Have had CPU Windows memory crash on laptop.

[Xylem]

My laptops crashed and i cant get onto it because windows has a corrupt file due to memory or something.

Dell didn supply a recovery cd so ive been told i need to pay a good 200$ for data recovery...

Have i been ripped off...
Whats going on with the laptop...
Will my data come back..

Please help im a computer noobie and am scared of losing my data, and getting ripped off..

[ericmalone]

Slow down. The important thing is to write down exactly what you see on your screen. I don't know who told you that you need to pay $200 for data recovery, but they are wrong. My next post will explain further.

[ericmalone]

Alright then. Sounds like your registry may have gotten corrupted, it's a good thing that you didn't have a recovery CD because it probably would have simply formatted your primary partition, deleting any personal data that you might have.

Try this, turn the computer on and hit F8 repeatedly, it should give you a boot menu... select "Last Known Good" configuration and hit enter... report back findings. If it doesn't work, also try safe-mode by hitting F8 after boot and selecting safe-mode.

[ericmalone]

Also, listen to the laptop and report if it is clicking abnormally or not.

[ericmalone]

Also, give more information about your laptop. How old is it? Where did you buy it from? Is it under warranty?

Thanks.

[Xylem]

DAMN!

This is going to sound really stupid now...

Ive already paid 200$ for data recovery (including an external harddrive).

Its in pc world at the mo.

Looks like i have been ripped off though.

[ericmalone]

LOL, it happens. Of course if you are actually getting an external hard drive, the actual cost of the service isn't that much. However, they probably could have just repaired your partition and the hard drive wouldn't be necessary, so they make money on the sale as well.

It didn't take you very long to take it in!

[psionic storm]

i dont mean to sound harsh but if you were really worried about being ripped off why didnt you put an honest effort to record the actual error message and post it, or search for results on the net instead of posting a vague representation of it, waiting 2 hours, and shipping your machine off?

the service they provide is worth this much because you and many others are willing to pay this much instead of making an effort to seek out a cheaper alternative.

[Xylem]

No actually i posted after i had sent it in...

My pc still needs fixing aswell its just they had to extract the data ASAP as i was worried id lose it forever.