Windows 9-1-1: 10 Smart Tricks to Boot a Sick PC

An unbelievable number of Windows PCs – millions, in fact – go into landfills every year not because they are out of date or truly broken beyond repair. Instead, these machines are tossed for the simple reason that they develop some problem their desperate owners don’t know how to fix.

But the “dead” PC rate isn’t the surprise here. It’s how many of these PCs can be fixed and go on to lead long and productive lives, even if you’re not a super geek or a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Plain old common sense, coupled with a few strategic moves, can make all the difference for you and that ailing PC, regardless of your experience level.

There is something critical you need to do before you do anything else: don’t panic and certainly don’t start wiggling, jiggling, and kicking things. If the blood is pounding in your ears, your hands are trembling, and you can’t think straight, now is not the time to proceed. Cool down and come back to it later.

This is not a joke, either. An incredible amount of additional damage to a system happens just because we blindly and thoughtlessly start taking actions. You want to get the PC back into operation, not make it worse.

With this in mind, here’s 10 expert troubleshooting and repair tricks that you can do yourself. As you work, be patient and methodical. Expert PC repair technicians know that it’s best if you try one thing at a time; if what you tweak does not resolve the problem, put it back the way it was before you proceed to the next troubleshooting idea.

1. Check the Obvious Culprits

As many as 15-20% of all PCs reported as “dead” or broken simply aren’t plugged in or aren’t connected to a working electrical outlet. Always check this! A dying power strip or surge suppressor or one that is turned off can also be the problem.

2. Shutdown and Restart.

Almost every desktop becomes slow, fussy, and problematic if your system maintenance is poor, you’ve been several days or weeks without a restart, or you’ve run persnickety applications. Plus you will be amazed at how may silly issues something as non-tech as a restart can wipe away.

3. Undo What You Last Thing Did

Stop and think. What was the very last thing you did before the PC stopped working properly? If you installed or removed something or tweaked a setting – hardware or software – check your documentation carefully and, if necessary or possible, try to undo any changes you made.

An incorrectly installed device, for example, can cause your PC to begin issuing a series of beeps when you try to restart the computer. Those beeps – and specifically, the number of them you hear – actually are a code language that can indicate what part of the system isn’t right. Your PC manual or your PC manufacturer’s Web site frequently offers a beep code guide to help translate for you.

4. Run System Checkers and Diagnostics

If you can get into Windows at all, you may want to turn on a system monitoring tool like Dr Watson. You can find this if you click Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools>Dr Watson. You can also run diagnostic tools like Norton Disk Doctor and the many tools in Norton SystemWorks to see if you can discover and repair what may be wrong. Scanning with antivirus software isn’t a bad idea either.

5. Try to Boot Using Last Known Good Configuration

If the Pc tries to start but can’t load Windows, something is fouled. Your first effort here should be the least invasive, meaning it should have the potential to fix more problems than it creates.

Restart your PC and, as it begins to clear the boot screen, press and briefly hold your F8 key. This forces Windows to bring up a boot menu. If you have more than one operating system installed, you may first have to choose your operating system to load. Then, below, click the option Boot Using the Last Known Good Configuration. Windows then tries to load using the settings that worked for you in a recent Windows session. If it’s not successful, try #4.

6. Boot Windows in Safe Mode

Safe Mode is a special diagnostics mode that only loads essential drivers and services needed to get into Windows. The theory here is that if you can reach Windows in Safe Mode, one of two things may happen: 1) you may notice a setting gone askew that you need to fix and 2) sometimes the very act of launching in Safe Mode can make it more likely Windows will start normally on restart.

To use Safe Mode, you restart your PC and press and momentarily hold your F8 key as the PC begins to boot. The keystroke produces a Startup menu. Click Boot Windows in Safe Mode.

7. Restore from a Previously Recorded Restore Point.

If you use the System Restore feature packed in the last several versions of Windows, you can recover your system to the point before the problem occurred if you restore a restore point. Windows gives you the option to abort the restore process if you decide “rolling back” to a previous point in PC time does not work for you.

8. Use Backup and Restore Wizard to Restore Your Last Backup

If you suspect a very serious disk problem where you ultimately end up either replacing or reformatting the hard disk, you can use the Backup and Restore Wizard to recover recent files or your entire Windows setup. But you have to perform backups regularly so you have the files to recover.

9. Use the Windows Repair Option

If you use Windows XP, get your Windows Setup CD. You can restart your PC using the Setup CD itself like a boot disk. As the PC begins to boot, watch for the on-screen prompt to Press a key to boot from CD and then do so. Windows Setup loads. Once you reach the main Setup window, choose R to repair your current Windows setup.

10. Have a Second, Net-Ready Computer or Web Phone Available

When one PC is down, one of the best tools at your disposal is a second net-capable device – bt it PC, hand-held or Web phone – through which you can go online and look for assistance. This one alone can be worth a shelf full of reference books (even my reference books, and I earn my living writing them).

Finally, here’s a free extra tip that may save you from extra headaches. Reinstall Windows as a last resort. Sometimes, the very first thing a person does when Windows won’t launch right is to reinstall Windows, which often amounts to at least a significant waste of time. Worse, it can really foul up your system that is now sand leave it operating in a never-never land tuck between the original installation and the nicely updated PC you were running before you panicked.