laptop wont boot up

hi guys

My lenovo 3000 N100 wont boot up..was working fine when i last switched it off...now when i switch it on...it displays the screen " we are sorry for the inconvenince, but cannot start windows, a recent software or hardware issue could have caused this"......well something like that anyway...it then display a choice to start up normally, last good configuration, safe mode....etc, i select last good configuration, and it goes onto the windows xp loading screen.......and just when you think its gonna go onto the log in page...it goes back to first screen with that message.......any ideas guys, i dont want to reformat as ive got my holiday snaps and coursework on the laptop...please help..

 

ahhh coursework - I hate it when I think I've nearly lost that!

Did your laptop come with a recovery disk? I really want to help so feel free to PM me if you want.

Also, you can try restarting in safe mode (F8 on bootup) and then doing a normal restart from safe mode - this sometimes works also.

 

yes ive got the rescue and recovery cd...trying that as i speak.....it just seems to go through the cd very very slowly..its just got to the point where im choosing to restore the windows op system only...however the optiom i get from the drop down menu is:

"step 2. choose the backup to restore from"...only the local darddrive is highlited...when i select that....the box for "next" is greyed ou and i cant go further....its exactly the same when i choose the rescue and recovery option when not using the recovery cd and using the partioned section on the hard drive..I cannot bootup in safe mode..either..any ideas

how can you tell if the hardrive is gone ?..

 

can you get a boot up cd? this is a special cd with its own operation system (dos if i am not mistaken) which will boot your pc, and also normally they come with a number of diagnostics programs etc to check what is wrong with the computer. and it will certainly let you to see what is on your hard drive - e.g. whether your coursework is still there.

because if you run recovery cd it will restore everything to the factory state which will erase all you data....

 

here is an example of one: hiren boot cd (a good one btw)

 

to be honest i made a rescue and rcovery cd..but dont know how to use it..

 

i thought the whole point of creating a rescue and recovery cd is to allow you repair or fix problems with your laptop..this dvd that i created when i bought it doesnt allow me to do anything...when i go into the restore or repair windows os option...it doesnt allow me click on "next" as its shaded out..its the same if you try and do this from the harddrive as well...looks like a factory restore coming up... ..gonna loose all my files and coursework..