Computer saying 'The installed programme cannot start click ok to shut down'

Question

Ok, so last night was shutting my laptop down and my partner closed the lid down whilst it was doing so, I opened it back up again and the icons were still there, but the screen was grey...left it 10 mins and decided to press the power button as it was not doing anything.

This morning I went to use it, it will not start in safe mode, debugging mode, last known configuration, launch start up windows repair etc....it gets to a windows loading files screen, and then after that comes up with a grey background but with a vista image and a box coming up saying 'The installed programme cannot start. Click ok to shut down.

I've never had any problems with my laptop, no viruses, problems with programmes or anything. Nor have I made any recent changes. Also I have not done anything to 'fix' the problem as such (as I dont know how to and not going to attempt without advice!)

Please Help!!!

Amy

Answer 1

The computer was not shut off properly and that almost certainly damaged or currupted some system files - though it's hard to tell which ones.  It could have also caused some hardware or driver damage, but that's even harder to determine in general and especially in its current condition.  We'll have to take this one step at a time to identify and resolve the problem the simplest way possible.  If you have a genuine Vista Installation Disk, that will work for what we need to do - otherwise if it is a Recovery Disk from the manufacturer (or an OEM installation disk), we'll need to make a Repair Environment Recovery Disk as described below to do these tasks as you have no other access at the moment and the disk should work since the system boots to the disk and not to Vista on the hard drive.

Do you know when this problem began?  Try a System Restore to a point in timeBEFORE the problem began.  Here's the procedure: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/using-windows-vista-system-restore/.  Be sure to check the box to show more than 5 days of restore points.  If the first attempt fails, then try an earlier point or two.  NOTE: You will have to re-install any software and updates you installed between now and the restore point, but you can use Windows Update for the updates.  Use the recovery disk if the system prompt doesn’t work. The recovery disk works a bit different from the above procedures but if you follow the prompts from the System Restore menu option with the above information you should be able to restore with no problems.

If the System Restore doesn't work, do a Startup Repair by booting to the genuine Windows Vista Installation Disk (or one you can borrow from ANYONE) or from a Recovery Disk.  Here's the procedure: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial148.html.  To boot to the CD you may need to change the BIOS to make the CD-drive first in the boot sequence.  To do that, wait for the screen that tells you the F key to push to access the boot menu or boot setup.  Push it quickly. Make the changes, save your work, and exit.  Put the CD in the drive and reboot.  When prompted, push any key to boot from the CD.

If you don't have either disk, you can make a bootable Recovery Disk using http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/windows-vista-recovery-disc-download/ along with burning software like: http://www.snapfiles.com/get/active-isoburner.html and, of course, a blank CD (perhaps made on a different computer or perhaps in safe mode with networking if that is working).

Then let's check some of your system files:

Go to Command prompt on the disk).

If using the disk, cd to C:\Windows\System32. Type sfc /scannow and enter and let it run.  It will scan and try to fix some of your system files.  Hopefully it will complete with no corruption it could not repair (if there is such corruption post back here or try to analyze it to find the problem file(s) using http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928228.  Try to post any corrupted files here so we can see if they can be repaired with good copies from the installation disk (unless there are too many).

While in Command Prompt, type chkdsk /f /r and enter and let it run.  It will want to schedule itself to run at the next restart.   Answer yes and then reboot to run the program (don't reboot to the disk - let it reboot to the hard drive).  It will scan and try to fix any corruption or bad sectors on your hard drive and mostly remove that as a potential cause.

At this point, please reply with results of what you tried and the scans you performed.  Then if none of that resolved the problem (it could - they aren't just tests but also repair procedures), we'll figure out what to try next - though to be honest if that doesn't resolve or at least identify the problem, then the remaining options are limited - but we'll do what we can.

I hope this helps.

Good luck!

---

Lorien - MCSE/MCSA/Network+/A+ --- If this post helps to resolve your issue, please click the "Mark as Answer" or "Helpful" button at the top of this message. By marking a post as Answered, or Helpful you help others find the answer faster.