Jump to content

Welcome to Geeks to Go - Register now for FREE

Need help with your computer or device? Want to learn new tech skills? You're in the right place!
Geeks to Go is a friendly community of tech experts who can solve any problem you have. Just create a free account and post your question. Our volunteers will reply quickly and guide you through the steps. Don't let tech troubles stop you. Join Geeks to Go now and get the support you need!

How it Works Create Account
Photo

Bad startup problems


  • Please log in to reply

#1
fireguy28

fireguy28

    Member

  • Member
  • PipPip
  • 41 posts
Hi I am unable to even get past the boot screen

I have a DELL XPS gen 2 running windows XP

i recently changed my internal battery and didnt use my PC for a couple months but now once i tried to start it, it wont go past the boot screen.....i cant even start up in safe mode! Please help
  • 0

Advertisements


#2
Ztruker

Ztruker

    Member 5k

  • Technician
  • 7,091 posts
What happens when you try to boot then?

What do you mean by boot screen?

Try this:

1. Power off the computer
2. Remove the power cord
3. Open the case and remove the CMOS battery (the one you replaced)
4. Press and hold the power switch for 10 seconds so all residual power is drained
5. Put the CMOS battery back in
6. Plug the power cord back in
7. Power up

You should get a BIOS error message and a Press F1 to continue, F2 to enter Setup message. Press F2 then set the date and time and make sure you hard drive and CD/DVD drive show up as being present.

Save the changes and boot, see what happens.
  • 0

#3
fireguy28

fireguy28

    Member

  • Topic Starter
  • Member
  • PipPip
  • 41 posts
ok followed the instructions and i think it shows my hard drive and cd-rom but where do i check to make sure my hard drive and cd-rom drive are present?


Every time i try to boot up it shows the windows xp loading screen then asks me to pick Windows xp or recovery mode, after i pick windws xp it says.....sorry for the inconvenience but windows was unable to start successfully. a recent hardware change might have caused this.

if your computer stopped responding, restarted unexpectedly, or was automatically shut down to protect your files and folders, choose last known good config.
etc etc..........



safe mode
safe mode with networking
safe mode with command prompt

last known good config.

start windows normally

i tried all the other options and it just restarted the computer and brought me right back to the same screen

Edited by fireguy28, 26 March 2012 - 10:15 PM.

  • 0

#4
Ztruker

Ztruker

    Member 5k

  • Technician
  • 7,091 posts
Lets try running chkdsk: You are going to have to get into BIOS Setup on your computer to set the CD/DVD drive as the first bootable device, so you can then boot your XP CD, unless it provides the ability to press a Fn key at boot time to bring up the boot selection menu. If it does, use that.

How you do this varies with each manufacturer. Normally you press F1, F2, F10 or Del when you see the manufacturers logo. Often there is a clue somewhere on the screen when you boot normally telling you what key to press. Some computers (most newer ones) have a key you can press (often F12) to bring up the Boot Menu from where you can select the CD/DVD drive to boot from.

If you don't have an XP CD, download and run ARCDC by Artellos. It will download the required files from the Microsoft Web site and create a .iso file. It will also offer to burn the iso image to a CD for you. If you don't do it then, there is a good freeware burner called ImgBurn which will do it at a later time. If you're unsure how to do this, you can follow the tutorial here: How to Burn an ISO File. This can be done from any computer.

Boot the CD and at the first opportunity, enter R to start the Recovery Console.

Next, choose which XP installation you want to login to. Normally this will be 1.
Lastly you will be asked for the Administrator password. Just press the Enter key as the Administrator does not have a password (unless you gave it one, then you would enter it).

From the command prompt, enter: chkdsk /r
Allow it to complete undisturbed. It can take an hour or more depending on the size of the hard drive.

Remove the CD, type exit and the computer will reboot. Hopefully that will have fixed the problem (corrupted file system).
  • 0

#5
fireguy28

fireguy28

    Member

  • Topic Starter
  • Member
  • PipPip
  • 41 posts
ok big problems.....i got there and ran the CD and got to the recovery console screen and pressed R and then the screen said...... no hard drive could be found/located please check to see that all cables and cords are connected. I have never taken anything out and the computer has never been tampered with. is my hard drive dead? with all my stuff gone?? thank you so far for the help.
  • 0

#6
Ztruker

Ztruker

    Member 5k

  • Technician
  • 7,091 posts
You hard drive may be dead but you need to check some things first.

Power off the computer and unplug the power cord.
Open the case and check to make sure all the cables are plugged in and firmly seated, both where they plug into the hard drive and where they plug into the system, board. Check both the IDE cables between the hard drive and the system board and the power connector. If any are loose or not seated firmly, fix it then plug in the power cord and try booting again.

If that doesn't help, again power off and unplug the power cord. Locate the CMOS battery and remove it. It's small and shiny, about the size of a quarter. Once you have that removed, press and hold the power button for 10 seconds to drain all residual power. Put the battery back in, plug in the power cord and power on. You should get an error message about corrupted CMOS, press F1 to continue,press F2 to enter Setup. Press F2 to get to the CMOS setup. There should be either a FN key or a selection that allows you to load Defaults, do that. Set the date and time then save settings and exit. See if the computer boots now.

If not, you may want to take the computer to a reputable repair shop and have them check the hard drive.

Other than that all I can suggest is to buy a new hard drive and start with a fresh install of XP.

Do you have any of your data backed up? If not I'm afraid you may lose all of it if the drive is bad. There are places that specialize in recovering data from defective hard drives but they are not cheap, usually in the $1000 and up range.
  • 0






Similar Topics

0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users

As Featured On:

Microsoft Yahoo BBC MSN PC Magazine Washington Post HP