Vista - startup failure. rather urgent.

So i've recently purchased a compaq notebook pc running vista home premium. after unwittingly installing what i'm assuming was a windows update, i am finding myself unable to run in anything other than safe mode. attempting to normally run the laptop ends up with it jamming on the windows loading progress bar in startup, attempting a system restore from safe mode ends in another jammed state. i apologise for my lack of technological knowledge and lingo that may have made this post easier to understand, it's been a while since i've been bothering to keep up with it all and i think i've fallen out of touch, haha.

my main would be, is there any alternative way to get my laptop to run correctly other than totally reinstalling windows?

ok firstly How confident are you with Vista as you are in safe mode I will asume that you know a fair bit

You could firstly try a system file check - details in tutorial here

if that does not work then (as you are using a laptop you probably won't have a windows install disk) try a repair using the repair disk available in this tutorial Here

What I would reccommend before you do anything is save any and everything personal that you can from safe mode as the supplied restore disks will remove everything.

let us kno how things are going I know from experience that black screen failures are the worst as you can't tell whats wrong.

deathofamodernist wrote:
Since you can get into Safe Mode, either uninstall the updates from Programs
& Features or do a System Restore to before you installed them.

To run System Restore, go to the Start Orb and in the Start Search box type
"System Restore" without the quotes. System Restore will appear in the
Programs result. Click on it, allow the UAC prompt, and follow the wizard.

Also, set your Windows Update not to download/install updates automatically.
Instead, go to the WU applet in Control Panel and you will see where you
can change the settings. You'll need to respond to the prompts to elevate.
Now when the WU are available, you can look at what they are. Do not
install any drivers from WU. If you have drivers updates, you can
right-click on them and choose "Hide" so you don't see them again.

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ

First of all- thanks a lot guys for your help.

Ok so uninstalling the updates seemed to do the trick for a couple of days - now i'm running into a bunch of other problems. I am able to boot and run my laptop like normal - for about 15 miniutes. After about 15 minutes of going about my business, error free, my entire laptop seizes up, jams, I am unable to do anything other than reboot. safe mode will not run at all. I am unable to run a system restore due to the aforementioned jamming issue. running a system check for problems type thing on startup returns nothing. my frustration with vista has hit an all time high. is there ANYTHING I can do from this stage other than go through an entire OS reinstall?

deathofamodernist wrote:
Actually, this sounds like hardware failure to me - overheating, bad
components, etc. Since this is a fairly new laptop, contact HP tech support
for repair/replacement.

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ

"Malke" <malke@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:uQAnF1QCJHA.1180@xxxxxxSometimes simply putting it on your lap, or on any soft cloth surface, like
a table cloth can block the cooling vents and allow the system to overheat.
It's worth checking out. There is very little air clearance beneath most
laptops. I use a fan driven cooler base on mine, even when it's on my lap.
While it wasn't acting up, it definitely ran warmer than I was comfortable
allowing for long life. Good luck.