When I try to turn off the computer (holding in the power button), it refuses to stay off. It kicks back into power, gives me the black screen saying Windows did not shut down properly and gives me choices to start it. I've tried normally and safe mode without success - always ends up with the above blue screen message.

I must have been holding the power button too long. I finally was able to turn my pc off but still need help with the blue screen. Thank you.

I've been searching through googling hits and am thinking something may have happened during an XP update. I don't automatically install and have not installed SP3. Could that be part of the problem? I don't want to lose my hard drive info. If I try an XP repair from CD, will my files be lost???

I think I would start with returning the BIOS to it's default settings. This can be done using a jumper on the motherboard if it is provided or simply remove the small battery for 30 seconds. Use the link below and read from the paragraph above the image of the motherboard.

Regarding the refusal to turn off you can always remove the power cord, not a highly recommended action but sometimes if push comes to shove then such an action is necessary. By default holding the power button for 4 seconds usually turns the computer off.

Sometimes I accidentally press a key when I'm lifting them up for use on my Dell.
Holding a key for 8 seconds brings on the 'Sticky key' feature for the Windows Accessibility Options found in the Control panel

Here is a link that might be useful: How to return BIOS to default settings

So you don't feel alone, I had the exact same experience at my XP Professional work station on Friday. The matter hadn't been addressed by the IT people when I left that day.

The morning was normal as I started the system. As it went through the boot process and connecting to the network a window appeared regarding an update for the Windows Genuine Advantage Program. I tried to cancel, and that locked up the system. After a reboot via the on/off switch I tried to install the update. It notified me it would take 15 minutes with a count-down clock. That too locked up the system with 25% of the install remaining. I rebooted again via the on/off switch, and received your message between the Windows startup and the network connection.

If you concern hasn't been resolved I will be more than happy to share what I find out at work; hopefully Monday.

My office co-worker had the same update without any concerns on an identical system.

DA

If this concern was indeed created by an update, this is another example of why I do not recommend automatic install.

DA

are you able to boot into last known good configuration?

In my experience you cannot do anything, not even safe mode.

DA

wow that is not good. I have been looking around for any complaints of this with updates, I have been seeing the complaints for the .NET ones but had not see anything like this. Definitely worth a warning before doing updates!
Thanks for the info and I for one would definitely be interested in any further info you get Monday.

I also am not in general a supporter of auto update for the same reasons.

abreeze says:

I've not installed any new software but have done the Windows updates.

and then later:

I don't automatically install and have not installed SP3.

Thanks, Everyone, for your replies. I greatly appreciate each one. My heart was heavy this morning, but lifted when I read your comments tonight. DA, I'm looking forward to what you learn tomorrow. I've tried to be so careful with updating... Could the fact that I've not installed SP3 be causing a conflict with the latest updates? Once I hopefully get through this blue screen, should I consider installing SP3???

no I do not think that would have any impact at all, I still have one of my xp boxes that is not sp3 updated yet, not sure if I will or not, do not use it much any more. Plus I would NOT complicate anything by trying to throw sp3 into the mix till everything seems fine.

I have not seen anything that would relate the 2 anyway.

abreeze did not say she did the latest updates automatically it sounds like she went and downloaded them herself not by letting it auto update so not sure what the connection susanjn is pointing to??

as to the actual stop code message here are some places to read up on that
TROUBLESHOOTING WINDOWS STOP MESSAGES

I would open the case and check all cables inside make sure all connections are good and snug, check all cables to the pc, unplug and replug, power all down then power up with modem first, router, then main pc and other computers. See if you can boot to anything.

It could be that your hard drive is having problems/failing, however if it is not totally done you can always take it out and put it in an external drive enclosure and plug it into the usb port of another pc and access your info on it to save it from that drive to somewhere else. Sometimes this method works when it won't work in the actual pc.
There is also a way to use a linux live cd in your pc and try booting it to the linux cd to see if it would boot to it and if so you can then access the contents of your hard drive that way so there are options hopefully to get your data.

if you could download the manufacturers diagnostics tool for hard drive health and run it from cd or usb flash drive you might be able to find out if the hard drive is gone or not.

Sorry I don't have any good information.

The concern could not be resolved at the work station so the system has been taken to the haven where IT people work.

DA

Oh dear... That doesn't sound good, DA.

Thanks, RC. I'm going to take your advice and remove my hard drive. It's not the original drive and isn't that old. Prayerfully, it's OK.

I removed the Dell SATA hard drive but can't use it with my external enclosure as the enclosure has IDE connections. It looks like I have to buy an enclosure with SATA connections.

