Member Avatar for kirstyh

Hi,

I have recently been having a few issues with my Toshiba laptop. It is about 5yrs old and rund on Vista, and recently is won't turn on, and all I see is a black screen with a white cursor. I have tried running sc /scannow from the task manager, but this only brings up a box, which just flashes and then disappears. Internet explorer was also doing the same thing, flashing up and then disappearing, even from the task manager. The system error scan that it offers when restarting does nothing, and it ususally takes about four attempts to get it to turn on.

Also, the internet toolbar at the bottom of the screen (with the start button etc) keeps freezing and having to be restarted, someimes five or six times per hour, as restarting often does not work, and sometimes it just disappears completely.

Any ideas on how to fix any of this?

Thanks!

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by johhny-marshal

Dani AI

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A short, practical checklist for readers who hit the same symptoms described by (black screen with a white cursor, Explorer/taskbar instability, and intermittent boots) — this focuses on protecting data first, then isolating hardware vs. software causes.

Prioritize a verified image of the system drive before doing repair writes. Boot a rescue/imaging USB and save a full disk image or copy critical files to an external drive — this makes later repair or replacement safe. (rescuezilla.com)

Power and basic hardware checks next: remove all external devices, try a flea‑power reset (remove battery if possible, unplug AC, hold power for ~15–30s), then boot. If the system still fails to POST or is intermittent, run the vendor/hardware preboot diagnostics (or the equivalent built into many laptops). These simple power/drain steps often recover machines stuck in odd states. (upgrade-my-laptop.com)

If the laptop powers on but Windows is unstable, test RAM and the disk from bootable tools. Run a full memory test (MemTest86) to rule out faulty DIMMs, and run a bootable drive/SMART test (SeaTools or vendor tool) to check for bad sectors or SMART warnings. Replace failing RAM or a drive that reports SMART errors — those both cause freezes, explorer crashes, and boot problems. (memtest86.com)

If hardware looks healthy, repair the Windows boot and filesystem from the Recovery Environment (use Startup Repair first; then Command Prompt if needed). From WinRE you can run these commands (only from the recovery prompt):

bootrec /FixMbr
bootrec /FixBoot
bootrec /RebuildBcd
chkdsk C: /f /r

Those commands rebuild the boot records and scan/fix disk errors; follow the official guidance for details and order of operations. If repairs fail or tests show hardware faults, replacing the drive (or the laptop) is the pragmatic next step — which is what chose for time reasons. (support.microsoft.com)

If diagnostics show nothing obvious but instability continues, capture Event Viewer logs (when you can boot) and consider a clean image restore or professional diagnostics.

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Member Avatar for dr_Terminal

hey;

did you scan ur computer with an anti-virus program? like AVG or Kaspersky? if you cant see Desktop try to open windows in safe mode and save ur data. if this will not solve ur problem , back up ur data and install Windows 7 Ultimate. vista sucks. very bad operating system .

Member Avatar for kirstyh

It has Norton which scans every week/fortnight and has not shown any viruses etc for the last month or so. Everything is backed up as it has been playing up for a while, so I got a bit paranoid (in middle of writing dissertation). Vista has been fine for the last 5 years, only recently that it has started playing up; wondering if it is more the age of the laptop than anything?

Thanks for replying :)

Member Avatar for dr_Terminal

you may not see any problem on vista but it is really sucks. even bill gates agree on that :) if everything is backed up , dont wait go and install windows 7 :) but if you persist in vista; you need to recover your computer with recovery cd. or press' F11 or sth like that on start up..

Member Avatar for caperjack

Unrelated almost .

I don't understand the vista sucks comment ,we have Vista running on a laptop ,3yrs old same install ,burns and converts dvd movies and anything else we throw at it ,so what problems are we suppose to be having with it !and it runs almost 24/7 for the past 3yrs

Edited by caperjack because: just to add a bit more info
Member Avatar for caperjack

if you have everything backed up i would suggest running the recover and getting it back to factory isntall
you can use the zero key on bootup to get to the recovery

Edited by caperjack because: change info
commented: better solution IMHO +8
Member Avatar for dr_Terminal

caperjack ;

can you tell me why microsoft released windows 7 just 1 year after vista? it was so slow and it has too many problems with applications. i am not meanin' all vista operating systems have same errors. but this is true.

Edited by dr_Terminal because: meaning
Member Avatar for kirstyh

Thanks for the help guys! I've just given up and bought a new laptop - seemed like the easiest solution! xx

Member Avatar for lilit.migoryan

I need help mine won't turn on at all even when I press the button and it has ful charge

Member Avatar for johhny-marshal

Yes that was the best option you just chose. Congratulations !

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