ran registry clean on Dell 2350 with Winxp and computer won't boot

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New here, sorry if this is not the best place for this question. I was trying to help my parents maintain their 2001 Dell. I completed updates and ran the CCleaner clean and registry cleaner, I did save a back up of the registry.

Now the computer won't boot or stay powered more than a minute or so. It will start and show the black and white message that the computer has shut down improperly and do I want to start in safe mode, normally..... If I select safe mode or safe with c prompt I get another screen full of words similar to codes then the computer shuts off. I have also selected to start at a configuration that worked, more lines of words then shut off..

if I select normally then it will run to the windows screen and before completing the boot up it shuts off again - I never get to start menu or past the windows loading screen.

I am able to hit f8 while booting and don't have an option from there to start in safe mode. Also to toggle to f1, f2, and f12 - have not tried f11 - as I have now read that may offer a restore option. Regardless, the comuter turns off within 1 minute before attempting to run.

I have all the initial disks and the reinstall is in the drive but the computer won't power on long enough to run.

I appreciate any suggestions. I am not at the computer so I cannot provide any stats on the Dell deminsion 2350 running win wp

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If you cannot use safe/normal/other modes to load into Windows XP, then it sounds like your MFT has been corrupted, thus failing to fully boot.

It may be easier to backup your documents/pictures/videos & other important things (if you have them) via external USB drive enclosure or similar, then reset Windows.

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It also may be that you have to consider that the machine's disk has reached the end of its life. The power supply may be faulty. Thing is as its quite old now taking it to the local repair shop may not be cost effective although some repair shops would look at it first and give you an idea of the cost.

Getting any ifo off the disk may be tricky unless done from say a linux disc.

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Getting any ifo off the disk may be tricky unless done from say a linux disc.

And a Linux distro can at least burn CDs/DVDs or copy to USB disks to backup stuff which I'd actually do first since a repair shop could end up formatting without backing up files first.

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Thank you for the responses. I am unsure how to actually access anything via usb or other wise as the computer won't stay powered on long enough to access anything. I did copy their files a few months back which now was very smart. Unfortunately the cable modem and router are through this computer and we did not want to re-do at this point but sounds like the easiest choice. Thank you

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I think a Linux Boot CD is the right way to go.

Your computer WILL STAY POWERED regardless of any HDD / Operating system corruption if you use a Boot CD which will load and run a mini Operating System in RAM.

Unless of course your RAM is defective or needs re-seating in its sockets,

or there are serious over-heating issues that cause a shut-down for safety.

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Kim, there are several ways.

- Download Ubuntu & burn it to CD/DVD. Put it in your drive tray, & boot from it. Copy the data by navigating to it & sending it to a flash/external drive.

- Buy an External Drive Bay (be sure it supports whatever your drive is, say, Pata (IDE) or Sata. They have ones that support both. Get a new/spare drive your not using, & install Windows. Then, connect the drive via USB drive bay & copy the files.

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Now, if nothing is wrong with your hardware, Windows is fine.

- Win 95 -> Better to use Win 98 SE

- Win 98 -> Win ME has better driver support & may work better, but some say it crashes more than 98. Great for older DOS games.

- 2000 -> Better to use XP SP2 or greater

- XP -> Good

- Vista -> Better to use 7

- 7 -> Good

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32 or 64 bit?

If you have 3.5 GB RAM or less, 32 Bit can be faster in some things. No worries about unsigned driver problems if things go wrong. More than 3.5, use 64 Bit.

What about other OS options? Which to use?

- Splashtop -> Not for Gaming, but great for fast web access on a netbook.

- Chrome OS -> Web based. Not practical for most users.

- React OS -> Surprisingly great little OS, designed to work like Windows, & support Win Applications. May have bugs, but coming along very nicely, & free to boot! Very quick to install, & probably much faster on Netbooks & low powered devices.

- Ubuntu -> May be more satisfied with Mint, but very stable. Options may be confusing first time using.

If you have problems installing or using Windows due to hardware problem, try Ubuntu. It is very stable. It can work even with bad hardware. May take a 2cd or 3rd try to get it to work on a machine with bad hardware, but it will usually find the problem, & somehow is able to skip the problem area & not bluescreen. No version of Windows/React OS/other OS that I know of will do this. Just Linux based ones.

If your trying for speed, especially on a netbook, probably be better to use React OS.

If your trying for Dos Gaming, don't go higher than Win ME.

If your trying for stability & decent program support, XP SP2 or higher.

Windows 7 is also very stable & sometimes is almost as fast as XP. XP will hang on folders with more than 3 to 5,000 files inside them. I have tested 7 with over 24,000 files in a folder & it still works great on reading it.

Ubuntu/Mint works better on failing hardware. And, if you must, you can use it live without installing, but it may run slow. :)

P.S. Grab a q-tip & lock your case fans & blow them out. Repeat for CPU/GPU/Power Supply fans. Be sure the computer is off & unplugged before you do this. You need to lock the blades, because if you don't, they can over-RPM & get ruined. They also generate electricity when the blades are being spun, so be sure you lock them. No need to backfeed current through your board.

Electric blower works great. I use an electric shop vacuum/blower I got from Lowes years back. It puts out great, & is portable. Very good for dusting a PC. The top part comes out & has a tip to narrow the air coming out, & it is way better than compressed air. Just be sure to do it outside so you don't dust up your whole room.

If you have tons of dust, your PC may be shutting down because of overheating. That, or running ve-r-r-ry slow when it does work.

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Thank you for all the information, i greatly appreciate the help. Made a last attempt today and after many, many shut downs and cleaning out 12 years of dust from the box - no surprise my folks had not maintained this.... for some unknown reason it slowly (10 minutes) came back and booted up apparently fully intact. I was able to backup the few files needed and opted to shut down for good and recycle. Thanks again everyone for the help!

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Glad you had a good result.

Welcome to the forum by the way :)

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Kim, it is so great that you got it running again. Glad it was just the dust.

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Kim, it is so great that you got it running again. Glad it was just the dust.

Yes great he was able to get the files off before sending the computer to that big recycle bin in the sky :)