[hawkshockey16]

I have a 7-8 year old Vostro running windows XP SP3.  Rcvd the dreaded BSOD yesterday with error code 07e.    Today on start up it said I have a windows config 32 corruption & I need to use the recovery CD.  I went to use the CD but realized I had another disk in the internal drive & it did not want to eject.  I finally got it out by re-starting the computer ( I had to pull the battery cuz it will not shut off any other way at this point) & just holding down the eject button.

 

I think I then made the mistake of putting in the recovery CD at that point...but nothing happened just black screen.  I shut it down again, restarted & pushed the power button.  Power lights up & the "can" symbol next to it lights up as well as the three Lock-type symbols near it but NOTHING else happens,  I can't even get to the Dell screen.  I can't get the disk to eject again either.

 

I was thinking of  manually ejecting the disk with a paper clip but I thought I would post this & get some help before messing up this machine anymore than it already is.  I know this machine is old & it's had a very useful life but I need to get some pictures off of it before it goes to the big laptop graveyard.   Yes, I know I should have backed up the pictures knowing this would happen but it kept running so darn well I figured it still had more life in it....my mistake.

 

Can anyone help me restore this thing or is this now a paperweight????

 

Thanks!

 

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Hi hawshockey16, and welcome to our forum

 

Sorry to hear about the problems with your Dell Vostro laptop computer.

 

There are a number of steps you could consider taking to rectify the situation... However I would be inclined to get your important pictures and anything else you need safely copied off, before trying to effect repairs.

 

Here's a suggested plan of attack:

 

1 Remove disc from CD tray ( paper clip method is fine... but go carefully!)

 

2 Remove battery from laptop and place somewhere safe

 

3 Remove mains power cord and its Black box charger/voltage reducer from the wall socket and then from the laptop computer itself

 

4 Hold down the power on button for 30 seconds ( by the clock) and then release it.

 

5 wait 30 seconds (by the clock) and then hold down the power button for 5 seconds and then release it

 

6 wait 30 seconds (by the clock) and then hold down the power button for a further 5 seconds and then release it.

 

7 Wait 30 seconds and now replace the battery

 

8 wait another 30 seconds and replace the power wire into the laptop and then connect it to the wall socket.

 

Try starting the computer by the usual one or two second press of the power on button and IMMEDIATELY start tapping the F8 key once per second..... keep tapping it and if you are very lucky your computer will show you an advanced menu in black with white type..... if you can get to this then select safe mode with networking and then post back for further directions.

 

9 If you still can't start the computer then you can try booting to a live distro of Linux ( Linux Puppy is good) and use that to copy off your important files to removable media.... (a USB memory stick or a USB external hard drive is good) 

Note: Linux Puppy will run entirely within RAM and does not need Windows at all ( it is a self contained operating system) if you need a detailed set of notes on this post back and we will supply.  Edit see post 5  from phillpower2 in the link below... he has set out a full set of directions including screen dumps that should point you in the right directions.
http://www.geekstogo...89-cant-log-in/
 

 

10 alternatively you could remove the hard drive from the laptop (an easy two minute job) and place it in an external USB caddy, or connect it to another computer and copy off your pictures that way. If removing the hard drive, first disconnect from the mains then remove the battery and then you can carefully access the hatch on the underneath of the computer (held in by a screw or a few screws and remove the hard drive... be carefull with it... its fragile...dont drop it!

 

Let us know how you get on

Regards

paws

[paws]

Hi hawshockey16, and welcome to our forum

 

Sorry to hear about the problems with your Dell Vostro laptop computer.

 

There are a number of steps you could consider taking to rectify the situation... However I would be inclined to get your important pictures and anything else you need safely copied off, before trying to effect repairs.

 

Here's a suggested plan of attack:

 

1 Remove disc from CD tray ( paper clip method is fine... but go carefully!)

 

2 Remove battery from laptop and place somewhere safe

 

3 Remove mains power cord and its Black box charger/voltage reducer from the wall socket and then from the laptop computer itself

 

4 Hold down the power on button for 30 seconds ( by the clock) and then release it.

 

5 wait 30 seconds (by the clock) and then hold down the power button for 5 seconds and then release it

 

6 wait 30 seconds (by the clock) and then hold down the power button for a further 5 seconds and then release it.

 

7 Wait 30 seconds and now replace the battery

 

8 wait another 30 seconds and replace the power wire into the laptop and then connect it to the wall socket.

 

Try starting the computer by the usual one or two second press of the power on button and IMMEDIATELY start tapping the F8 key once per second..... keep tapping it and if you are very lucky your computer will show you an advanced menu in black with white type..... if you can get to this then select safe mode with networking and then post back for further directions.

 

9 If you still can't start the computer then you can try booting to a live distro of Linux ( Linux Puppy is good) and use that to copy off your important files to removable media.... (a USB memory stick or a USB external hard drive is good) 

Note: Linux Puppy will run entirely within RAM and does not need Windows at all ( it is a self contained operating system) if you need a detailed set of notes on this post back and we will supply.  Edit see post 5  from phillpower2 in the link below... he has set out a full set of directions including screen dumps that should point you in the right directions.
http://www.geekstogo...89-cant-log-in/
 

 

10 alternatively you could remove the hard drive from the laptop (an easy two minute job) and place it in an external USB caddy, or connect it to another computer and copy off your pictures that way. If removing the hard drive, first disconnect from the mains then remove the battery and then you can carefully access the hatch on the underneath of the computer (held in by a screw or a few screws and remove the hard drive... be carefull with it... its fragile...dont drop it!

 

Let us know how you get on

Regards

paws

[hawkshockey16]

I appreciate the help...we are going to have a friend who works with computers transfer the pix off the hard drive...I just hope the hard drive isn't infected....then I'll monkey with installing Linux or something if everything is functional. Any suggestions as to which Linux is better/safer/easiest to use? Will any of them allow me to play windows xp compatible games?

[paws]

Hi Ok, all understood.

Once you have your important files safely copied off then you can more or less do what you want with the laptop!

 

If you want to check that the laptop is capable of running Windows 7 then it would be worthwhile, restoring the laptop to its factory condition, performing all available Win XP updates, installing a free anti virus product (Avast etc) and then running the Microsoft Win 7 compatibility tool..... be very careful when using XP its not safe any more to use on the Internet without taking extraordinary precautions... no surfing or opening emails!

 

If you want to install a free operating system (rather than paying for a Windows operating system) then Ubuntu is a distro of Linux that is very popular....you could also have a look at Mint 17 (Cinnamon), but there are so many different distros that you maybe are spoilt for choice...

 

As linux is a totally different operating system from Windows its not likely that all your windows games will work ( or any of them!), its possible to run some Windows applications under Wine, but it does not always go smoothly....

 

if you want to have a system that is good for windows games then Win 7 would be a reasonable choice and correctly licensed copies can be purchased at fairly reasonable prices.

Regards

paws