Vista will not start up.

[Slumdog]

Hi, My laptop will not start up at all.

I get the Dell opening screen, followed by the black and white Windows error recovery page which continuously flashes until it goes to a blank (lit) screen.

I have been able to get a different screen by pushing F8 but none of the options on there will work either. I cannot use safe mode, and if I try 'load from last known safe start up' (or whatever it says) all I get is the Microsoft Corp page with the small progress bar thing which just continues to go across until I give up.

 

Please help!!

[Plastic Nev]

Hi, this does not sound good and is a possible hard drive faulty.

 

Firstly can you tell us please the full make and model of the laptop, and which operating system it is running, Windows XP, Vista, 7 or 8.

 

Also do you have the disks for it?

 

Do you also have another computer, we may need you to burn disks!

 

Nev.

[Slumdog]

Hi Plastic Nev. I have had drive warnings/problems in the past, (s Starbuck will verify!!) but they always seemed to rectify theirselves somehow!!

 

I have a Dell XPS 1530 with Vista.

 

Discs include Drivers and utilities, Application (for reinstalling Dell medis direct), Operating system and another drivers and utilities disc (for reinstalling Dell webcam manager,

 

Thanks. G

[Plastic Nev]

Hi, considering you had problems in the past with the warnings, did you create any backups of your data? If so what type, was it just data, as an image, or as a clone to another hard drive?

If an image or clone which software did you use to create them?

 

I think first we need to ascertain if the hard drive is definitely dead, no point in replacement if it isn't! So the next thing we need to know will be the make of the hard drive that is fitted so we can run the makers diagnostic on it. Do you know which make it is?

If not, considering the computer won't start up, it will have to be a manual examination by accessing and possibly removing it to see the makers label.

 

Here is a link to a full manual which describes exactly how to remove the hard drive :-

 

http://www.manualslib.com/manual/36701/Dell-Xps-M1530.html?#manual

 

Click on page 10 at the top of the page, then click the blue "Hard Drive", read through the instructions for removal, then get back to us as to what you find for the make. (Don't forget to remove power and battery)

 

Once we know, it then means downloading and burning the diagnostic ISO software to a disk, or downloading to a USB drive from the manufacturer.

 

Nev.

[Slumdog]

I have recently saved my photos on a usb stick and I also have a cheap, portable hard drive but this hasn't been used for over a year for a back up, so I have no idea what is saved on it, nor if it will even work.

 

Sorry, I don't understand some of the terms you are using like clone or image! I backed it up by using the back up computer option on my laptop and let it run until it was full.

 

The hard drive in my pc is a WD Scorpio? WD2500B EVS.

I ran a diagnosis on this and after a long while It stopped with error codes 0F00:0132 and 0F00:0232.

 

Hope that all makes some sense to you!!! Thanks. G

[Slumdog]

I also tried to start in safe mode again and it got as far as windows/system32/drivers/avg1bshx.sys then stopped.

[RandyL]

Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for DOS might be an option for testing the drive. You will need no create a bootable USB stick on a working computer. You may also need to adjust the boot sequence in the computer BIOS so that it will boot from the USB flash drive.

[Slumdog]

Hi RandyL, was the diagnosis test that gave me the error codes, no good then? See #5

[Plastic Nev]

Hi, yes it does tell us there are problems, the one Randy suggested is a deeper look to see what else it can find and give us more information.

Read and follow all instructions on that page to download and put the test onto a USB flash drive. Run the quick test as outlined in the instructions first, and let us know the results please.

 

Only try the extended test if we ask for it.

 

Do not do the "Write zero's to drive" as that will destroy or wipe out all your data, including the operating system.

 

Nev.

[Slumdog]

ok, from here, http://extremetechsupport.com/threads/16226-Windows-will-not-Load-Nokia-Suite

 

#12

 

I have managed to get back to my desktop, so maybe the hard drive isn't that bad?

I cannot 'click' on anything though.

 

I doubt if I have enough knowledge to save and run whatyou were suggesting.

 

Why can't I click on any thing on my desktop?

[Plastic Nev]

Hi Gary, I had forgotten about that thread, thanks for the reminder.

KenB is away for the weekend and may be as late as Tuesday before he gets back, however Starbuck will be around tomorrow if not later today.

 

Before we say yes the hard drive is rubbish, lets see if either of them can give any advice.

 

However, what did you use out of all the advice from the previous thread to get to where you are now?

 

Nev.

[Slumdog]

In a very amateurish way, I changed the start up order and used the OS disk.

Again, this morning, I have got as far as my desktop and the icons light up as I move over them, but as soon as I click on one, it freezes and will not go any further. And then they do not light up anymore.

