XP will not boot at all!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bappelman
  • Start date Start date
B

Bappelman

I have a Dell Inspiron 5150.

It has XP Pro. When I turn it on all I see is a cursor blinking in the
upper left hand corner. Restarting it while hitting F8 does absolutely
nothing.

Help! What can I do to get Windows to boot up?
 
Bappelman

What do you have by way of a Windows XP CD?

Your computer is a laptop?

Do you have data you need to recover?

Do you have access to a second computer? If yes what is the make and
model of the second computer?

Does the information, which follows, correspond to your problem
computer?

Storage Controller
Storage controller type Ultra ATA/100
Storage
Floppy Drive None
Hard Drive 30 GB
Storage Removable - None
Hard drive type Portable
http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/dell-inspiron-5150/4507-3121_7-30418693.html


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Hello Gerry and thanks for your help!

I have the XP CD that came with my computer when I originally bought it.

It is a Dell Inspiron 5150 laptop.

I would like to be able to recover the data on my computer if possible.

I have access to another Dell laptop, an E1405.

My computer is from 2003, so it is older than the specs you posted. Most of
the specs are similar though - no floppy drive, 40G hard drive...

IF it is not possible to "save my computer", would it be possible to remove
the hard drive and put it into a case and then simply plug it into my other
computer as an external drive, thereby saving all of the data on my hard
drive?

Thanks!

Brett
 
Your question is what I suggest you do.

If it is not possible to "save my computer", would it be possible to
remove
the hard drive and put it into a case and then simply plug it into my
other
computer as an external drive, thereby saving all of the data on my hard
drive?

Do you have an external cradle in which to place the hatd drive from the
problem laptop. With luck you may be able to see the contents of the
hard drive.

Diagram showing removal of hard drive
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins5100/en/sm/hdd.htm#1084976

Owners Manual
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins5100/en/i5100-om.pdf

Once you have recovered any data put the hard drive back in the problem
computer and try a Repair Install
http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

Page 94 of the Owners Manual covers reinstalling Windows XP.

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Thanks for all of your help, Gerry!

I am going to do as you suggested and remove the hard drive from the computer.



Brett
 
Bappelman

Good luck. Hope all goes well.

--


Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Before taking the PC apart, you might want to try booting from a "live"
LINUX CD. "Live" means that it runs from the CD, and does NOT install
anything on your hard drive.

If that works, you could simply copy files out of the PC via a USB port.

If it does not work, then the PC probably has some hard ware problem(s), and
removing the hard drive would be the next step.

There are many free images of LINUX CDs. See http://www.livecdlist.com/

My favorite is KNOPPIX, which available as a CD and as a DVD. The
difference is that the DVD has more applications on it.

http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html

Download the ISO file on a working PC, one with a high-speed internet
connection. Then, use a CD-writing program like Nero or Easy CD Creator to
"burn from image".

KNOPPIX is usually very good about detecting a lot of hardware, loading
drivers, and working on almost any PC.

Given the vintage of your PC, you might prefer version 4 over version 5.

If you try KNOPPIX, just accept all the defaults and the odds are good that
it will produce a windows-like desktop in a few minutes.

Note that you might have to change your BIOS setup to boot first from CD,
then from hard drive. If you can not see any power on test (POST) info, or
some offer to get into the setup (e.g., F2, DEL, etc), then the PC may have
motherboard problems, and removing the hard drive would be the next step.
 
Unfortunately (?!), I have a Dell laptop (D600) in which I have been
experiencing the same thing. Here's what you can do to save ANYTHING on your
HD that's IN the laptop. The issue is that your boot sector on the HD is
toast or at least the part the 'makes' the HD bootable. As an alternative,
turn off the laptop, just unplug ALL USB devices and let the laptop 'sit' for
30 seconds to clear memory etc. Then reboot. If no luck (probably not),
then you'll need to go to your cloned/backup HD, if you have one.
1) Hopefully you have a complete backup (clone) of your HD. This is a full
image backup. If not, you 'may' need to run Windows XP Repair on the OS.
[I've not tried this.] Or you may just need to create a NEW HD with WinXP on
it and install your programs onto the new HD. DO NOT install over the
existing HD info. Just go a computer store and get an 80GB+ IDE 2.5" HD with
an external housing (like NexStar). Take out the Dell supplied (40GB, if I
remember correctly) and put the Dell 'boot' onto the HD you bought at the
store. They all should work. You probably have Toshiba or Western Digital
HD - both work fine. Just make sure it's a laptop 2.5" HD and don't go too
high on the GB. I'd stay 160GB or under (<$100). You'll need to re-install
Windows in this situation AND reinstall ALL your programs onto the new HD.
Use DEFAULT settings and installation options.
2) Go to www.beyondcompare.com and buy their comparison utility. I think it
runs $40-ish with a fully functional trial period. It runs a COMPLETE
directory/file-by-file comparison and then allows you to copy/move the
appropriate files. You'll probably need to watch out to copy the Outlook
files (*.pst and *.ost etc.) which BC will find. I can't do with it! (No, I
don't work for them either nor do I have any $ in this!) ;-) BC will allow
you to get ALL your Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, FrontPage, SQL, Vision,
Access, etc. etc. etc. files off without any issues (I've never had any and
I've done this 20+ times!)
3) If you need a cloning utility there are several for WinXP. I use EZGig
II but I'm sure the other's are fine. [The utility may come from the HD you
bought at the store or see Dell... or just buy EZ Gig II or whatever.] It
takes about 3+ hours to clone my 160GB HD via the USB2 port on my laptop. I
clone each week to 14 days. If/when I get a failure on boot, I just remove
the non-bootable HD, put in the cloned/backup, run Beyond Compare and I'm
fine. (I have SQL on my laptop with Office 2003 and I've never had an issue
in the copy-over etc.). My total time involvement now is about 1-1.5 hours
from 'oh, no' to 'oh, YES!'.
4) No, I don't know why your situation occurs. Don't think it's virus etc.
but I do have McAfee to stop mine. Make sure you discharge for static
electricity before handling your computer or working on it day-by-day.
Oh, I've looked at boot-sector repair utilities but I've never used them.
Again, backup/clone your HD each week and not to exceed 2 weeks!
HTH...
 
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