hi everyone

my gateway laptop crashes whenever i copy a file. it has issues and only opens in safe mode - it stops in the middle of booting in normal mode. i have about 20gb worth of unbacked files there, most of that pictures, and want to get them off before i do a total system restore and reset it to factory settings.
however, when i try to copy a file larger than 5 mb, the whole thing will freeze. then it will flash to a black screen with the words 'safe mode' on the bottom and just stay there forever. i can copy smaller files fine, like all of my notepad and word files and even smaller photos. but anything over 5 mb just kills the system.
its beyond ridiculous, its like catch-22: can't wipe the comp until i get my files off, cant get the files off bc camp has to be wiped to work. is there something i can do, fiddle around with some settings or something, just to copy my files off? i think that the memory overload just kills the system - its not the copying that is the issue but rather that when something is too big, its too much for my laptop to handle. can i do something about that?
many thanks for your help.

You need to tell us more about your laptop to complete the picture and assess your theories.

Disk size?
Size of logical volumes (e.g. C:, D: )?
Free space?
RAM?

Also you can take the HDD out, put it into a USB enclosure and get your files copied off via another PC.

Ur computer may be affected by virus.. Run a antivirus software and check for any virus .. Mostly viruses are the causes for system crashing

You probably have a virus, probably the easiest thing you can do is use a ubuntu live cd to boot your system into ubuntu and copy the files to somewhere else without any issues.

You can download ubuntu onto another computer, burn it to cd and then run the os straight off the cd, without installing or changing anything. Transfer all your files to another disk and then format your hard drive and re-install windows.

Can the newbies STOP assuming a virus the minute someone has an issue! Given that the OP has a cheap-ass system, which likely suffers from memory issues or even HW failures, stop imputing with obvious inexperience!

@mushcroom - little we can do without info which has already been requested.

As he was going to format and re-install anyway he could simply copy the files and start over, saving everyone a load of time. Virus or not.

And in the mean-time would never learn why he had this issue in the first place, meaning he could easily find himself in the same situation a little way down the track; again with out a clue as to what to do about it!

As to this "saving everyone a load of time" business; if you don't want to spend time helping someone out beyond "best to re-install" (a worst-case solution at best), then bugger off an leave it to those willing to volunteer a little more of their time. At worst the OP learns a few more things about their system, and at best they figure out how to solve the issue and know how to manage the problem in future!

Hello there,

Your beggining to sound upset now.
As an initial step try to do a system restore first.
Try to copy it from safemode.
Try diabling all start-up items to save on memory.
Try updating the BIOS.

Let me know if any of these help and I'll try to find another solution for you.

Will ppl STOP suggesting the disabling of ALL start-up items. This would include the disabling of critical start-up utilities and processes. Are you trying to kill his system?

Updating BIOS is not for the inexperienced, and in some cases will void the user's warranty.

You said in another thread that system recovery must be a last resort. System restore is one of the system recovery options.

So is consitency an option for you to consider?