Ok, I'm not that PC savvy, but I need some help! Our PC crashed and I'm afraid we will loose all our data. Not sure if we got a virus or what? Here's what happened:
My husband has created and maintained several small websites using FrontPage. He was updating a site with FrontPage, and creating a link on that page to another page he created. He clicked on the link to verify that it would open a new page, and it did. When he closed the page, a bunch of new tabs started opening on Internet Explorer, the same page that he had created a link to. They would not stop, and then it finally froze. The only way to shut down was to manually hold in the power button to turn it off. He attempted to turn it back on, and it got to the screen where it gave the options to open in safe mode, last known good configuration, etc.
If we choose the last known good configuration, it goes right to the Windows Loading screen, and the blue bar goes back and forth, then the screen turns black like it's going to load, but the PC turns off and then restarts on its own.
If we choose any of the other options (i.e. safe mode), it shows rows and rows of the same message (like MSDOS? Remember, I’m not too computer savvy!) and then it just turns off and restarts on its own.
I’m not sure if this is a virus or maybe a corrupt windows file (that’s what the guy at best buy said)? There have been no recent software or hardware installations, and we have Norton anti-virus that runs regular checks. I have checked other threads on here, but all of the solutions provided only work if you can start in safe mode. If we have to re-install Wondows, how can we make sure we don’t loose all our data? We have tons of pictures, videos, recorded music (my husband is a musician and does some home recording), websites we have created and thousands of hours of work into some of these things. Best Buy said it could be up to $500 to fix, plus the $70 just to have them look at it.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help!!!

Best Buy said it could be up to $500 to fix, plus the $70 just to have them look at it.

thats outrageous!!
get a winxp cd and boot to recover console ,hit "R " for repair ,hit 1 to chose c:/windows, hit enter if asked for admin password,
at the prompt, type in this with out the"".
CHKDSK /R, note there is a space between K and /.
this should fix the corrupt windows files ,witch is most likely the problem giving the way you had to shut down

If you dont have a winXP cd please give me a call or email and let me know where you live and i could help

Thanks jeremy lyon
0433954680
jeremy.lyon@live.com.au

Ok, I'm not that PC savvy, but I need some help! Our PC crashed and I'm afraid we will loose all our data. Not sure if we got a virus or what? Here's what happened:
My husband has created and maintained several small websites using FrontPage. He was updating a site with FrontPage, and creating a link on that page to another page he created. He clicked on the link to verify that it would open a new page, and it did. When he closed the page, a bunch of new tabs started opening on Internet Explorer, the same page that he had created a link to. They would not stop, and then it finally froze. The only way to shut down was to manually hold in the power button to turn it off. He attempted to turn it back on, and it got to the screen where it gave the options to open in safe mode, last known good configuration, etc.
If we choose the last known good configuration, it goes right to the Windows Loading screen, and the blue bar goes back and forth, then the screen turns black like it's going to load, but the PC turns off and then restarts on its own.
If we choose any of the other options (i.e. safe mode), it shows rows and rows of the same message (like MSDOS? Remember, I’m not too computer savvy!) and then it just turns off and restarts on its own.
I’m not sure if this is a virus or maybe a corrupt windows file (that’s what the guy at best buy said)? There have been no recent software or hardware installations, and we have Norton anti-virus that runs regular checks. I have checked other threads on here, but all of the solutions provided only work if you can start in safe mode. If we have to re-install Wondows, how can we make sure we don’t loose all our data? We have tons of pictures, videos, recorded music (my husband is a musician and does some home recording), websites we have created and thousands of hours of work into some of these things. Best Buy said it could be up to $500 to fix, plus the $70 just to have them look at it.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help!!!

you have to get a windows xp cd and boot the computer from cd. wait a few minutes to setup loading files then press Enter key and wait. press F8 key. you should see the version of windows installed on your system. in this screen you have to press R key. repairing windows has started to work. then wait for deleting some windows files files, checking the windows, copying new files and restarting the windows. after restarting wait for system boot from hard drive. the second part of setup is started. you have to wait for a few minutes to see the first window. click on Next button, enter a name and click Next button, enter the serial number of windows labled on the cd or cd pack. if canc not find it use this serial: H6TXY-698M6-BPF4K-32P94-CJX73
click Next button and if time and date options is not correct change and correct it. click Next button and wait for another window to display the network options. do not change this options and click next twice.
wait for restarting the system. when system starts eject the cd and wait for windows loading. in the first time using windows you have to set some options like automatic update (choose no), registering with microsoft (choose no), building accounts (one acount is recommended. for building accounts you can enter account name in the textbox). click Next button and click Finish button and enjoy your repaired windows xp.
exuseme for my bad english.
if you need help can email to me.
arminkhozeyfi@yahoo.com and arminkhozeyfi@gmail.com

Thank you all so much for your help! I have a Compaq, and it has the PC Recovery (which I read will do the same thing as using the disks to repair and/or reformat windows) but before I run it I get a warning that it will back up all my data, but not my applications. Does this mean that it won't keep like iTunes, or Kodak, for example? And if these are gone, will it also delete all the picture files and music files? I'm so scared that I'm going to loose things!

Thank you all so much for your help! I have a Compaq, and it has the PC Recovery (which I read will do the same thing as using the disks to repair and/or reformat windows) but before I run it I get a warning that it will back up all my data, but not my applications. Does this mean that it won't keep like iTunes, or Kodak, for example? And if these are gone, will it also delete all the picture files and music files? I'm so scared that I'm going to loose things!

don't run the recovery ,or yes you will lose all the items you mentioned .
you need to get a regular winxp disk ,borrow one from a friend to run the Repair i mention in my other post

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.