Laptop not working
 

My laptop keeps rebooting before loading into windows. Startup repair doesn't work, it just hangs, safe mode doesn't work, the screen goes blue and reboots, tried loading into last good known config not working. I disabled wireless, bluetooth and USB (i think) in bios and still no luck.

I cant reinstall windows because it hangs on the startup is loading page.

Does anyone know what could be wrong, nothing is attached and i didn't add any new hardware to the system.

Re: Laptop not working
 

Could be hardware on the laptop failing if you cannot re-install. Have you got any extra RAM in the laptop? If you boot from the CD can you access the tools to do things like scandisk?

Re: Laptop not working
 

how would i do scandisk with the CD because startup repair hangs. so i boot from CD and then what?

Re: Laptop not working
 

Re: Laptop not working
 

is the HD being picked up in the bios ,i have limited knowledge but everything you are trying to do i.e start up repair or reinstall is usually held on a partition on the hd and if that has failed then nothing will happen when you try to load windows

Re: Laptop not working
 

Not all Laptops come with recovery partitions, also if the partition is in trouble you can often lose the recovery tools too. Sometimes rebuilding from the CD set is the only way to get around major issues but hopefully...

Re: Laptop not working
 

It does sound like the only option is a recovery disk or the os disk ,but if the HD is knackered that won't help

Re: Laptop not working
 

Nope not at all hence the checkdisk, if it's up the creek there is no option but to change the hard disk if possible and reload.

Re: Laptop not working
 

after going through the menu and selecting the languages, i select repair your computer and thats when it hangs, there were no other options to load command prompt

Re: Laptop not working
 

Do you know if you have a recovery partition or do you have the OS disk
Do you have a recovery disk ,
Are you running vista
Have done a chkdisk to eliminate a HD problem

Re: Laptop not working
 

Sounds more like a memory fault to me than HDD. IF your laptop has more than one RAM chip in it then one of them is b0rked... Can you reboot and get into the BIOS? If so check the HDD is detected, and check how much RAM the BIOS is detecting, if its less than it should have, then that confirms (or not) my suspicions.

If you can get hold of another laptop and swap the HDDs out that would also help in the diagnostic progress.

Re: Laptop not working
 

What operating system are you running?

If it's XP, read this, I had the same problem, reboot on error which is a (stupid) MS default

Re: Laptop not working
 

In bios it says

fixed HDD Hitachi
e-SATA = none
system memory 628KB
Extended Memory: 3069 MB

Its supposed to have 3GB RAM so is this right?

Operating system is Windows 7 64 Bit

Re: Laptop not working
 

you say it freezes at startup is loading. Can you explain how you get to this point?

make and model of laptop please

Re: Laptop not working
 

I managed to completely bork my new netbook while trying to do a backup, recently - all I got when trying to boot was a request for a system disk. I'd also borked the recovery partition.

The only way out was using the restore disks, which luckily I had burnt using an external DVD drive - however I did need to go into the BIOS & change the boot priorities to allow the sytem to boot from the external drive.

Re: Laptop not working
 

well it's picking up the HDD and the ram so they look ok ,still worth doing a chkdisk though just to see if it's being read ok

Re: Laptop not working
 

Start up repair is part of the OS not the recovery partition

Have you tried F10 F11 or alt F10 alt F11 at post? also if you get a full screen logo press the tab key it might tell you there if any different

Re: Laptop not working
 

When i do startup repair from the Windows 7 CD, it hangs on the Windows 7 screen, says nothing with just the arrow there.

Dell Studio XPS 16

If i select start windows normally, the windows boot screen will load, then a blue screen comes up for about half a second i barely see it, then it boots again and has the options start up repair(recommended) and start windows normally.

Re: Laptop not working
 

ok tryF8 possibly even CTRL F11 at post bit sketchy on Dells but they should have recovery then just do a factory restore

Re: Laptop not working
 

CTRL F11 it just beeps, with F8 the advanced boot options comes up, i tried the repair your comuter option from that which does not help.

Re: Laptop not working
 

ok I think its press F8 at boot select advanced boot options then repair you computer

http://support.dell.com/support/topi...&isLegacy=true

---------- Post added at 23:42 ---------- Previous post was at 23:42 ----------

you log in then select Dell Factory Image Restore

Re: Laptop not working
 

i tried that and nothing about dell factory came up.

After selecting Repair your computer it says Windows is loading files... then hangs on that for a few minutes afterwards the windows 7 background comes up with nothing on the screen except the mouse arrow and stays like that, i left it for an hour before and nothing, no disk activity either.

Re: Laptop not working
 

the lack of anything about Dell isnt good what your seeing is the recovery stuff available within the OS

did you try the other options ? there should be a recovery on the machine

---------- Post added at 23:55 ---------- Previous post was at 23:53 ----------

are you pressing F8 as soon as the pc boots?

Re: Laptop not working
 

on the dells now you need to have created a recovery CD from within windows first. You could try pressing F12 and looking for "Diagnostics" and running those they should tell you if the hardware is OK.

Press F12 as soon as the PC comes on (at the dell screen) a few times

Re: Laptop not working
 

im pressing F8 on (and just after) the Dell Bios screen comes up.

