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Laptop not starting up


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#1
inheritedhornet

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help! i used my laptop this morning then i went to a website. when i went there. a blue screen showed with stuff written. so i shut off the laptop. i turned it back on and after it showed the DELL screen where it says press F2 and F12 for boot menu, it went to a blank page. the whole screen is black and there was a white hyphen. thats it. it wont go any further than that? what can i do?
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#2
Retired Tech

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Start the System Restore tool at a command prompt

1. Restart your computer, and keep tapping F8 during the initial start-up until you get options, select Safe Mode with a Command Prompt then press enter.

2. Log on to your computer with an administrator account or with an account that has administrator credentials.

3. Type the following command at a command prompt, and then press ENTER:

%systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe

4. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen to restore your computer to an earlier state.

Look for the most recent system checkpoint created before the errors to restore from

For additional information about the Safe mode with a command prompt, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

http://support.micro....com/kb/315222/


A description of the Safe mode boot options in Windows XP

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#3
inheritedhornet

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hi. thanks. but i have tried tapping the F8 key aand pressing it but it just wont go any further :whistling:
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#4
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Try tapping F5

If no change, press F2 to enter set up and load BIOS defaults, press F10 to save, type T to confirm then press enter
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#5
inheritedhornet

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how do i load BIOS default?
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#6
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BIOS defaults is an option which should be on the main BIOS set up screen, press F10 to save, type Y to confirm, press enter to reboot
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#7
inheritedhornet

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i dont see a BIOS defaults. i only see something called BIOS version :whistling:
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#8
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What exactly does it show if you keep tapping F2 as the PC starts
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#9
inheritedhornet

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it shows the setup. like this:

a grey screen with blue and black writings

Options are Main, advanced, security, power, boot and exit on top

and Dell, bios version, system date, system time, diskette AA and other stuff below
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#10
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Look on main or advanced using the left / right arrows
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#11
inheritedhornet

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its a dell latidude ls 400 by the way
under main, i see all the stuff i listed above and under advanced, i see I/O device configuration and below it is plug and play O/S, large access mode, external hot key, display device selection and disply mode.
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#12
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You can use this guide to repair XP

Possibly, you will need to press the start button and keep tapping the delete key until the PC enters set up. Change the boot order to CD ROM Drive then hard drive, press F10 then press enter, load the XP CD then type Y then press enter, as it reboots, look for press any key to load from CD, press enter

You will need the XP product key to complete this

If you have audio / video files which are subject to DRM you should check with the provider for known issues with performing an XP repair install


XP Repair Install

Windows XP repair feature won't delete your data, installed programs, personal information, or settings. It just repairs the operating system

After running XP Repair you will need to install all Windows Updates

Microsoft Update
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#13
inheritedhornet

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unfortunately, my laptop has the removeable cd drive. ill try it though

Edited by inheritedhornet, 29 May 2006 - 07:29 PM.

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#14
inheritedhornet

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i took it to my school hub and apparently, the hard drive is broken so ill buy another laptop. thank you so much for your help :whistling:
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#15
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Thank You for letting me know
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