friends computer boots then shuts off

[whiteblazer01]

I don't really have a whole lot of information, my friends hp laptop boots up and then shuts off. he said he updated it, and it screwed it up. he wants to retain his information, but is afraid to use the system restore disc. is there anything else he can do? P apologize if there is not enough info, let me know what you need and i will get it from him. Thanks!

- Paul

 

[macdude425]

Yah, we're gonna need the specifics. Specs, model, the works.

BTW, what is this "update" that he did to his laptop that you speak of?

 

[SHAWN]

What operating system is on the laptop? can he get into safe mode?

 

[dumdum8684]

I know this sounds dumb but is the battery going dead? Have you tried to boot it up with the power adapter pluged into a socket you know works.

-Aaron

 

[whiteblazer01]

no safe mode, xp, z2700 hp pavilion notebook. update was from microsoft. It was on auto update, he doesnt know what it was. he said he was able to recover the C: drive, but cannot run windows. I don't know whats going on.

 

[Apokalipse]

do a repair-install of XP
boot from CD, press enter, press f8, then after it says "searching for previous versions of Microsoft Windows" press r