Hey guys, I've been running a Gateway laptop with Vista Home on it for a few months now. I've been using it primarily for producing music (FL Studio, Ableton) and some random old games (Age of Empires, Starcraft). I decided to upgrade FL Studio 7 to FL 8 yesterday. A little while after when I booted it up, after lunch I suppose, it went to a system recovery type thing. I just followed any of the directions there, which were to boot the recovery as recommended. Took a few minutes to do some searching and such and came back that it couldn't do anything. I tried the next option which was to boot to windows normally. Again, nothing happened and it brought me back to the same screen.
I'm on my PC right now, searching for answers. I've found many people who have this same problem. Only, the advice given to these people helped them. I tried following the instructions they recieved, hoping it would help me in turn. Nothing has helped. I have tried any combination of things I could think of (which isn't much, I know less then nothing about computers), I've tried all the help that others have recieved. I put the Operating System Disc in and tried everything that people said to do with that. I'm this -| |- close to just throwing it away.
When I turn the computer on, this is what comes up:
——————————-
Windows Error Recover
Windows failed to start. blah blah blah
Launch Startup Repair (recommended)
Start Windows Normally
——————————–
When I choose either option, this is what comes up:
——————————–
Startup Repair is checking your system for problems…
Startup Repair cannot repair this computer automatically
Send information about this problem (recommended)
Don't send
——————————–
I don't really know what I'm asking for, and I don't know what to expect in an answer. But, I'd appreciate anything anyone has to offer. Also, I really don't know anything about computers. I saw partitioning, OS, BIOS, and a whole bag full of other words being thrown around, which I have no idea what they mean. I've heard some of them but I don't know anything about them. All I know about computers is that they host programs that I use. Thanks for reading, and thanks for any input you may have.
Click on your Control Panel, then click on "Device Manager". Are there any yellow triangles with an exclamation mark in side, next to any of the drivers?
Also, click on the start orb and in the search box type eventvwr, then click on the events ans see what might have caused your machine to shut down.
Thanks for responding, Jacee. I'm on my PC again, and just looked in the areas you told me to, to make sure I had an idea where the things were. I can't get to the windows screen on my laptop, so I can't check any of that. I'm not sure if theres any other way to bypass the recovery screen. I've tried all the possible options given by the window. The only things I haven't tried is those that require being able to pull things out when your on the window screen, because I can't access it.
OS stands for Operating System (ex: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 1998, etc.) and BIOS stand for Basic Input/Output System.
Now, what exactly happens when you choose the "Star Windows Normally" option, you say it goes right back to the same screen. Does it do anything else before going back to the screen? Such as attempting to start up windows but then skipping back to it, or giving you another error (in which case please describe it).
When I choose that option, it goes to a black screen with a bar and several yellow bars flowing through it, and Microsoft Corporation written under it. I guess this is the load screen. After several seconds it goes to a blank black screen. Another few seconds after that, it reverts back to the blue screen that says there was a problem found. This is the screen that initially comes up when I turn my computer on. So, it looks to me that both options are a big loop, except the repair option tries to repair, but cannot, and everything starts all over.
Thanks for that site. It seems that my problem is somewhere in there. If you bring that site up, the screen that I see is the first View Picture. I haven't seen the one thats right below it, but the next two View Pictures I also see.
I'm not sure which one of those examples to follow to try and fix this though. If I were to guess, it would be the second one, should I try that? I've tried the one with the Disc, but it didn't work. I can't say for certain that I did it right, but I followed the directions of a guy who was helping someone else out.
As a side question, is reformatting an option? A friend said when she has problems with her computer she reformats it which takes everything off the computer and starts it fresh. Should I be concidering this, or is this not a real serious problem, I just don't know how to fix it at the moment.
1. Startup Repair attempts to locate and resolve issues with the computer.
View picture
2. When prompted with Do you want to restore your computer using System Restore?, click Restore.
View picture
3. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click Finish. This screen can vary, dependant on if a problem was found or not.
View picture
View picture
4. Computer restarts.
5. If the problem was resolved, the computer restarts into Windows Vista.
6. If the problem was not fixed, the error may present itself again.
7. Run Startup Repair again.
8. If Startup Repair runs more than three (3) times, you are prompted with View advanced options for system recovery and support.
9. For further troubleshooting, select one of the following options:
* System Restore
* Command Prompt
* Last resort - Recovery Manager. Recovery Manager is not available if accessing WinRE via Vista OS Backup Media DVD.
