Fix PC Boot Problems

PC refusing to start? Nick Peers guides you through the steps you can take to get things working again

There isn’t a single PC problem that isn’t ill-timed, drawing you further and further away from the reason you sat down in front of your computer in the first place. But the most disruptive of them all occurs when your PC suddenly won’t start. It may have been brewing for weeks – a slow accumulation of minor glitches growing in intensity – or maybe it came out of the blue.

Either way, what are you going to do about it? That’s where we come in. If your PC won’t get as far as the Windows logo or even start at all, we’ll investigate everything from loose cables to complete hardware failure. If it’s Windows that’s causing you grief we’ll look at troubleshooting the problem thoroughly, first with the help of Windows’ own repair tools and then with a more powerful – and free – third-party recovery disc.

Finally, for those not already diligently backing up their system using drive-imaging software, we’ll reveal a backup plan that’ll save you time and effort in the future, revealing how to use it to restore your PC to full working order in a fraction of the time it would take to troubleshoot, never mind reinstall Windows from scratch. Enough tittle-tattle, it’s time to get to work restoring your PC to proper working order.

Troubleshoot hardware

If you’re unable to get as far as the Windows loading screen, determine if your PC’s hardware is to blame

Step one of the troubleshooting process is to identify whether your problem is hardware or Windows-related. If your PC powers on, passes its initial checks (known as the POST, or Power On Self Test) and gets as far as the Windows logo before things go wrong, your problem is likely to be related to your Windows installation – turn the page to find out how to diagnose and fix it.