How to Fix a Bricked Computer: A Masterost
This post is mainly inspired by the plight of spoonsandnerds, but should be useful to many others as well.
So, you've done it, you've gone and bricked your computer, and the darn thing simply won't boot. Now, this post is going to assume a couple of things. Firstly, we are going to make the assumption that it's due to something software related, and is not due to a hardware problem, because if it is a hardware problem, then you'll have to find someone who can fix it, unless you happen to know how to fix hardware. Also, we are going to assume that you have no knowledge of computer programming, because if you did, you could probably fix your computer on your own without my help, also, I'm not a coder, I'm just a computer nerd who's picked up a few things here and there. Also, this post is going to assume that more than anything, you just want the darn thing to work, and don't really care if we have to install an OS other than Windows if we have to, because if you just use your computer for internet things and basic office tasks like writing, spreadsheets, and all of that, a free operating system like a Linux distro will serve you just fine, but hopefully we won't get to that point.
Now, first, try to get to the Windows Startup Repair, as detailed here:
http://www.howtogeek.com/173828/what-to-do-when-windows-wont-boot/
Assuming that for whatever reason you get stuck and can't get Windows Startup Repair to work, or can't recover, refresh or reinstall Windows, the next step is to ensure that your computer is in proper working order. Look up your model of computer on how to preform a hardware test, it is sometimes lumped together in a menu along with the BIOS and boot options. Assuming that your computer passes all the tests with flying colors, but Windows is completely toast, and you don't have external recovery media such as a recovery flash drive or a Windows installation disk, or the recovery drive on your computer has failed, then the best hope for getting your computer working without forking over the money to buy another copy of Windows is Linux.
Linux has a wide range of distributions to pick from, and it can be difficult to know what to go with, but try to find one that is based on Ubuntu, if not Ubuntu itself. This will ensure that you get the best support that you can, as Ubuntu and it's derivatives are more non-programmer friendly that some other distros that are not based on Ubuntu. I personally recommend the following:
elementary - has a very Mac-like interface, very fast and light on it's feet on pretty much any hardware. Also very sparse in terms of preinstalled programs
Mint- Has a very Windows XP feel to it, and is easy to use for those who like the way Windows is laid out. Offers a selection of editions to choose from that all have slight differences in the look and feel of the menus. Also allows you to buy installation CDs from them
http://www.linuxmint.com/
if you want to buy install CDs or USB flash drives instead of making your own, you can do so here (you can get here from the mint site under Download -> Buy CD's) A CD is about $6, an $15 for a flash drive, which I find more useful considering the lack CD drives on most computers (US is what is shows for me, it may vary depending on region)
https://www.osdisc.com/products/linux/linuxmint
if you want to create the live USB yourself, with a flash drive or DVD that you have lying around, you'll need access to a working computer, so download both the Linux distro that you want to use, (it will be a disk image, aka iso file) and UNetbootin, which will be the program that we'll use to create the live USB. Make sure that you don't have anything that you want to keep on whatever flash drive you use, and that it's at least an 8 gig drive
http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/
Once you've downloaded both those things, follow the onscreen instructions. All you have to do is browse to where you downloaded the the iso file, and browse to the flash drive in the other menu and let it do it's thing. Then you'll have a live USB from which you can use Linux from. At this point, the Linux distro is installed to the flash drive, so when you use it, it won't affect anything in the computer itself until you choose to install it. Get to your computer's boot menu and select the newly created live usb from the list, and you'll boot up into the Linux distro you picked. Install Linux when you're ready and your computer will work just fine!
