Dell Laptop Help - Windows 7 Not Loading

[Press Check]

OK, so I was shopping on Brownells, and without warning, my laptop shut down, and restarted. After restarting, I have a black screen and cursor.

I can access BIOS from F2, Diagnostics from F12, but cannot access Safe Mode from F8.

I ran Diagnostics, and everything passed.

I made a Windows 7 recovery disc, and used that recovery menu to complete a System Restore, but that didn't work either.

I can get to the Command Prompt, but still no access to Safe Mode. Of course, after 5 minutes of trouble-shooting, Dell's solution is always to wipe everything clean, but I'd like to avoid that.

Can I force access to Safe Mode from teh ommand Prompt? I'd like to at least save some files before wiping my system.

[dynamomark80]

I cant say I have used a recovery disc since XP.
If I recall correctly you can use an install disc to start with that and select start up repair option in the menu.

if you dont have a disc but have access to another compute you can download a OEM version of a disc for free from Microsoft to use with your legit key.
put the OEM on a bootable usb and boot from that to fix or burn to a dvd if you can.

i will do some digging and check back in a bit

[stilly]

I think the idea here is FIRST to find out what caused that. Do you have a bad battery and maybe soon a bad power system/ plug on that laptop? How old is it? That is pretty retarded that an OS will get jacked that easily. I wonder if it is possible for you to try a system restore from safe mode.

OH WAIT a second. This sounds like a BOOT issue. You got a jacked up boot sector I bet. NOT the OS at all I am willing to bet on this.

What you need to do is have a third party software look at and maybe fix your MBR.

Hey try this, if you are in a command prompt, try typing this: EXPLORER


see if that brings up the GUI, BUT before you do that, try this, if you can type things at the command prompt, type FDISK /F
That should hopefully get you back on track, but what do I know? I can't even get hired as a tech and this advice is free.
You might need to have gparted or partition master correct your FAT and those will be through knoppix or hiren's boot cd OR partition master I think is free to get online.

Here is partition master:

http://easeus-partition-master-home-edition.en.softonic.com/

Hiren's boot cd is a bit harder to find, but if you have a torrent client you can get it through TPB...

[pluke the 2]

sounds like the hard drive itself could be dust. although it passed the check, it could be a suspect.

easiest thing to do, pull memory. 1 by 1. one doesn't help, pull the other one. both dont work, put the other one back in. try both sluts. if they both don't work i'd look for a hard drive - usb back upsee below

that means taking out the old hard drive and plugging her in to power the b*$@ up and transferring that to another pc. after that i'd wipe the sob with a clean w7 install and see if she fires up.

[pluke the 2]

if youre local in orange county i can hook you up with the tool to back up your hard drive and transfer it to a desktop/laptop.

[pluke the 2]

check 5 o

http://www.amazon.com/SANOXY%C2%AE-SATA-Hard-Drive-Enclosure/dp/B001AAVA08/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1369795294&sr=1-2

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
68 of 70 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars It worked September 29, 2009
By rochu168
Amazon Verified Purchase
I bought this enclosure to recover data from a laptop. Installation is easy. The interface adapter from the old laptop hard drive has to be removed before connecting to the circuit board. I was able to copy the data from the hard drive once the enclosure was plugged in. There was no attempt to mount the hard drive on the enclosure with the two small screws. Will this enclosure last? I have no idea and it doesn't matter. All I know is that I paid $7.80 for this enclosure and it worked well enough to recover data from a dead laptop. The product gets a five star rating for a data recovery job accomplished.

[the86d]

A clean install or restore should be done if you tested the HDD media already. Any bad sectors usually means drive is cancerous and needs replacing.

1st I would d/load Knoppix DVD on another computer if you have one, burn it, boot to it on the problem computer with an external HDD plugged in, (or a place on the network you know the user/pass to) and copy what you need-saved there...

[bigbearbear]

Remove the battery and all USB devices on the laptop (including external keyboard/mouse). Wait 10mins, connect power and power it on again. See if that works.

I'm suspecting the CPU might have overheated when it tries to load Windows.