From the other options i tried Safe Mode which doesn't work, directory services restore mode debugging mode and last known good configuration.

There are other options also: enable boot logging, enable low-resolution video, disable automatic restart on system failure and disable driver signature enforcement.

Re: Laptop not working
 

you could try "disable automatic restart" as that will stop the machine rebooting so you can copy down the blue screen error code.

Re: Laptop not working
 

After doing Disognostics it says

Error Code 0146
Msg: Error code 2000-0146
Msg: Hard Drive 0 - self test log contains previous errors

now its continuing with the tests

Re: Laptop not working
 

you got any warranty left?

---------- Post added at 00:07 ---------- Previous post was at 00:06 ----------

its deffo failing hdd

Re: Laptop not working
 

Yep error 0146 is failing HDD, if its under warranty you'll have to send it away to dell, if its not, its cheap enough to buy a HDD :) unfortunately it will be likely your data won't be recoverable...

Re: Laptop not working
 

well i had warranty (2 years) on my old XPS laptop which stopped working, they replaced the laptop in October with this Studio XPS and its been nothing but problems. Would the warranty transfer over?

Re: Laptop not working
 

the warranty should last the full 2 years so as long as there is some left then yes

Re: Laptop not working
 

you can press ESC to quit the extended tests :)

Re: Laptop not working
 

there should be, i bought the warranty the same day my old laptop stopped working which was sometime in 2010, so there should be one year left.

for some reason i logged into my dell account and it says there is no warranty assosiated with my laptop. Guess i'll call them when they reopen after holidays.

thanks for all the help everyone :)

Re: Laptop not working
 

The replacement should have a minimum 12 month warranty whih they cannot deny you ,if you are lucky they may have given you what was left on the other laptop if longer than 12 months

Re: Laptop not working
 

well I know if its in its first year then your covered under Sales of goods act under fit for purpose and must last a reasonable amount of time.

---------- Post added at 00:19 ---------- Previous post was at 00:17 ----------

I do not think that is actually correct. I think the original 12 months has to be honoured and then the replacement isnt covered. Of course again you always have the sales of goods act to fall back on

Re: Laptop not working
 

even a replacement under guarrantee has to carry a 12 month warranty under said act ,i went through this with pc world when my first lappy died and they had to replace it with the one i have now iirc this applies to all electrical goods be it a iron, pc or kettle

Re: Laptop not working
 

cool then lol can you point me to the clause( dunno right spelling lol)? something I would like to wave at Sky next time my box fails lol

Re: Laptop not working
 

Under warrenty it says

There are no service contracts or warranties associated with this system

But under my order config it says

2 YEAR HARDWARE SUPPORT - NEXT BUSINESS

is that any good?

Re: Laptop not working
 

you will be fine

Re: Laptop not working
 

Dell's look nice on the outside, but are full of crap on the inside.

Re: Laptop not working
 

well after doing a bit a bit of digging i have found out some interesting facts that i didn't know .

1)there is no mandatory 12 month warranty on electrical goods
2)there is a mandatory 6 yr period in which goods can be returned ,this is loaded with conditions that the owner has to prove the item was not fit for purpose
3)there is a Eu directive ....EC Directive 1994/44/EC which states a mandatory 2 year warranty should be applied (not sure if this has been put into british law

so you can have a look at all that and make of it what you will ...cos i'm bloody confused ;)

Re: Laptop not working
 

Was that checked on Dells website? If you go to their warranty information pages, and put in your laptops service tag (on bottom of machine) it should say what warranty and exactly how many days are left on said warranty :)

Re: Laptop not working
 

Yeah just use this - I use it sometimes for checking customer kit.

Re: Laptop not working
 

Thanks for the link Lee, I couldn't be bothered to hunt through the stupidly slow dell website to find it ;)

Re: Laptop not working
 

Thats what i did, but i paid for 2 years warrenty about 9-10 months ago so it should still be valid, dont know why it says there is no warrenty.

Re: Laptop not working
 

Hi there
I would use MS Dart 6.5 64 bit to start the machine then attempt a system restore (for msdart use google)
You obviously get past post and its hanging as windows loads drivers which could suggest a bad or unsigned driver, 64 bit windows is designed to run ONLY with signed drivers.
Using that tool will also let you lift anything off the hard drive you might need in case
it needs a new one.

Re: Laptop not working
 

I would suggest you to do the appropriate research for the same and as many vendors are selling duplicate products on the name of original manufacturers.

Re: Laptop not working
 

Because the warranty you took out would have been for your original laptop which has a different service tag that was the one that was replaced. I would still phone them as they would be able to advise you one way or the other. Worst case is HDD fault which is cheap enough to replace :)

Re: Laptop not working
 

they said they will send someone to replace the hard drive on wednesday and check everything...

Re: Laptop not working
 

Thats good then :) at least they honoured the warranty from your previous machine. The Dell engineers that come out are usually very good.

Re: Laptop not working
 

Erm, MSDart is only legally available as either an evaluation version, or as part of a Technet subscription or Volume Licence for Windows.

Re: Laptop not working
 

well they fixed my laptop, it only took them 4 days (with my next business day service) but at least it is fixed.

thanks for all the help everyone