S.O.S. – Save (My) Operating System

Anyone who has owned a computer has at one time or another experienced this.

You turn on your computer, your splash screen comes on and your computer looks like it is starting up normally, then suddenly, you see these words, Windows failed to start, what can you do?

The first reaction is always to choose start Windows normally, and you hold your breath. If you’re lucky, Windows will start, but what if it won’t?

My son recently had that happen, and when he asked me to look at this for him, to see if I can save his files for him, I asked him how long it had been like this? The response I got was “oh for the last 2 months.” In all fairness my son has had this computer for a little while, but I was still intrigued at seeing what the problem was, and a little disappointed it took so long to ask me, but I was able to finally get it to my house to hook it up and have a look.

I got to the point where I received the message that Windows failed to start, so I chose to launch the Windows start up repair. This lasted for about 15 minutes, then popped up the screen that Windows would need to restart to complete the repair, and so I rebooted the computer.

To my joy and surprise, Windows booted to the login prompt on his computer, and once I received his login password, it loaded the desktop. I proceeded to download and install Malwarebytes, to run a malware scan to be safe.

I found 1253 items and removed them all from the system. I then cleared out a TEMP folder, which Microsoft hides by default, and deleted the Internet cache. By now the computer is responding in a reasonable fashion, and I can emphatically deem the computer now stable, and not at risk of repeating the scenario that my son recently had.

It is not unreasonable for someone to think that their computer may give up the ghost, but before you jump to the worst case scenario, get the opinion of a professional technician who can best determine what the next course of action will be for your technological dilemma.

In this day and age, we save almost everything to our technology devices, so when 1 of them threatens your precious memories, make sure your first call is to an IT professional and feel safe in the knowledge that if anything can be done to retrieve your data, we will know what needs to be done.

This process is just as likely to happen in a work environment as it is a home one, and at Mantralogix, we have the tools and the experience to help you to be reunited with your cherished memories, or that crucial report that can’t seem to be retrieved from your computer. Give us a call and we will get you back on the road to productivity in no time.