Topic: PC wont boot up!

[paula76]

Hi folks,  i'm a first timer on this forum so bear with me!  Having a problem with my parents PC.  On Tuesday they got Tiscali Cheap broadband (£15.99 per month for a 3x faster connection)>  Anyway, installed it and all was fine.  I then went into Add/remove programmes to remove their freeserve connection kit.  After this the machine wanted to reboot, did this and now it wont boot up past safe mode.  It gets to the windows screen, then a black screen comes up asking you which mode you want to proceed in (there are about 8, number 1 is normal and number 3 is safe)  If I try to go to normal it just keeps going back to the same page and will only boot up in safe mode.  I'm not sure how to tackle this or even what I can do in safe mode to fix the problem. After rebooting several times I DID eventually get in, I surfer for a wee while then switched it off to see if the problem was fixed.  Stupid me - it wasn't! Their OS is WIN98. I would really appreciate any help as I have been surfing the net all night for some clues but have found nothing.  They are not able to use the internet at all and I would like to be able to fix it for them.  Cheers in advance guys.  Paula. x

[greenking]

Hi Paula  

You've definately come to the right place but the real techies dont seem to be about at the moment  
Dont panic   they're never gone very long and I'm sure they'll soon have you sorted out  

[paula76]

Thank u green. I'm happy to wait.  I just hope I can fix it myself (obviously with advice from you guys!).  I have a guy who I use for PC problems, he's a networking engineer but it's so difficult to get a hold of him, i'll probably need to wait for weeks on end!  Anyway, finger X'd.  Cheers again. x

[Tony]

 I have a guy who I use for PC problems, he's a networking engineer but it's so difficult to get a hold of him, i'll probably need to wait for weeks on end!

Obviously your not getting hold of him in the right place, Paula  

I'd love to help, but I'm only the forum "Jester" well one of them. There are funnier and thicker folk than me on this forum....have you met Simon yet?    

[paula76]

Hello Tony, lol, I have no inclination to get hold of him in those places - believe me!  No I haven't met anyone except Greenking and now you! x

[TR]

 I'd love to help, but I'm only the forum "Jester" well one of them. There are funnier and thicker folk than me on this forum....have you met Simon yet?    

 

Welcome Paula  8)

[Simon]

Hi Paula!  

Following that introduction from Tony (beware if he starts sending you private messages)    I couldn't possibly comment on your problem, for fear of leading you astray.  Isn't it great when you do someone a favour, and it screws up!  We've all done it, we know how you feel.  

The only thing I would suggest is, if you can get back into Windows at all, reinstall Freeswerve from the CD (if you have it), to at least try to get back to where you started.  You could then, hopefully, continue using the computer, with the new connection, until Freeserve can be removed.

I don't know if this will help, but here is a guide to manually removing it from XP, which I would imagine would be the same, in principal, in Win98.

[Sandra]

Hi Paula, is the pc booting up normally now or do you still have to do multiple reboots to get into normal windows ?
If its booting up ok I would go into safe mode, uninstall all modems etc and any connections then reboot into normal windows and reinstall the Tiscali modem and remake the connection  

[paula76]

Thank You Simon/Sandra,

Just in from work so haven't tried anything else with it as yet.  The PC will not boot up past safe mode at all.  I can't get into 'normal' windows.  I just think it's weird that it worked okay until I took freeserve off then it went mad!  Simon, I will try your suggestion if I can find the freeserve disc.  Will probably be kicking around somewhere.  Will post back and let you know the outcome.  Cheers guys. x

[ketamininja]

Well, I thought I had already posted this, but obviously not:

Probably the tiscali software is causing the problem, but you never know.

Disconnect the modem.
In safe mode, go to ADD/REMOVE programs.
Remove the tiscali software.
Remove the modem software (if different).
Remove the freeserve software (if still there).
Reboot.

Hopefully you can get into Windows normal mode  

[Sandra]

Well, I thought I had already posted this, but obviously not:

No but I had done two posts earlier Ket, more or less  

[paula76]

Hello folks,  just to give you an update.  I tried uninstalling tiscali in safe mode(i already uninstalled freeserve) and booting back up but no joy.  I fiddled around for a wee while and kept on trying to get in, eventually, I managed to get it to boot up and I reinstalled freeserve.  Rebooted the machine and surprise, surprise, same problem!!!!  I have noticed however that if I reboot often enough, it will eventually boot up but it still keeps crashing and it's not really solved the problem as my parents are now being charged for an ISP service that they cant use!!  Thanks for all suggestions and if anyone has anything else they think I could try, i'd be pleased to hear from them. x

[Simon]

Hi Paula,

Just a thought, and it may not be connected, but have you done a scan for viruses and spyware (in Safe Mode)?  The fact that you can boot into Safe Mode does point immediately to something getting in the way of the normal starting process.  Try fully removing both Freeserve (perhaps by the manual method in the link above?), and Tiscali, and starting again.  There has got to be a fairly simple solution to this, but sometimes finding the actual cause of the problem is more difficult!

[ketamininja]

Also, is your modem USB? Is it still connected during this time?

There have been some USB / power issues in the past.

Unplug, and try - its a long shot.

[paula76]

Will try both tomorrow folks, thanks again.  I ran stinger last night and it didn't detect anything.  My parents have AVG free edition antivirus and it hasn't detected anything either but I know that doesn't always mean that nothing is there.  It's a bit of a puzzle and i'm sure you're right Simon, it probably is something simple!  Will post back x