Can't start Windows and can't get into Windows

My computer crashed and had several BSOD, including, I think, an IRQL not less or equal. It all happened right after I stupidly downloaded a minesweeper file.

I tried mashing Shift + F8, and that did nothing. Mashing F8 or F12 (?) do nothing, either.

My screen on startup is black, empty. Nothing. Other options that involve getting into startup from within Windows are off the table, then.

Does your pc give any error codes?

LOL. Looks to me, from his post, that could be difficult to see!

4567654. You could try downloading a "Live" cd and booting up, and seeing if you can spot anything amiss - if you can access the OS at all. But it does look as though it could be computer problem, more than the OS. Perhaps the minesweeper is just a coincidence. Have a look inside and make sure all your boards, particularly memory are secure.

I seem to remember one error code that was something like IRQL not less than or equal...can't remember the exact syntax...

At another point I remember mention of a corrupted image file.

One thing that made me think that the minesweeper download wasn't a coincidence is as soon as I downloaded it, it hijacked my webpages, and make a most unfortunate "blekko" my search engine and home page.

Consider a re-install

jmv2009 said:

Consider a re-install

Click to expand...

So, an update:
For awhile, the OS would actually become visible on startup. Whenever I could get into Windows, I backed up my data and ran a Memtest (nothing, so far as I could tell).

i periodically received different error messages, so I decided to do a re-install. I "upgraded." That looked swell until I started up the computer, got into windows 8, and bam, error message. Since then, the screen is empty on startup every time. I've tried to start up maybe 30 times. Before, startup would work maybe 1 in 5 times or so.

Consider testing with win7 or Linux. You can download free test versions (30 or 90 days) of win7 for free.

This likely is a severe hardware error. Consider replacing hdd, gpu, or memory first. Later the cpu/mainboard

So I couldn't find a free test version of Win7 but I did have a Ubuntu installation DVD lying around, so I put that in my external HD. That actually got the computer to start up, and I played around in a "try ubuntu" mode, before restarting with the win8 installation disc in the EHD, which allowed me to restart and re-install a completely new Win8.

I'd re-installed the various software I use, when my mouse stopped responding. I restarted, nothing on startup, back to square one. The computer doesn't respond now if I place ubuntu install in the EHD. Think it was a coincidence it worked.

Anyway, if I can get back into ubuntu, how would I do diagnostics on hdd, gpu, memory, cpu?

Windows 7 Enterprise | Trial, Evaluation, Test, Download

Make sure you consider yourself a developer or IT worker (I think)