Black screen startup flashing cursor - HELP

[zkm1223]

hi,

 

i was on my laptop the other day and all of a sudden it reboot itself and didn't go into windows xp pro. it showed the dell splash screen and then just shows a blank black screen with a flashing cursor at the top left of the screen. I can go into the BIOS and i can boot from the XP CD but it doesn't give an option to repair the operating system - it just says install a fresh copy.

 

I have been on other forums but haven't had much luck.

 

I have tried a USB enclosure and tried to connect it to my PC. It picks it up as F: but when you try to click on it, it says:

 

F:\ is not accessible.

 

The file or directory is corrupt and unreadable.

 

If i can't retrieve the data stored on the harddrive by the USB enclosure, is there any other way which i can?

[Guest Wolfeymole]

Hi ZKM

 

Welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help

 

Does the Dell not have a Recovery partition on the hard drive?

 

Why did you remove the drive to run it via USB?

[zkm1223]

I don't think it has a recovery partition, how would i check if it did?

 

I removed the harddrive from the laptop to plug it into a IDE USB enclosure so that it would come up as an external HDD on my pc and thought that i would be able to save the data.

[Guest Wolfeymole]

You can't remove the laptop hard drive to run it as an external drive without setting the bios to boot from USB, I doubt it would work even then.

 

Put the hard drive back in the laptop and go onto the bios to see if the drive is at least being seen by the bios, if it is not then then the hard drive may have died.

 

If it is seen then try tapping F8 on boot up to get into Safe Mode.

 

Try these things then get back to us.

[zkm1223]

I can see the laptop HDD in the BIOS and have already tried getting into safe mode but haven't had any luck. is there anything else i can do?

[Guest Wolfeymole]

You say you have the XP disk and can boot from the CD, it should give you the option to repair the system files.

 

What exactly does it say on the copy of XP that you have?

[zkm1223]

I can go into the recovery console but if you press enter on that screen to install XP, it normally gives another repair option here, however i get this screen with these options:

 

http://www.sumedh.info/pictures/install-xp-usb/xp-setup-partition-format.png

 

only with my 80gb harddrive, not the one shown in this screenshot

[Guest Wolfeymole]

Read this here under the section

 

XP Repair Install

 

How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install

 

Then get back to us ZKM

[Goku]

Before you try to perform a repair install, please perform the instructions provided in here.

 

Computer stops responding with a black screen when you start Windows XP

 

See if it resolves the problem or not. Good Luck. :)

 

-- Goku

[Dalo Harkin]

I have tried a USB enclosure and tried to connect it to my PC. It picks it up as F: but when you try to click on it, it says:

 

F:\ is not accessible.

 

The file or directory is corrupt and unreadable.

 

If i can't retrieve the data stored on the harddrive by the USB enclosure, is there any other way which i can?

 

Ok let me get this right - you took the HDD out of the laptop and put it in an external caddy - where did you get the F:\ is not accessible error becuase it cant boot to windows, and it shouldn't show as F in the BIOS it should show as C as there are no other drives connected -

I am guessing you plugged the External into another PC?? please confirm this?

have you tried activating the drive via CONTROL PANEL > ADMIN TOOLS > DISK MANAGEMENT? (have a read about this option first as you DO NOT want to lose your data)

[zkm1223]

ok, now i've done the disk managment thing that dalo said and i have uploaded a screenshot of what it says. It says that the total space of the harddrive and the free space are the same. does that mean that the data is lost???

disk managment screenshot.doc

[Dalo Harkin]

No - what it says is the HDD is 298GB capacity and there is 188GB free - that means that you have used 110GB (I presume this is your OS and all your programs and games etc)

[zkm1223]

the 298gb HDD is my pc's which is C: and the 74.52gb HDD is my laptops which is the F: which is the one i need the data from.

[Dalo Harkin]

I would say then that F:/ the data is lost then -

you can try initialising the disk but if the data is still there is may not be after you initialise it - but from what you have tried so far, I cannot see any other remedy - there is a chance that when you initialise the disk that it will show the data on the drive (if there is any)

the choice is up to you.

[zkm1223]

How would i initialize the disk and would i be able to save the data from it?

[Guest Wolfeymole]

Why haven't you done what I suggested in earlier posts and put that hard drive back in the laptop?

[Dalo Harkin]

How would i initialize the disk and would i be able to save the data from it?

 

If you initialise the disk there are 2 possibilities :-

1 - the data is lost

2 - the data is there and you can copy what you need onto your other PC.

 

As Wolfey has said why have you not retried the disk in the laptop?

I can tell you how to initialise the disk but I would use this as a LAST RESORT ONLY!

[zkm1223]

i have tried what wolfey said buit when i clicked on the link i went into the WARNING 2 part because the repair option isn't avalible and then went onto the recovery console. however it doesn't ask me what OS to go into. Normally it asks and you type 1.

 

what should i do, should i still type what it says in the WARNING 2 section of the link without typing 1 ?

[Guest Wolfeymole]

To rephrase

 

XP Repair install Please read carefully and make sure you followed the warning links before initiating the Repair Install. You can print a text version for reference. repair.txt

 

1. Boot the computer using the XP CD. You may need to change the boot order in the system BIOS so the CD boots before the hard drive. Check your system documentation for steps to access the BIOS and change the boot order.
   
2. When you see the "Welcome To Setup" screen, you will see the options below This portion of the Setup program prepares Microsoft Windows XP to run on your computer:
    
   To setup Windows XP now, press ENTER. (VERY IMPORTANT)
    
   To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R. (IGNORE THIS)
    
   To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, pressF3.
   
   
3. Press Enter to start the Windows Setup.
   http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/note.gif do not choose "To repair a Windows XP installation using the Recovery Console, press R", (you Do Not want to load Recovery Console).I repeat, do not choose "To repair a Windows XP installation using the Recovery Console, press R".
   
4. Accept the License Agreement and Windows will search for existing Windows installations.
   
5. Select the XP installation you want to repair from the list and press Rto start the repair. If Repair is not one of the options, END setup. After the reboot read Warning#2!
   
6. Setup will copy the necessary files to the hard drive and reboot. Do not press any key to boot from CD when the message appears. Setup will continue as if it were doing a clean install, but your applications and settings will remain intact.
   

PLEASE READ THE ABOVE THOROUGHLY

[zkm1223]

The repair option is not available. It shows the following screen instead:

 

http://www.sumedh.info/pictures/install-xp-usb/xp-setup-partition-format.png

 

only with my 80gb harddrive, not the one shown in this screenshot. So then i clicked on WARNING #2 which it says on step 5 which then tells me to go onto the recovery console, however the recovery console doesn't ask to type 1 to go onto the c:(i only have one without a password on it). It shows the prompt c:\. Should i continue following the steps in the recovery console?

[Goku]

Sorry to jump in but it seems that you have not installed XP at all. Did you install a new hard drive?

 

-- Goku

[Guest Wolfeymole]

ZKM

 

It is impossible to go into a recovery console without an operating system being present.

 

Your screenshot indicates that this is the case so you need to reinstall Windows on that partition.

[Dalo Harkin]

Whatever you did to your HDD has totally erased all the information on it.

[Guest Wolfeymole]

We realise that the screenshot presented by yourself is only a representation but if that is what you see when you have inserted the drive back into the laptop and booted from the XP disk then I'm afraid, as Dalo said, all your files are gone.

[Dalo Harkin]

Ok - if you want to go ahead and activate the disk - go to the disk management area again and on the left hand side of the big blue bar right click and there are options there.

*this is done at your own risk, like we said previously 'if' there is anything on the disk it will be gone*