PC Won't Start or Connect

Just tried my XP laptop. Suddenly it wont connect to network. Adaptor D-Link seems OK. Won't connect to websites and says "Server Not Found". No bars in tray.
Tried W7 laptop. Won't even start after 4-5 tries. Comes on but windows won't load. Running repair. Wants to run system restore. Is this a good move? I cancelled Restore for now. Startup repair unable to repair. Will stop and try later. Always worked fine up to now. But the XP suddenly works again. Suddenly means I did nothing to cause it to work. Verizon internet. Verizon is fast becoming not my favorite. Don't recall having so much difficulty with TV captions, internet, and Verizon stuff. Don't dare complain for don't believe they care and cancelling would cause me trouble when not even sure what cause may be. will try again later.

 

Regarding the symptoms on the W7 laptop:

That could be the hard drive failing. If you have your data backed up, then allow the start up repair to attempt the repairs 3 times. Reason being, the start up repair may not work the first time (but 3 times is enough to give up on it). After that, we can go from there if that doesn't help.

Also: Let us know if the start up repair says "Checking disk for errors".

 

The XP is working now. The W-7 is not. Tried repair 3 times and could not repair. Trying a system restore now. That laptop is only D.O.P 6/2012 and hasnt been used that much. How could a hard drive go bad??? Anyway, will see how system restore goes.

 

Remember, I said it could be going bad. If not, there's some corruption in W7. If the System Restore fails, don't try another just yet, because system restore has a glitch in which it says it failed, but it actually didn't. This glitch occurs about 30% of the time. So, if the system doesn't boot after the system restore, I'll let you know of your next step.

 

System restore to the 1st restore point several days ago failed. There are more restore points. This computer is a Dell Inspiron M5040 . Not used all that much for mostly i use the XP Gateway. I tried unplugging and plugging back in the router to see if it made a difference in the XP with external adapter but that one seems OK now. What is best thing to do with the Dell if System Restore won't work?

 

Unfortunately, you're now getting close to having to do a factory restore. Here's the final attempts:

1) At the startup repair, let it run through then choose Advanced Options (or whatever way to get into the Command Prompt). At the command prompt type c: and press enter. Type sfc /scannow and press enter. Note the space between the c and the /.

2) After the system file checker completes, type in chkdsk /f and press enter. When that completes, shutdown and restart the computer.

3) If it goes back to the startup repair, let it run through. If it fails try one more restore point (the one just prior to the one you tried).

If all of that doesn't work, you'r going to have to a factory restore.

 

Thank the Lord I do not yet have to do any of this. After a second system restore failed it finally rebooted and windows started as usual. Nothing like this has ever happened to me in 20 years of computers and 7 computers and all of the others are still working but old. Have no idea what caused this but both are working fine as usual now.
I assume factory restore puts in the same condition as first purchased, is this correct?

 

Yes that's correct.

Remember, about 30% of the time System Restore will say it has failed, but upon restart, the system restore didn't actually fail and the system will boot normally.

 

Could this be one of these things I see in News where hacking is causing computer upset all around the world recently????
If so, what can I download to protect against it as they advise, if anything?

 

No, it wasn't caused by a ransomware infection. Have a look at this recent thread:

https://computerhelpforums.com/thre...-crypton-ransomware-family.50403/#post-202235

I mentioned a program in that thread that helps to protect against that type of infection. I'll download it tonight and post a new thread on how it goes.