and try the "repair" option.

That might get it to boot.

Beyond that its time to reinstall windows which means you have to somehow get your data of the drive (stick the in another machine and copy the data to a usb key or burn a DVD, etc. Or you could buy a new hard drive and do a clean install to it with your old drive set to secondary).

If you buy a new hard drive, be sure to keep all your data on the old hard drive around while you wait to see if the new hard drive is going to crash. With fail rates as high as 50% these days better safe than sorry.

[BenjaminTM]

Alright, thanks. I'll have a go at that, and if it doesn't work, or I'm trying to do things I don't understand, I'll take it to be fixed somewhere tomorrow.

[patio]

A problem occurred within NTFS.SYS, the driver file that allows the system to read and write to NTFS file system drives. There may be a physical problem with the disk, or an Interrupt Request Packet (IRP) may be corrupted. Other common causes include heavy hard drive fragmentation, heavy file I/O, problems with some types of drive-mirroring software, or some antivirus software. I suggest running ChkDsk or ScanDisk as a first step; then disable all file system filters such as virus scanners, firewall software, or backup utilities. Check the file properties of NTFS.SYS to ensure it matches the current OS or SP version. Update all disk, tape backup, CD-ROM, or removable device drivers to the most current versions.

From the MS database...