My original hard drive crashed a couple of years ago. I took the pc to a local computer shop for repair and paid them for a new hard drive. However, when I was reading the information written on the drive after I removed it, I was surprised to read that I was given a "Certified Repaired HDD"! This doesn't sound like "new" to me. Am I wrong? If not, do I have any recourse???

Thanks so much for your help.

Why did you remove the hard drive?
Why are you considering buying an empty external drive case?

RC suggested your hard drive might be the cause. RC also suggested downloading and using a Linux operating system to try booting the computer from it.

When you boot this computer do you hear the POST beep?
Do you see the activity light on the front of the tower flashing on and off indicating the hard drive is spinning up?
Not the steady light, that is simply the power LED.

After 2 years I doubt you would get any measure of success with the dealer for selling you a repaired hard drive. Look for a date on manufacture on the drive then check the Dell site for warranty directly from them. Many give 3 years these days.

Owbist, I wanted to make sure my hard drive was still good and was planning to use the external enclosure to connect it to my new pc. There is one folder that contains files that I've not backed up and am anxious to retrieve.

I've always wanted to try Linux and have an old download of Ubuntu and one of Kubuntu. Should I try one of those or download a different one?

I don't remember hearing any beep, and I went through the process a number of times. I was really concentrating on the screen, however. I never looked below to see if the hard drive light was flashing. I'll reconnect the hard drive and check it out.

Thank you.

I hooked it back up and checked it out... There are no beeps. The HD light flashed until reaching the screen to select mode to use; began flashing again until reaching the blue screen whereupon it disappeared...

Hmm, strange that there was no POST beep but the activity light came on indicating the HDD was spinning. If you just rested the drive on the side and hooked it up place your hand on the top to feel warmth or slight vibration showing it is in fact spinning.

Do you have programs or just data you need to access on this computer? Are the programs too old for the Win 7 computer?

As this drive is SATA you could in fact hook it to your new computer either temporarily to check it out or permanently negating the need for another external drive.

Any flavour of Linux will do, it is just to confirm that the computer will in fact boot up. You may need to enter the BIOS and set the CD to first choice on start up.

Thanks, Owbist. No POST beep. However, when I was pressing delete key (according to Dell manual) to enter BIOS, 3 beeps sounded in sync with my pressing the delete key. Is that significant??? (I kept pressing the delete key but there were no other beeps.)

I forced a burner open with a paper clip and inserted a Linux CD before starting the pc. However, I knew that I had followed a recommendation here to stop the auto start function of a CD. I tried two times without success to enter the Bios.

The HD is vibrating, so I hope that is encouraging. I can't get past the blue screen...

My new unit is a 64-bit Vista. If I connect my old drive that has 32-bit XP installed, what will happen? Am I setting up a dual boot???

Sorry, but I'm way over my head here! :) Sure do appreciate everyone's help. I wonder if they were able to fix DA's work station...

Well, I have good news, and bad news.

My system has returned from across the river Styx which is commonly known around here as the IT Department. It is working fine, and except for several personal settings it is the same as it was before.

The almighties claim it was an O/S failure of unknown cause, and as a remediation they ghosted off my boss's system as it is a mirrored image of mine. I was advised that if the Windows Verification update appeared again to download it. Who knows? It will be their problem if the snafu reoccurs.

DA

From everything I have read you should have no trouble reading data from an HDD from a 32 bit machine with your Win 7 64 bit computer.

No, you will not be creating a dual boot, your computer should boot normally then report that it has found new hardware and indicate you second drive. Creating a dual boot system is a whole different ball game.

You are not way over your ead, you are doing just fine. Fear not!

"not sure what the connection susanjn is pointing to?"

I was just noting that abreeze made conflicting statements in that updates were done, but had not installed SP3. I would consider SP3 an update. I don't know anything about the problem at hand, but thought that might be significant.

As discussed on another thread, support for SP2 ends 7/13/10.

ahh ok thanks got it.

abreeze have you tried the diagnostic tools for hard drive health by your manufacturer?

Hi, Raven. No, I haven't. I Googled Dell diagnostics for a dimension 4700 and found this:

CDs supplied with desktop are an Application for reinstalling CyberLink PowerDVD; an Application for reinstalling Sonic; and a reinstallation CD for XP Home Ed with SP2.

Nothing I try gets past that blue screen. I ordered an SATA enclosure today to see if my HD is any good...

