Probably, it is not necessary to explain that situations when the computer does not boot are quite common. The reasons for this could be myriad. Now we will try to figure out why such situations arise and how to deal with them. Let's consider desktop computers, not laptops, although in some cases the methods for solving the problem can be very similar.

Causes of download problems

First of all, in the question of why the computer does not boot, you need to understand that among the main reasons there are two main reasons: physical damage to the components of the computer system and software failure (in this case, Windows).

Both of these can cause serious problems. Consider the most basic causes of failures and figure out how to eliminate the consequences.

Consequences of physical impact

As for the damage to physical components, for starters, you should pay attention to the initial stage of booting the PC. Probably everyone knows that when turned on, the system unit makes a characteristic sound (one-time squeak). This indicates that all the "iron" components are in order. True, this is not always the case. The fact is that the failure of the hard drive is determined only after the start (the system does not see it).

Sometimes the system speaker may emit short and long beeps. Now that's worse. This can only mean one thing - some component does not work, is out of order, or is simply not connected to the motherboard correctly. For different BIOS versions, the signals may be different. But all of them may indicate violations in the operation of the RAM, video card, central processor, etc. In some cases, the signal may be absent altogether.

In this case, it is recommended to remove the panel of the system unit and check if all the components are connected to the "motherboard". It may well be that the device does not work due to failure, but because the corresponding cable is damaged. Naturally, it is not possible to determine such a malfunction yourself, so you will have to contact specialists.

Often there are cases when the computer does not boot even when turned on. There may be good reasons for that too. It is very likely that there is simply no power supply. It is worth checking the outlet or "uninterruptible". Sometimes when you turn on a large number of electrical appliances in an extension cord, protection and much more can work. You can check the battery that is installed on the motherboard. It may very well be that after replacing it, turning on and loading the computer will go on as usual. Often no one pays attention to this, nevertheless, the fact remains.

In general, you should immediately check all cables, sockets, extension cords, etc. Maybe this is really the reason. That is why it turns out that nothing starts, nothing loads, the computer is black and does not show any signs of life.

Crash system

Of course, you can replace the hardware, but the situation with the OS itself is much worse, because no one obviously wants to reinstall the system, format the hard drive or partitions, which will entail data loss.

There are just a lot of reasons for Windows to “crash”: a sudden power outage, incorrect shutdown or shutdown, software failure, viruses, hard drive damage, etc. The list is endless.

As for the physical damage to the hard drive, the severity of the problem can only be determined after a complete testing of the surface and contacts. If it burned out, you understand, you will have to fork out for a new one, there's nothing you can do about it. If the damage is minor, you can try to restore the damaged sectors. This will be discussed a little later.

Basic methods of correcting the situation

As it is already clear, in terms of hardware failure, when the computer does not boot, the black screen hangs constantly, the system unit does not make a sound, the solution will be a complete test of all components. It is very possible that reconnecting or replacing some of them will clarify the problem.

It is worth noting that in some cases, when the system does not detect the hard drive, the most banal situation may appear. In the BIOS, the first boot priority can be, say, a CD / DVD / ROM, the second device is a USB drive, etc. It is clear that when media of this type is inserted, the system will display a message stating that this is not a system disk.

It also happens that the computer does not boot from the disk with the Windows installation distribution. Here you have to check the disk itself. It may very well have some scratches or other damage. By the way, maybe the drive itself is damaged and simply does not work.

Now a few words about how to fix the situation when the computer does not boot, Windows 7 does not start, and in general it seems that nothing can be done.

Let's just say: do not despair and panic. Bill Gates is not stupid at all. Creating his system, he left loopholes for restoring the performance of "OSes", and today there are quite a few methods that allow you to quickly and effectively apply measures that can, so to speak, breathe new life into the system. The most common problems and methods for their elimination will be described below from the point of view of the Windows program shell.

Loading Last Known Good Configuration and System Restore

As a rule, even after very serious errors in the operation of Windows 7, as they say, it does not just give up. On reboot (if everything is OK with the boot records), it is tested, and then in most cases a message is displayed about the possible boot options, including loading the last known good configuration.

This happens because the system, as it were, remembers its last working state and offers to go to it, bypassing all the changes made before. It helps 90% of the time. However, it also happens that the computer does not boot even if Windows is self-healing, and the user eventually receives a message stating that such a configuration could not be loaded.

The same goes for using System Restore, which may be offered when Windows starts. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't. In principle, both services are very similar. In this state of affairs, more effective measures will have to be taken.

