Question from Brenda Y.: I have a BIG problem Rick, and I really need your help. My computer (Lenovo desktop w/ Windows 7) was installing updates last night when it just shut off. It does that sometimes when my heat pump turns on.
Anyway, when I turned it back on it refused to boot up all the way into Windows. It’ll start, then hang up after the Windows logo is displayed. I even tried booting it into Safe Mode but it gets stuck there too.
I’d like to try to do a System Restore, but I can’t because the computer won’t boot up at all. Is there any way to do a System Restore manually without having to actually have Windows loaded?
Rick’s answer: I’m very sorry to hear about your predicament Brenda, but it’s actually fairly common for desktop computers to lose power when a heat pump kicks on. That’s why I recommend that every computer be plugged into a battery backup unit. And that goes double for you given your home’s power situation. Now, back to the problem at hand…
The first thing I would try is booting the PC into “Safe Mode” without the Graphical User Interface (it’ll display an ugly text screen with a “Command Prompt” like back in the days of DOS). If the PC will boot to a Command Prompt, you can try doing a System Restore from the command line. Follow these steps:
1 – With the computer completely powered down, press the Power button then immediately begin pressing the F8 key about once per second until a text menu appears on the screen.
2 – Once the text menu appears, use the down arrow key to select Safe Mode with Command Prompt and then press the Enter key.
3 – If all goes well again the PC should boot to a command prompt. If it does, type the following and then press the Enter key:
rstrui.exe
4 – If a list of Restore Points is displayed, choose the most recent one prior to the aborted update procedure.
With any luck the steps listed above will get you back up and running. If so, run Windows Update again (but I strongly recommend that you get yourself a battery backup unit first). If you’re unable to boot the PC into “Safe Mode with Command Prompt” or if the System Restore doesn’t work, let me know and we’ll go from there.
Update from Brenda: That worked Rick! Thank you SO MUCH!!!
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