Thanks for your reply. I already tried running diags, but the screen just displayed vertical lines after a few seconds. anyway, I have managed to resolve the issue.  The problem was due to a bad memory card. thanks again 
I have not used the laptop for quite a while. System booted OK and all was good, so decided to do install Windows Updates. System booted a few times OK during the updates. System powered off, presumably after the updates had completed. Now I am unable to successfully boot the system.. Receive message ""Your PC Couldn't start properly", then after approx 1 min, the screen displays vertical lines and powers off. I've tried booting in Safe Mode with similar results I've also tried re-installing Windows from CD, but after a few seconds, the display shows vertical lines, then powers off after a while. All was good before installing the Windows Updates. I do not understand how windows update could result in this catastrophic situation Would appreciate any help/advice on how to resolve this.
M14x R2, unable to boot after Windows updates