Won't boot

[bl6377]

My friends Dell 8200 won't boot past the windows home edition screen and then it goes to a dark blue or black screen and freezes! Any ideas?

 

[Ned_Flanders]

repair? Boot off the XP cd and choose repair install

______________
Read the friggin FAQ, and use the search button or I'll kick yer face in!

 

[bl6377]

I tried to reboot off the cd and it gets to the same point and stops.

 

[Zoron]

You did press any key to boot from CD when prompted, correct? And the CD-ROM is set in the boot order to boot before the HD, correct?

<font color=red> If you design software that is fool-proof, only a fool will want to use it. </font color=red>

 

[bl6377]

Yes I tried it and the boot order was is the correct order. Also tried to re-install and it stops when searching for installed programs.

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by bl6377 on 02/24/05 02:10 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[joe_tlj]

It sounds like you have hardware issues. try removing all but the esential components, and check for chared parts, or blown capacitors. If the screen just freezes, but the computer continues to work, i.e. blinking LEDs, keyboard lights change when toggled, hard drive sounds, chances are your video card is shot.

 

[bl6377]

I tried all that and I think I have it down to the hard drive crashed!

 

[RichPLS]

Sounds like you need to re-format drive and install.
I have seen something on this at MS Technet, but don't recall specifics. Something about Windows getting corrupted, and some files to replace to try to repair.

<pre><font color=red>°¤o,¸¸¸,o¤°`°¤o \\// o¤°`°¤o,¸¸¸,o¤°
And the sign says "You got to have a membership card to get inside" Huh
So I got me a pen and paper And I made up my own little sign</pre><p></font color=red>

 

[Codesmith]

Run memtest 86 to see if its the memory, run the manufacturer's diagnosit ultilty to see if its the hard drive.