Halp Me

[scf3]

Okay so my laptop is busted and I don't know how to fix it so I figured you guys could help me. I have a Dell XPSM1530 and basically whenever I turn it on, it's stuck at the loading bar that says Microsoft Corporation under it, forever. My brother thinks it's something to do with the hard drive. idk. Can anyone help me? I would do a system restore but I cant log on...

[ketsuban]

Upgrade to Windows 7.

I'm not joking or trolling — Vista is utter shit.

[winmaster]

Try booting into safe mode.

How to boot into safe mode:

Press F8 on your keyboard while the Windows boot loader is running. Unfortunately, the Windows boot loader does not display anything on the screen, so I've found that its best to simply begin repeatedly pressing F8 on the keyboard as soon as you turn your computer on until the boot menu pops up.

Once the boot menu pops up, select safe mode with your arrow keys and press enter.



Can you think of anything that may have caused this to happen.

[GARY 'M 9]

If you can boot into safe mode, go into Accessories > System Tools > System Restore and try restore your system to an earlier working date.

If you cannot, try these:

If you have a Windows Vista install disc, insert it and boot from start up. There will be an option that says "repair my system" or something like that. Click it and run system restore. (If you don't have the disc, a risky option is to actually pirate the disc, burn it using InfraRecorder by clicking burn image (.iso) and use it to repair that way.)

Another option is to do a LiveCD Boot and restore from recovery discs or partition.

If you have a recovery disc or a partition on your Laptop, go to www.ubuntu.com and burn a a LiveCD of Ubuntu 11.04. How to burn a LiveCD is shown on the download page. It's not like normal burning processes so you may want to read up. Once booted in Linux, copy ALL OF YOUR IMPORTANT FILES AS THE RECOVERY OPTION WILL MOST LIKELY WIPE ALL OF YOUR DATA IN YOUR OS PARTITION!

Once this is done, run the recovery program from the partition/discs. Your laptop will be reset to its factory default settings/data. You will need to reinstall all of your programs.

The last and final option is to say good bye to Windows (Unless you have the money for 7 ) is to get all your information from your hard drive via a Linux LiveCD and then installing your preferred flavor of Linux (Ubuntu/Mint/Xbuntu/Gentoo are most common, although I think Ubuntu is most used by starting users and easier to use, though I have never touched Linux in my life.)

P.S. This may help you on how to burn ISOs.

[scf3]

If you have a Windows Vista install disc, insert it and boot from start up. There will be an option that says "repair my system" or something like that. Click it and run system restore. (If you don't have the disc, a risky option is to actually pirate the disc, burn it using InfraRecorder by clicking burn image (.iso) and use it to repair that way.)

Thanks Gary!
What do you mean boot it from start up?
Like I can go to Setup and change my settings so it boots from a CD is that what you mean?

[scf3]

Aug 23, 2011 9:44:23 GMT -5 @winmaster said:

Try booting into safe mode.

How to boot into safe mode:

Press F8 on your keyboard while the Windows boot loader is running. Unfortunately, the Windows boot loader does not display anything on the screen, so I've found that its best to simply begin repeatedly pressing F8 on the keyboard as soon as you turn your computer on until the boot menu pops up.

Once the boot menu pops up, select safe mode with your arrow keys and press enter.



Can you think of anything that may have caused this to happen.

I can't boot safe mode because I get stuck at the loading screen. And I've been getting the blue screen of death lately.

[GARY 'M 9]

Aug 26, 2011 20:51:12 GMT -5 scf3 said:

If you have a Windows Vista install disc, insert it and boot from start up. There will be an option that says "repair my system" or something like that. Click it and run system restore. (If you don't have the disc, a risky option is to actually pirate the disc, burn it using InfraRecorder by clicking burn image (.iso) and use it to repair that way.)

Thanks Gary!
What do you mean boot it from start up?
Like I can go to Setup and change my settings so it boots from a CD is that what you mean?

If your BIOS settings are correct, you should be able to pop in the CD and hit any key to boot from it instead of booting from windows.

If not, you'll need to go into your bios setting screen (accessed by hitting an F key while booting, varies from comp to comp... usual keys are F1, F2, F3, F8 and F11. I'd try F3 first as my last one started with F3.) In the BIOS there should be info about boot settings you want to try to make the comp boot from disc first before booting from HDD. I can't help you with where in your bios this is at since your bios is different.

Once configured, press any key to boot from disc when prompted. Do not hit install if you're using the Linux Live CD, use the try/evaluate/whatever option to boot from CD without installing on the HDD.

[scf3]

Aug 27, 2011 0:11:48 GMT -5 GARY 'M 9 said:

Aug 26, 2011 20:51:12 GMT -5 scf3 said:

Thanks Gary!
What do you mean boot it from start up?
Like I can go to Setup and change my settings so it boots from a CD is that what you mean?

If your BIOS settings are correct, you should be able to pop in the CD and hit any key to boot from it instead of booting from windows.

If not, you'll need to go into your bios setting screen (accessed by hitting an F key while booting, varies from comp to comp... usual keys are F1, F2, F3, F8 and F11. I'd try F3 first as my last one started with F3.) In the BIOS there should be info about boot settings you want to try to make the comp boot from disc first before booting from HDD. I can't help you with where in your bios this is at since your bios is different.

Once configured, press any key to boot from disc when prompted. Do not hit install if you're using the Linux Live CD, use the try/evaluate/whatever option to boot from CD without installing on the HDD.

Yeah I know how to change the BIOS settings, I'll try this today!

[winmaster]

Aug 26, 2011 20:51:57 GMT -5 scf3 said:

Aug 23, 2011 9:44:23 GMT -5 @winmaster said:

Try booting into safe mode.

How to boot into safe mode:

Press F8 on your keyboard while the Windows boot loader is running. Unfortunately, the Windows boot loader does not display anything on the screen, so I've found that its best to simply begin repeatedly pressing F8 on the keyboard as soon as you turn your computer on until the boot menu pops up.

Once the boot menu pops up, select safe mode with your arrow keys and press enter.



Can you think of anything that may have caused this to happen.

I can't boot safe mode because I get stuck at the loading screen. And I've been getting the blue screen of death lately.

Can you provide us with any useful information from the BSOD? That may help determine what caused the problem in the first place.

[wwwxxyy]

Aug 22, 2011 22:13:25 GMT -5 ketsuban said:

Upgrade to Windows 7.

I'm not joking or trolling — Vista is utter crap.

I've been using Vista for three years and 7 for one and already 7 has given me more problems. In fact, aside from having to click an extra "Okay" each time I run GlovePIE, Vista has never given me any problems. At this point I'm pretty sure people just rag on Vista because they saw other people ragging on Vista.

[winmaster]

Sept 13, 2011 10:15:50 GMT -5 wwwxxyy said:

Aug 22, 2011 22:13:25 GMT -5 ketsuban said:

Upgrade to Windows 7.

I'm not joking or trolling — Vista is utter crap.

I've been using Vista for three years and 7 for one and already 7 has given me more problems. In fact, aside from having to click an extra "Okay" each time I run GlovePIE, Vista has never given me any problems. At this point I'm pretty sure people just rag on Vista because they saw other people ragging on Vista.

This is true. While 7 is an improvement over Vista, Vista is an improvement over Windows XP.

The biggest problems with Vista were either due to lack of drivers or software compatibility or were fixed by SP1.