Safe mode

Many users, when faced with a problem, for example, when the computer does not boot after updating Windows 7, clearly underestimate the benefits of safe mode, but it allows you to access a fully functional system and fix many software errors.

To boot into safe mode after the system starts, press and hold the F8 key. When the system boots, we can deal with our problem. In this case, you can check all the "iron" components for operability and the availability of appropriate drivers, run a disk check for errors, and finally start restoring the system.

System Restore

First of all, using the control panel, you need to go to the "Backup and Restore" section. It can also be accessed from the main Start menu under All Programs/Services. Here you need to select a checkpoint (the last one created or one of those that are on the list) and start the process itself. Of course, this can take a lot of time, but if you don’t want to reinstall, you will have to be patient.

Now let's say that after the updates, the computer does not boot. In the same control panel, if you go to "Windows Update", you can view the update log, in which, in fact, you will need to remove everything that was installed before the "collapse" of the system, no matter whether these updates were installed automatically or in manual mode.

In many cases, this approach allows you to revive Windows without resorting to more serious methods that not every user will be able to handle.

Using the Recovery Console

If the above method does not work, you will have to use other methods. One of the most effective and radical methods in the case when the computer does not boot is to use the recovery console, which is available either on the installation or on the Windows 7 emergency recovery disk.

To use such disks, of course, in the BIOS, you should make the appropriate settings for the boot priority, indicating CD / DVD-ROM in the list first.

The boot menu will show the welcome screen "Welcome To Setup", after which you will need to press the "R" key to go directly to the console (command line). It is worth considering that if more than one “OS” is installed on the computer, folders with files will be shown first, and then a request will follow which system the user wants to work with. Now you just need to enter the number corresponding to the number of the selected system. This may be followed by a prompt to enter an administrator password, provided that one is available. Now about commands. What and how to enter and why to use, we will now figure it out.

Restoring the boot file Boot.ini

As a rule, one of the reasons for the “crash” of the system is damage to the boot file Boot.ini, which is responsible for booting the system. To restore it, almost all systems use a tool called Bootcfg. Bootcfg / Rebuild is entered at the command line (not counting other tools for scanning its entries, redirecting an action, adding identifiers, etc.). It seems that, in addition to the main recovery command, the average user does not need anything else.

Restoring the Master Boot Record

The master boot record contains tables of all logical partitions on the hard drive. The so-called primary loader places the active and boot sectors in the tables, after which, in fact, the system starts. If the boot record is damaged, the active sector will simply not be able to start the system.

For recovery in this case, the Fixmbr command is used, after which the composite name of the disk or partition is entered. For drive C, the command will look like Fixmbr\Device\HardDisc0.

Recovery of the boot sector of the hard drive

The boot sector is a small partition on a hard drive for storing data in FAT32 or NTFS file systems for booting. In case of damage, the Fixboot \ c: recovery command is used (provided that the "OS" was installed on drive C).

Quick System Reinstall

Again, consider the situation when, after updating Windows 7, the computer does not boot, and the system simply does not want to start. In extreme cases, you can apply the so-called quick reinstallation of the system to the same folder where the previous OS was installed. In some cases, this may fix errors.

After starting the system from the disk, a license agreement window will appear. You can agree to the terms by pressing the F8 key, after which you will be prompted to select an installation method. The "R" key - restore the existing version, Esc - cancel the restore and go to a new installation. In most cases, recovery proceeds without problems.

Virus check

Now a few words about another unpleasant situation when the system does not start and the computer does not boot. The black screen may be the result of the spontaneous action of viruses that either prevent the system from booting or modify boot records.

In this case, it is recommended to use utilities such as Kaspersky Rescue Disc or Dr. Web Rescue Disc. As is already clear, such programs start directly from the optical disc, but, most interestingly, they are loaded even before the start of Windows. They have a graphical interface, so working with them is not difficult. It should be noted that in 99.99% of cases such applications remove even those viruses that are simply impossible to remove using standard scanners installed in the system. After all, they can “hang” even in RAM. At the end of the check, the computer terminal is restarted, and, hooray, the system works again as if nothing had happened.

Conclusion

So we considered the question of what to do if the computer does not boot. It seems that some solutions to this problem will be useful to many users. Of course, right away like this, on the fly, it’s quite difficult to say why the computer or “OS” does not boot. But if you conduct a comprehensive test and find out the cause of the problems, then you can choose the most appropriate method for correcting the situation.