When it starts up with the disk in, it does the whole disk check thing and repairs "bad things"!!!

Hope that makes sense!

[Plastic Nev]

OK, I think we still need to see the results from that disk checking tool that Randy linked to. Please give that a run and let us know.

 

Nev.

[Slumdog]

Sorry, but I have no idea how to put that on a usb.

I have a 16gb usb which has my photos on it, is that big enough and will it affect my photos in any way?

[Plastic Nev]

You will need a blank USB flash drive, the system you need to use will format and erase whatever is on the drive so if wanting to keep the data on the one you have, don't use it, if you don't have another drive going spare you may have to buy a new one.

 

One other point, you need to be able to set the BIOS to boot from USB, some earlier BIOS systems may not be able to so you need to check in the BIOS if it will boot from USB.

If not sure how to enter BIOS to check, I quote from :-

 

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/fixtheproblem/a/biosaccess_pc.htm

__________________________________________________________________

Dell

XPS, Dimension, Inspiron, Latitude. OptiPlex, Precision, Vostro

 

• Press F2 when the Dell logo appears. Press every few seconds until the message Entering Setup appears.
  
• Older Dell desktops and laptops may instead use Ctrl+Alt+Enter or Del to enter BIOS.
  
• Older Dell laptops may use Fn+Esc or Fn+F1.
  

___________________________________________________________________

 

Follow all the instructions given in the link from Randy which is this one :-

 

http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=612&sid=2&lang=en

 

The instructions for creating the correct file on the flash drive, in case you miss seeing it are here :-

 

http://support.wdc.com/download/notes/DLGDiagUSBInstructionsv3.pdf

 

Note that in order to create the flash drive, Western Digital recommend using the third party "Rufus", for creating the bootable flash drive.

In case you miss seeing the link to download and install Rufus, it is here :-

 

http://rufus.akeo.ie/

 

I know the whole thing does look complicated, but if you follow the instructions step by step, it isn't too difficult. If possible, print them so you can keep the copy by your side to read as you proceed.

 

Nev.

[Slumdog]

It says "this app cannot run on your computer" when I try to run it on this laptop to get it on the usb.

[Slumdog]

Ok, I downloaded Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for Windows and all it does is scan the usb, it doesn't transfer to the usb.

[Slumdog]

Forget that, I forgot the rufus part! Will try again.

[Slumdog]

Ok, now when I start up the sick laptop with the usb inserted, I get this...........

 

MENU FreeDOS Language Selection Menu

MENU ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ

MENU

MENUDEFAULT=1,5

MENU 1) Use UK-English keyboard with Western-European (Euro) codepage [858]

MENU 2) Use US-English keyboard with US-English codepage [437]

MENU

12?

 

 

and then it asks me for a command at C:\>

 

 

I have no idea what I am doing.

[RandyL]

According to the instructions I think you do this........

 

At DOS prompt type dlgdiag5.exe to run the program.

 

Press enter after dlgdiag5.exe

[Slumdog]

Tried that. And digdiag_5_22.exe AND WinDig AND WinDig_v1_27.

These are all the different downloads that have came from that site and all of them get the reply of "Bad command or filename.

[Plastic Nev]

Hi,

Did you set the BIOS to boot from the USB?

If it has been set to do so, plug the flash drive in, then turn the laptop on with the main start button, it should then start up and boot from the flash drive, not the internal hard drive.

 

If you can't find the USB as a means to boot it within the BIOS please let us know.

 

Nev.

[Slumdog]

Yes it is booting from USB, but it asks for a command as I stated in previous message.

[Plastic Nev]

Hi did you then type in :-

 

dlgdiag5.exe

 

As per instruction 4

 

As it says in the instructions you should then see the list of options to select first the drive we need to test, which is your hard drive, then select the quick test.

 

If you are seeing something different than that, can you post a screen shot, from a camera will do fine.

 

Nev.

[RandyL]

dlgdiag5.exe NOT digdiag5.exe

 

Your previous typed commands had you typing the letter i instead of the letter l (L).

It should be dlg and not dig.

 

I am however doubting the instructions for this latest version as the command does not appear to match the file.

 

The file name is DOSDLG_5_22 yet the instructions say to type dlgdiag5.exe. Maybe DOSDLG_5_22 or DOSDLG_5_22.exe should be the command Try all three.

 

Also at the prompt it gives the letter C:\ to run the command. Maybe it needs to be run from a E or F prompt depending on the drive letter of the USB. Typing F:\ and pressing Enter will change the drive letter.

 

The only other thing I can think of is that you copied the zip folder or the extracted folder to the USB instead of just the files inside the extracted folder.

 

Try dlgdiag5.exe first with an l (L) instead of i .