Run Startup Repair from Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) on hard drive
Important: This is only available if operating system has not been reloaded using OS Vista backup media DVD.
Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) on Hard Drive
The Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) can be used when troubleshooting issues where the computer cannot boot into Windows. It can be used for automatic diagnosis and recovery using Startup Repair, or it can be used to manually recover the computer using the tools available from within the environment such as the Registry Editor or System Restore.
1. Turn on the computer.
2. After the Gateway BIOS logo appears, repeatedly press the F8 key. The Advanced Boot Options menu opens.
3. On the Advanced Boot Options screen, use the arrow keys to select Repair your Computer, and then press ENTER.
View picture
4. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, select the appropriate keyboard layout, and then click Next.
View picture
5. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, select the user account that has Administrator rights, and then click OK.
View picture
Note: The Administrator account is disabled by default.
6. In the System Recovery Options window, select the appropriate option.
View picture
7. From within the Windows Recovery Environment there are a variety of tools that can be used for troubleshooting.
8. Select Startup Repair.
9. If prompted, Do you want to restore your computer using system restore?, click Restore.
10. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click Finish. This screen can vary, dependant on if a problem was found or not.
View picture
View picture
11. Computer restarts.
12. If the problem was resolved, the computer restarts into Windows Vista.
13. If the problem was not fixed, the error may present itself again.
14. Run Startup Repair again.
15. If Startup Repair runs more than three (3) times, when available, select View advanced options for system recovery and support.
16. For further troubleshooting, select one of the following options:
* System Restore
* Command Prompt
* Last resort - Recovery Manager. Recovery Manager is not available if accessing WinRE via Vista OS Backup Media DVD
Run Startup Repair using Vista Operating System disc
1. Place the Windows Vista Media Backup DVD into to the optical drive and start the computer.
2. Press any key to boot from CD or DVD.
3. On the Install Windows screen, click Next.
4. On the Install Windows screen, select Repair your computer.
5. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click Next.
6. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, select the appropriate operating system, and then click Next.
7. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, select Startup Repair.
8. The Startup Repair attempts to locate and resolve issues with the computer.
View picture
9. If prompted, Do you want to restore your computer using system restore?, click Restore.
10. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click Finish. This screen can vary, dependant on if a problem was found or not.
View picture
View picture
11. System restarts.
12. If the problem was resolved, the computer restarts into Vista.
13. If the problem was not fixed, the error may present itself again.
14. Run Startup Repair again.
15. If Startup Repair runs more than three (3) times, when available, select View advanced options for system recovery and support.
16. For further troubleshooting, select one of the following options:
* System Restore
* Command Prompt
* Last resort - Recovery Manager. Recovery Manager is not available if accessing WinRE via Vista OS Backup Media DVD
Recovery with Automatic Backup
Complete a recovery with automatic backup.
Full Factory Recovery
Note: This option completely erases the C: partition and reinstalls factory-shipped files from the recovery partition.
Complete a Full Factory Recovery.
About reformatting, I'm not sure whether you have to have access to the computer in order to do it or not, or if it would even solve the problem. But I know it would erase all your files and programs, including Microsoft Office, so unless you have the discs for it, you can't get it back.
I just turned on my laptop. Its getting slower and slower each time i turn it on to try something. I hope this isn't making things worse.
I tried following the directions there, but for the first part getting to step 9 is what I go through, but I don't understand what 9 is telling me to do. The only option I can choose is the command prompt, but I don't know what to do after that. And, it seems like those are seperate instructions to do this three different ways. For the second part, the BIOS one, hitting F8 doesn't go to another screen, it goes back to the same screen that it would go to anyway.
So, I can't do that second one. The third one also ends like the first one, telling me if it doesn't repair to try other troubleshooting options. Both the first and second way end the same, with nothing, and I can't try the second one with the advanced BIOS by hitting F8.
For reformatting, I really don't know what it does or how to do it yet, but I don't care about anything on my laptop. FL and Ableton I can just re-download. Obvioulsy I would rather not because of saved stuff, but I can always remake them. I also have the disc for Microsoft Office, so I'm not worried about that either.
I just want to be able to get on my laptop.
Step 9 actually says "if" prompted so if your not getting the option go straight to 10 and see if you can pick it up from there.
EDIT: Oh I see know, your only getting one option. Well try it one more time and see if you get more options, if not choose command prompt and see where it takes you, see if you can pick back up the instructions around 9 or 10, if not tell me what your finding under command prompt though.
