# Plex Media Server Died. Need help please. **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussions\ **Created:** [October 18, 2016, 11:53pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-media-server-died-need-help-please/163703 "2016-10-18T23:53:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PossumsDad](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/possumsdad/32/11542_2.png) [@PossumsDad](https://forums.plex.tv/u/PossumsDad)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2016, 11:53pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-media-server-died-need-help-please/163703/1 "2016-10-18T23:53:53Z")
I’ve been a Plex Pass member for quite awhile now. So I’ve been running plex for a good while. The hard drive where I kept the Plex database and thumbnails died a quick death today. So Plex crashed and hasn’t run since. I even uninstalled Plex and removed the Plex directories under users/local. I deleted the directories Plex and plex media server. I reinstalled Plex and it still won’t start. I have rebooted several times. I have even shut the computer down & killed power to the machine so it would be a fresh bootup. Still no joy. Nothing shows up in the tray by the clock & if I try to start it by clicking on the icon for Plex Media Server nothing happens. I am running windows 8.1. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. Phil P.S. Wife is not happy. lol ---
**Author:** ![hthighway](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/hthighway/32/82003_2.png) [@hthighway](https://forums.plex.tv/u/hthighway)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 12:00am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-media-server-died-need-help-please/163703/2 "2016-10-19T00:00:59Z")
Are you looking to recover the previous database or start new? If starting new see this support doc on how to completely remove an old install before starting anew [https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201198426-Restart-Plex-Media-Server-Setup-from-Scratch](https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201198426-Restart-Plex-Media-Server-Setup-from-Scratch) ---
**Author:** ![PossumsDad](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/possumsdad/32/11542_2.png) [@PossumsDad](https://forums.plex.tv/u/PossumsDad)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 1:37am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-media-server-died-need-help-please/163703/3 "2016-10-19T01:37:52Z")
Thank you for your help. The registry key is what I was missing. Once that was deleted I was able to install Plex and start over. I am now scanning my libraries. Thank you for your help. Phil ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/2/a/2acb9765406f63293d357b4ec509ec39aa28f2ad.png) [@system](https://forums.plex.tv/u/system)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 10:05pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-media-server-died-need-help-please/163703/4 "2020-01-07T22:05:41Z")