Computer Shuts Off While Booting?

Well, technically this is my mum's problem, but I have stuff on this computer as well. This computer has been having problems for some time, such as lagging, then finally the icons wouldn't move from their spots on the desktop.

Now I can't even get to the desktop. I went to see if maybe leaving it off for a few months would help it, but apparently not. I turned the computer on, and I waited for it to boot up. The Windows Xp loading screen, the Welcome screen. Then it suddenly shuts itself off, with a green blinking light in the front. I can't press any keys or do anything to get it out of that state, I just have to cut the power off completely by unplugging the power cords. It does this at various points of booting, usually within a minute. Our boot time has always been slow, between 2- 5 minutes, but it never shut itself off.

I want my stuff back. Perhaps it's a problem with the CPU or power box? It only started acting up with all these problems when we had Best Buy replace the fans in the computer.

I'm using a different computer now as I can't even get to the desktop of the other computer. What can I do to fix this, and is there any way to get my stuff off there if there's no solution? My mum tried booting from a disk and it didn't work.

 

Hello and welcome to MG ... could you give us some information on your/mums computer ie. motherboard/CPU/Memory/Power Unit etc. Can you boot into safe mode, to do this press the F8 key contunally when booting up until a sreen comes up with a list of boot items of which one is 'Safe Mode' use arrow key to highlight then press enter. If succesful run the defrag. Are you competent/experienced enough to look inside computer and maybe make adjustments ???? Firstly try the safe mode and post back.

 

Remove the hd from the problem computer. Get a hd to USB adapter.
Example: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...e=ide_sata_usb_adapter-_-12-119-152-_-Product
Turn the good computer on, then attach the old hd to a USB port. You should be able to see the files.

 

I've already tried safe mode, the screen automatically comes up because it says the computer didn't shut down properly due to it shutting off automatically while booting. It shuts off no matter what mode I'm in, really. I'm not really experienced enough in hardware to make any adjustments, but my mum can. She knows a computer inside and out, haha.

Our computer is Windows XP. I really don't know anything about the inside of the computer, and neither does mum. She only told the guy the basics of what she wanted with it when we bought it. But thanks for telling me about the hard drive, and I'll be sure to do that just in case. Mum is going to take the computer down to the store eventually, so if they decide to do a system restore or something, I would like to get my stuff off first! =)

Just out of curiosity, can you get one of those hard drive USB adaptors in a regular tech store like Best Buy? I don't think going online to get them would be the only way, huh? Cuz there's lots of computer nerds. Lol.

 

I don't shop at Best Buy for much so I can't tell you what they have in stock as far as computer gadgets. I either buy my gadgets at a local Mom and Pop store or from sites like NewEgg and CyberGuys.

 

You said in your original post ..[I]It only started acting up with all these problems when we had Best Buy replace the fans in the computer. [/I] In that case I should return the computer to whoever installed fans at Best Buy as to me the symptons are possibly of over heating.