Windows XP startup issues?

Question

Sometimes when I turn my Dell laptop on, the Dell screen shows with a loading bar. Then, instead of loading Windows XP, it shows me a blank screen (usually with a blinking white cursor at the top which usually also goes away after a few seconds). Hitting ctrl+alt+del restarts the whole thing over, and most of the time the OS still fails to load. Sometimes I have to completely turn the computer off 3 or 4 times to get the OS to load. Why does this happen?

Answer 1

You could have corrupted system files, hard drive errors or even impending hardware failure.

Back up your files and try to do a system recovery on the notebook. If you encounter the same problem then you need to contact someone who services notebooks or Dell for service.

Answer 2

I agree totally with "badboy"....

You may want to start shopping for a new HD. The symptoms really point to a dying HD.

BTW, Dell has the worst prices in the universe."

Heres what I would do: Either in your PC's documentation or on the Dell web site you will find a manual for your specific laptop model on how to repair/replace components for your PC. To replace a HD it is usually just one or two screws to release the HD and then you just pull it straight out. It's a plug in module so this is all a snap.

Shop around for a HD for Dell Model XXXX. Start with a Google search. This is how I found a new CD for my brothers older Dell. Dell wanted $80 for a new CD, they also wanted $55 for a "refurbed" one, and I found one at Triangle Laptops for $17 + shipping. So do some shopping. By the way, Triangle Laptops was rated very high by it's customers so you could check there.
http://stores.channeladvisor.com/triangle-laptops

If you have someone repair it in a shop be prepared to spend some $$$$. Most get $50 and hour around here and more in some cases. I'd give fixing it a shot if I were you.

See if you can get it to boot up again, and back up everything you value!

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

I dont agree with badboy.

I would say you have an OS problem or a boot error & the first thing I would do is run error checking or download ccleaner & run the cleaner then run Issues.

http://www.ccleaner.com/

then defrag.

then re-start your computer & see if it starts ok.

If this does not sort out the problem then maybe badboy right.

Answer 4

Run chkdisk -r
run spinrite to ensure there are no bad sectors
if problem still exists take the machine to local store to have them run further hardware tests (memtest ect) to find failing hardware component.

Answer 5

sounds like either your hd is going bad or has bad sectors in it. do a complete surface scan on hd ...if there are bad sectors get on ebay and buy another hd cause it will keep getting worse