[ZombieBoobz]

My laptop was working fine until it ran out of battery and it sort of turned off but all the key lights and such were still on. Sometimes that happens and all i do is turn it off manually and just turn it on again and so i did but when i turned it on again it had a black screen that starts off with "We apologize for the inconvenience, but Windows did not start successfully. A recent hardware or software change might have caused this..." etc. Then it gives options such as; Safe Mode, Safe mode with Networking, Safe mode with Command Prompt, Last known good configuration, and start windows normally. I've tried all choices but no matter which one i pick it won't start up. It looks like its gong to start up but then it flashes a blue screen for less than a second and then it goes back to the black screen. I have no idea what to do, could someone help me please?

I am using my brothers laptop right now.

I would appreciate any help please!

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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.

The above can be done from any Windows computer.

On the problem 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, type: chkdsk /r and press Enter.
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).

[Ztruker]

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.

The above can be done from any Windows computer.

On the problem 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, type: chkdsk /r and press Enter.
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).

[ZombieBoobz]

I was told the hard drive was corrupt by someone at office depot and takes 300 dollars to repair, can I still do this and expect it to work?? Is a corrupted file system totally different than the hard drive? Sorry for asking I'm not really smart on computer things.

Edited by ZombieBoobz, 01 January 2013 - 05:00 PM.

[Ztruker]

Corrupt almost always means the file system in a case like this, so follow the directions I gave you to run chkdsk, see if that fixes it.

If not, check the hard drive with the manufacturer's diagnostic tools.

Hard Drive Diagnostics Tools and Utilities (Storage) - TACKtech Corp.
Bootable Hard Drive Diagnostics

If defective, you can buy a new, large, hard drive for less than $100 so the $300 price is ridiculous. Do you have a XP install CD or recovery disc from the manufacturer?

[ZombieBoobz]

I don't have any XP recovery disks or anything like that but I'm about to try what you told me to do on your last post, I'll update you to see if it works. Hopefully it does. Thanks for the help, I really appreciate it!

*EDIT*
how do I know if my windows XP laptop had SP2 SP3 or SP1??
I'm also not sure if it's XP home or profesional, though I'm pretty sure it's home. I just never paid attention to that. :/

Edited by ZombieBoobz, 01 January 2013 - 08:02 PM.

[ZombieBoobz]

There's a blue screen that says:
STOP: c0000139 {Entry Point Not Found}
The procedure entry point NtSerializeBoot could not be located in the dynamic link library ntdll.dll.

what am I supposed to do now?

[Ztruker]

What have you done so far? When does this happen?

[ZombieBoobz]

after I inserted the cd and typed in the command you gave me. It just stayed stuck on that screen.

[Wolfeymole]

Can you get into the bios by immediately and continuously tapping either F2 or Del or whatever key it usually asks for, example, "Press F2 to Enter Setup".

This is an example of a bios screen and what we need to know is what is listed in your bios screen.

http://www.playtool....dling/bios1.jpg

[ZombieBoobz]

Yes I can, why?

[Ztruker]

Sorry but I still don't understand where you are.

Did you boot the CD okay?
Were you able to get to the Command Prompt?
Did you then enter chkdsk /r?

[ZombieBoobz]

Yes I booted the CD then i typed in the command you have me, chkdsk, and then that blue screen came up.