We can't thank everyone enough for all the time and help that is given on this forum! :)

Abreeze, just look at the label on your hard drive and you will see the manufacturer's name and model number of the drive. Google the maker adding diagnostics should bring that site as the first choice. Run the test, it is free.

Hi Owbist... Thanks for being so patient, kind, and helpful. To run the test I must connect it some way to my new desktop. I've run two hard drives in the past on an old pc but had help setting them up. I'm not comfortable trying that on my new one... Please forgive me if I am misunderstanding what you are suggesting.

Some of the files I hope to retrieve are on a software program that will not run on 64-bit Vista.

I installed the hard drive in the enclosure today but was not able to bring up any files. I tried two different ways and each time I was given the message that I needed to format the "disk".

Next I followed Owbist's directions and Googled my hard drive model for diagnostics testing. I finally found a link on a forum to SeaTools which is the diagnostics for my Seagate drive. It failed three tests: the Short Drive Self Test, the Short Generic External Test, and the Long DST test.

I'm assuming this means the drive is gone. Thankfully, I had backed up 2/3 of the drive but will be losing a number of files...

Thank you, each one, for your much appreciated help. I could't have done this on my own... I plan to reinstall XP on another drive, but will not go online and do any updates with this next one. I suspect that is what caused my failure.

I cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, see how doing updates could cause a hard drive to fail. Not all that unusual for a 5 year old hard drive to fail. Mine did at about that age, but I had warnings that it was going: strange noises, etc.

How will you use XP without doing the updates?

Grandms, this isn't the original drive. I had the desktop repaired at a shop about two years ago and supposedly bought a new drive - turns out to be a recertified one.

Perhaps I misunderstood, but I thought the update appeared to cause the operating system's failure with DA's work station.

Right now that is my thinking regarding updating XP! :) My BIL uses his desktops without ever going online. I have two other machines that I use online. One has Vista but I have the upgrade to 7; the other has 7.

my guess and I do mean guess is that it was a conincidence that it failed right after doing the updates, for DA it was not a drive failure but a corrupted/failed Operating system.
It could be due to the fact the drive they provided you was not a new drive, but drives that are brand new sometimes fail.

There is an old trick for trying to save info from a failed drive you might want to try it, you freeze the drive literally put it in the freezer,wrap it in paper towels put it in a sealed ziplock baggie, let it freeze well(a few hours or over night), stick it in the enclosure, or plug into the pc, and as fast as possible try to access it and grab your info, it will not work for long but many times it will work long enough to get the info off of it. Usually the window is about 15 mins. You can make it last longer if you put a frozen container or those blue ice packs on top of the drive when you take it out and connect it to the pc (protect it from moisture of course). Have a flash drive or some backup drive ready to go to get that info backed up immediately. You can repeat this a few times if you are lucky.
Why freezing a hard drive might help on this site scroll way way down below all the blue text to read the info on how to and why freezing might work.

does the drive spin at all? can you hear it spin up? is there any clicking or noise, does your pc recognize or see the drive?
If it is spinning then freezing it is not the way to go because a spinning drive is not a dead drive.

IF you want to try Spin Rite by Steve Gibson here is the site for it.
SpinRite
also this link talks of options to try including the freezer technique.

Here is a link that might be useful: freezer technique and more

Now I understand how you plan to use this computer, so if you never go online with it, you probably will not need the updates, at least not most of them.

Hope you are able to retrieve the information you did not have backed up. I often see and hear, "It's not a matter of IF a hard drive will fail, but WHEN."

Very interesting reading, Raven. Thanks for the links.

I can feel the drive vibrating. I don't know if there is any life left in it or not. Are the diagnostic tests that I did helpful?

I'm too tired to do anything tonight. I might stop at the computer shop tomorrow and see what they say.

I finally was able to stop by the computer shop. The tech checked the HD several ways and determined that it's bad. They're going to replace it. I'm going to try Raven's freezer method suggestion to see if I can retrieve any files. (The HD is spinning.)

Owbist, I apologize for not trying your advice to connect the drive internally in my new pc. That was the final method the tech used. He explained that the new technology used in SATA eliminated the problems associated with the older IDE technology. Amazing! I have so much to learn!

I am very glad you resolved your concern. However, I am still wondering if there was any relationship between "our" failure and the update installations as our activity was the same, the BSOD was the same, and the resulting concern was the same. We may never know.

DA

I just tried the "freeze" method. It looked like it might work, but then it showed the message that the disk needed to be formatted before I could use it. And, Do you want to format it?...

Thank all of you for your help. I sure appreciated each one.