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[Radar]

My Laptop "crashed" a couple of weeks back whilst i was uploading some photos from my camera - the message came up to the effect that the usb became disconnected and that i should reconnect it and power the machine up again.

Despite numerous attempts when i switch the machine on it displays the xp logo with the "knight rider" bar moving from left to right and just before the process is complete it reverts back to the above message. Whilst it is starting up I am unable to enter setup, reboot etc..

Any ideas would be welcomed since I cannot access OOF at home!!

Thanks In Advance

[TheBoy]

What is the exact error when it fails to boot?  Does it give a blue screen with loads of white writing, or a simple diaglogue box?

[Radar]

It has a complete white background with writing in 3 bullet points similar to the font you get when you run through the standard F2 set up program.

Sorry I can't be more descriptive

[TheBoy]

sounds more like a bios/post msg, but can't be if after the XP logo...

[Radar]

I'm afraid that means nothing to me but I will get the exact message and post it. Won't be able to do until Wednesday though.

[Proz]

Could you try and boot it into safe mode .... i think you press F8 and keep pressing it as soon as you power it on ?

[Radar]

Tried that It wont let me

[vauxfan2k]

if its going as far as the loading xp page then you have already passed the point where you needed to press f8 for the boot menu, on most laptops you need to repeatedly hit f8 quickly (from cold start)until you are presented with the boot menu, once you manage to get into the boot menu, choose safe mode without networking, then use system restore to knock it back to the closest date available BEFORE you had the hassle downloading the images.

machine will reboot and "should" launch windows as if nothing happened.

cheers

[Radar]

Finally got the exact message see below;

The device in the system modular bay cannot be identified. It may noy not be completely inserted or may have some other problem. Please read and complete the following steps in order:

1). Press the device completely and firmly into the bay
2). Press the ESC key -- wait for the system to power down
3). Press the power button to retry detecting the device


Both these messages appear in a grey box and the screen background is all white. I have tried to reconnec the device without luck plus when i try to enter the reboot system or set up menu the pc says it is preparing to enter menu but then just reverts to the above message.

Any further advice would be appreciated as I would like to have internet access over xmas!!

[dbug]

What laptop?

Try going into bios - hit del (or may be another key - look in your laptop manual/docs) repeatedly as soon as you turn on.  Look for usb devices (advanced? dependant on bios) and disable.  Look for PCMCIA and disable.  Save and exit - reboot.  If xp loads go thro same and re-enable one at a time - xp should re-install devices.

[Radar]

Dell Latitude D505 - I will try your suggestion. I hope it will let me do this since I can't get inot reboot / setup.

[jjleonard]

According to the error messages above, and the info I gleaned from this review:

http://reviews.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/notebooks/0,1000000334,39146601,00.htm

It looks like you have a loose device in a modular bay. According to the review, your CD / DVD drive is in a removable module, and it might just be loose.

Power down the laptop and try to remove and firmly re-insert anything that is removable - I assume the modular bay will have a catch underneath.

Give that a quick go - it might (might) help - I am not reknowned for my knowledge, however!  

[Radar]

Thanks I will try your suggestions

[Radar]

Update: With all your help the laptop is working again. I pressed Fn and the power button and it went into boot mode and automatically  ran some tests. After this it still did not work so I removed the cd drive and hey presto! I have not been brave enough to replace the cd drive yet as I'm just happy to get the internet back!

A big thankyou to all