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I need help with my computer

I just got a new graphics card for my computer, and for the first couple of days, it worked. Yesterday, my brother bought battlefield 3, and being the addict he is, played it for 12 hours straight. The next day, I turned on my computer and i get a black screen with white letters:
Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause.
If windows files have been damaged or configured incorrectly, Startup Repair can help diagnose and fix the problem. If power was interrupted furing startup, choose start windows normally.
(Use the arrow keys to highlight your choice)

Launch startu p repair (recommended)
Start Windows normally

Starting windows normally doesn't work, but when I choose Launch startup repair, it says I need a Windows installation disc and states

Status: 0xc000000f

Info: The boot selection failed because a required devicec is inaccesible.
Then, I got a system repair disc from this laptop, and when I used it, it said "If you have recently attached a device to this computer, such as a camera or portable music player, remove it and restart your computer. If you continue to see this message, contact your system administrator or computer manufacturer for assistance.

Does anyone know how to fix this problem, or do I just have to uninstall my new graphics card?

December 30, 2011

3 Comments • Newest first

BobR

One other thing I forgot to list before- open the computer and check the cables connecting the hard drive to the motherboard and power supply.
If you bumped either of those when installing the video card it's possible one of them may be loose either at the end that plugs into the hard drive or at the other end, and is preventing the hard drive from working.
It may have come loose just enough after your brother played to keep the computer from from booting up.
Push the cables in to make sure they're tightly seated in their connectors, then try booting it up again.

Normally you hit F2 or F1 (sometimes DELete) just after you turn the computer on and it should go into the BIOS setup screens.

Then usually under the "Advanced" tab there should be a menu choice for SATA devices, if you cursor down to that line (the mouse doesn't work in the BIOS screens) and hit Enter there, it should show you a list of the SATA drives the computer can see connected.

If the hard drive shows up there, it means the electronics in the drive are working and the computer can see it, so there's a possibility the hard drive is still working.
If the hard drive isn't on the list, it's probably dead.

I didn't understand what you meant about a "psp charger" being connected... what was that about, and where was it connected..?

Reply December 31, 2011
lordpentt

[quote=BobR]You know the graphics card is working, since you can read the screen.
The video drivers wouldn't be the problem because they don't come into play until after Windows is loaded.

The suspicious part of the error messages is the one that says boot selection failed because a required device is inaccessible.
That sounds like hard drive failure.

Do you have any external devices connected..? Like a USB flash drive or external hard drive..?
If so, try unplugging everything except your keyboard and mouse and trying to boot it up again.

Try starting into the BIOS setup screens and look at your SATA drives. Can you see the C: drive (hard drive) listed..?

Startup repair might be able to fix the boot sector if that's the problem, but only if you have your Windows installation disc.

You could try removing the video card just to eliminate it as the source of the problem, but it's pretty unlikely.[/quote]

well, I have a psp charger in it, but I took that out and it didn't work =/

and how would I start up into the BIOS thing?

I can't do ANYTHING, the only screen from when I hit the power button is the error screen

Reply December 30, 2011
BobR

You know the graphics card is working, since you can read the screen.
The video drivers wouldn't be the problem because they don't come into play until after Windows is loaded.

The suspicious part of the error messages is the one that says boot selection failed because a required device is inaccessible.
That sounds like hard drive failure.

Do you have any external devices connected..? Like a USB flash drive or external hard drive..?
If so, try unplugging everything except your keyboard and mouse and trying to boot it up again.

Try starting into the BIOS setup screens and look at your SATA drives. Can you see the C: drive (hard drive) listed..?

Startup repair might be able to fix the boot sector if that's the problem, but only if you have your Windows installation disc.

You could try removing the video card just to eliminate it as the source of the problem, but it's pretty unlikely.

Reply December 30, 2011 - edited