Hello, I'm days out from a final law exam and all of my notes are tied up in my laptop (I'm now acutely aware of the old adage "don't put all of your eggs in one basket") which now insists on crashing. Thus, an expedient response from those of you more tech-minded would be greatly appreciated!
The Problem
I was doing nothing other than typing up a word document when my laptop froze. I restarted it, and it froze at an earlier stage (after entering my password). In the top left corner of the screen a red rectange was appearing. It was bad.
I tried restarting several more times and it would freeze at varying stages - mostly at pasword input and sometimes on making it to the windows desktop.
Attempt at Solution
I started in safe mode. It was fine. Nothing crashed. I was recommended by the start bar to try system restore but as it transpires my system restore has not been enabled and I can't proceed with this.
The Word file I was typing in when it crashed would load in safe mode, short a few pages of notes which I'm assuming is a consequence of it not saving.
I tried again in normal Windows mode and it crashed more or less at the same point - on loading Windows.
I then went back into safe mode and extracted all of my university notes and put them on a flash drive. I then re-entered Windows normally and all is well.
Question
The evidence suggests that the problem is the notes. Does this mean they are "corrupted"? If so, can I fix them? I am heavily dependent on them as they are the collection of a years work which I'm due to be examined on in 5 days. Windows runs smoothly in all respects with them confined to my external flash drive but good God, without these notes I'm a sinking ship.
Is it plausible a corrupted Word file (if indeed it is "corrupted" in the usual sense) can bring Vista crashing down onto its knees? Even when I haven't "loaded" it, and before the desktop even loads itself? If it is, can I fix the file and salvage the notes?
If I've left out any details I'm sorry, please just ask! My future depends on you!
The Problem
I was doing nothing other than typing up a word document when my laptop froze. I restarted it, and it froze at an earlier stage (after entering my password). In the top left corner of the screen a red rectange was appearing. It was bad.
I tried restarting several more times and it would freeze at varying stages - mostly at pasword input and sometimes on making it to the windows desktop.
Attempt at Solution
I started in safe mode. It was fine. Nothing crashed. I was recommended by the start bar to try system restore but as it transpires my system restore has not been enabled and I can't proceed with this.
The Word file I was typing in when it crashed would load in safe mode, short a few pages of notes which I'm assuming is a consequence of it not saving.
I tried again in normal Windows mode and it crashed more or less at the same point - on loading Windows.
I then went back into safe mode and extracted all of my university notes and put them on a flash drive. I then re-entered Windows normally and all is well.
Question
The evidence suggests that the problem is the notes. Does this mean they are "corrupted"? If so, can I fix them? I am heavily dependent on them as they are the collection of a years work which I'm due to be examined on in 5 days. Windows runs smoothly in all respects with them confined to my external flash drive but good God, without these notes I'm a sinking ship.
Is it plausible a corrupted Word file (if indeed it is "corrupted" in the usual sense) can bring Vista crashing down onto its knees? Even when I haven't "loaded" it, and before the desktop even loads itself? If it is, can I fix the file and salvage the notes?
If I've left out any details I'm sorry, please just ask! My future depends on you!