And if you still can't get the instructions to work try this, this is a way to do system recovery. I know you said F8 didn't work at first but you just have to press it repeatedly as soon as you boot up your computer.
1
Turn off the computer.
2
Remove all attached devices except for the mouse, keyboard and monitor.
3
Turn on the computer and press the F8 key repeatedly when the first logo screen appears.
A Windows startup screen displays.
4
Use the UP or DOWN arrow key to highlight Safe Mode with Command Prompt and press Enter .
If the error message appears again, skip to the next step to perform a system recovery.
5
When the logon screen appears, select Administrator and enter the password (if applicable).
6
When the command window appears, enter the following at the command prompt:
cd \windows\system32\restore
7
At the new prompt, enter the following: rstrui
The System Restore screen opens.
8
Follow the instructions in System Restore to restore the computer to a time when the errors were known to not occur
I did get the fix from the HP site but it should work on a Gateway, it doesn't look like these are unique instructions, they should still function the same way for you.
And I found recovery instructions for Gateway, they look the same as for HP though so if the one before this didn't work, this one may not, still worth a try though.
Make sure when you recover your system (if you can) that you choose an old date so you avoid having that error again.
Hmm, I was able to follow the directions to the T. But, after following it and getting exactly what it said, after the restart, it went back to the blue screen that says theres a problem and back to the black screen that has the option to Launch Startup Repair (recommended) and Start Windows Normally.
It seemed like it was going to work. It went through everything quite smoothly. I chose the latest date that it allowed me to on the restore time. I chose the 10th, so 4 days ago. I hope that was long enough back, since this only happened yesterday.
But, sadly it didn't work.
the 10th was really your oldest date? Hmm, you should have older. If you think you can get anything older than that try it again, when was the last time you used your computer prior to the error, the day before, or a couple days before?
I think there was an option to get more dates. I didn't retry it yet, I just wanted to answer that, and I use my laptop every day for work. I don't think there actually was a day where I didn't use it. I'm going to try the steps again first thing in the morning.
Alright, I followed the directions again, which went smooth again. I clicked on the box and saw lots of other dates, so I chose one 10 days ago. I figure thats not too far back, but also not too close. It went through a couple load screens for a few minutes, restarted, and has the same problem.
Should I be looking into bringing this to a store and just paying someone to fix this? Is this from a virus? Did I download a virus on accident or something? Man, this is terrible. The only sites I go to on the laptop are ones that are the company of the programs that are on it, and I haven't had a problem with it for a few years, nor have I heard anyone having problems with their sites. This is frustrating. Thanks so much for helping me out Vectris, I really do appreciate all the help your giving me. I'm more frustrated and mad with myself that I don't really know what to do and don't know much about computers and the situation then I am at the computer not working.
It's possible it could of been a virus, since we haven't gotten past the error screen I'm afraid we can't tell. Most likely it was some hardware/software upgrade that wasn't properly installed or had some kind of error that messed something up. It also probably wasn't your fault, so don't be mad at yourself.
Weird things happen to computers a lot, and for some the causes will always remain unknown. On my old computer it would turn on and as soon as it go to the log-in screen, restart. So for hours I would let it sit there restarting and restarting while tearing my hair out. Nothing worked and I was about to re-install the OS when my dad just swapped out one of the computer processors for a similar model and it worked, even on the computer that got the "broken" piece, it was simply the way the computer was working as a whole.
Anyways I wouldn't bother with a computer technician, he'll most likely just try what we did here, recovery system and all of that. Depending one the price you can get maybe you can try it, but at this point it would seem your last option is to re-install Windows. It is possible that there are some fixes I haven't found so you may wait a while and see if anyone will post more information in this thread, but we covered everything I could find. If you need help re-installing the OS I can find some instructions for you too, you just have to have the Windows Install disk though.
*Note: re-installing your OS would of course erase all your files, so depending on the importance of what you have on your computer you may want to see a professional technician first.
I see, Vectris. I guess waiting some more couldn't hurt, since I'm able to use a friends laptop with the same programs. I really wouldn't mind if I lost anything on the laptop. I don't have pictures or anything on it. I really just got it so I can be mobile with those programs. So sure, I'll start reading about re-installing an OS so I have an idea what it is about and how it works. Any site that you think is good, let me know and I'll read it.
I will wait some time though, just incase like you said someone comes up with something that may just fix things.
✨ Ask AI
AI can make mistakes. Check the cited posts. Archived advice can be out-of-date
Don't include personal information. Questions and selected public posts go to OpenAI. About Ask AI
