Laptop Won't Boot

[Beava22]

I have a lqptop that was given to me because it would not work.

It is a Balance Digital Technology Computer.


What happens is when I turn on the computer it beeps once then the Balance Digital technology screen comes up. Then it goes to a screen that says "We appoligize for the inconvenience but windows did not start successfully. A recent hardware or software change might have caused this." Etc, Etc.

Then it wants me to chose how to boot up: Safe Mode, Safe mode with Networking, Safe mode with Command Prompt, Last Known Good Configuration, or Start Windows Normally.
If I chose safe Mode I get about 30 lines repeating down the screen that say:

mulit(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)Partition(1)\windows\system32\drivers\......sys Each line says something different where the periods are. Then after about a minute the screen goes blank.

If I chose "Last known good configuration" or "start Windows normally" it goes to the Windows XP boot screen when the 3 little blue boxes run across the bottom for a few moments and then the screen goes blank.

If I press any of the function keys on startup it doesn't do anything, except the F2 key will allow me to chose which drive to boot from.

If anyone could point me in the right direction it would be greatly appreciated. Thank You.

[flanzig1]

Could be a couple of things: a hard drive starting to get flacky/a corrupt Windows install/ some component in the computer it self bad.
Couple of things to try: Plug a regular monitor into the laptop(if it has a VGA jack), this will help eliminate video card or display problems. If you have a full copy of XP, could try and do a recovery install.

[xraycatj]

I'm going through this right now too. I let mine go for a couple hours and eventually it started up but was still extremely slow. I'm still working on it (actually about to start)

Does the HDD tick slowly or is it the normal soft chatter? Mine is ticking.

(OFF TOPIC: I just noticed the x-ray tube in your avatar flanzig1, are you a tech?)

[glc]

Standard hardware diagnostics would be the first thing I'd do - ram and hard drive. I use memtest86+ and the utility from the hard drive manufacturer, if you don't know who the manufacturer is, use the Hitachi Drive Fitness Test, it will run in basic mode on all brands - and will identify the manufacturer so you can get the right diags for advanced testing.

[Beava22]

Ok, I found both of the programs you mentioned, but how do I run them on my other computer that won't start up? How do I confirm that the HDD is dead?

[minsonngo]

You need to put them on a bootable cd or floppy.

Memtest86+ has the following options: http://www.memtest.org/#downiso



To make it easy on you. You can download the Ultimate Boot CD which has HDD and memory diagnostic utilities. Here is the link: http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

[Beava22]

I downloaded the Ultimate Boot CD, and burned it to a blank CD. I put it in the CD drive of the computer and then I boot from the CD and it just goes to the same Screen where it says "we are sorry for the inconvenience but windows did not start successfully..." as I described before. Is there something I am doing wrong? Or any other suggestions?

Thanks for your help thus far.

[glc]

Did you open the iso as an image in your burning program to burn it, or did you just copy the file?

[Beava22]

I downloaded the file to my desktop. Then I just dragged it into my burning software and burned it to a blank disc.

[Beava22]

OK, I figured out what you meant about burning it as an ISO image and I did that and it did not make a difference. It just goes to the same screen where it says "we are sorry for the inconvenience but windows did not start successfully..." when I boot from the 2nd UBCD that I made.

So, are there any other suggestions that I could try? Please and Thank You.

[glc]

If it has a floppy drive, download the individual diagnostics and make floppies.