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Long Shot - Laptop help



Rugrat

Rugrat

Well-known member
Mar 13, 2011
10,215
Seaford
Had problems in past overheating but got fixed. Still runs hot but been no prob until other day when it cut out on me when I disconnected from mains. Battery is in good nick. When I switch on I get the standard Dell logo then a "Starting Windows" screen with the MS logo fading in ... then the screen just goes dark grey ... I can see and move my cursor around but that's it. Any ideas ... a Dell about 3 years old and already spent £100 on clean up and fan 6 months ago so wondering if it's kaput?

Any sensible advice/help appreciated
 






Rugrat

Rugrat

Well-known member
Mar 13, 2011
10,215
Seaford
BBassic said:
Try booting it up in safe mode and restoring from the last known stable state. I'm not too clever on laptops but that sorted a similar problem my girlfriend was having.
Click to expand...

Not sure how I can do that ... I get the "Windows is Starting Up" and Microsoft Logo and then after about 20 seconds that goes away and all I have is the grey screen with my cursor that I can move around but there's nothing to see to hit
 


Rugrat

Rugrat

Well-known member
Mar 13, 2011
10,215
Seaford
BBassic said:
Try booting it up in safe mode and restoring from the last known stable state. I'm not too clever on laptops but that sorted a similar problem my girlfriend was having.
Click to expand...

Oh .. discovered F12 took me to a screen Start Up normally or repair prob ...now got "Start Up repair is checking for prob's" so looks like I'm in for a wait! Cheers!!
 






B

blackprince

New member
Jul 16, 2007
210
Assuming that you are running windows 7 on your laptop

Using the F8 Method:
1. Restart your computer.
2. When the computer starts you will see your computer's hardware being listed. When you see this information start to gently tap the F8 key on your keyboard repeatedly until you are presented with the Windows 7 Advanced Boot Options screen as shown in the image below.

windows-7-f8.jpg

Windows 7 Advanced Boot Options screen


3. Using the arrow keys, select the Safe Mode option you want.
4. Then press the enter key on your keyboard to boot into Windows 7 Safe Mode.
5. When Windows starts you will be at a typical logon screen. Logon to your computer and Windows 7 will enter Safe mode.
6. Do whatever tasks you require, and when you are done, reboot to go back into normal mode.
 


Rugrat

Rugrat

Well-known member
Mar 13, 2011
10,215
Seaford
blackprince said:
Assuming that you are running windows 7 on your laptop

Using the F8 Method:
1. Restart your computer.
2. When the computer starts you will see your computer's hardware being listed. When you see this information start to gently tap the F8 key on your keyboard repeatedly until you are presented with the Windows 7 Advanced Boot Options screen as shown in the image below.

View attachment 44312

Windows 7 Advanced Boot Options screen


3. Using the arrow keys, select the Safe Mode option you want.
4. Then press the enter key on your keyboard to boot into Windows 7 Safe Mode.
5. When Windows starts you will be at a typical logon screen. Logon to your computer and Windows 7 will enter Safe mode.
6. Do whatever tasks you require, and when you are done, reboot to go back into normal mode.
Click to expand...

I tried that and got the screen that you showed. Wasn't sure which Safe mode to hit so tried them all and what I got on each was a big run of Command lines and then back to grey screen with cursor. Any ideas?
 


B

blackprince

New member
Jul 16, 2007
210
Arrow down to Safe Mode on it's own

On my desktop running Windows 7, the command lines are on the screen for nearly 30 seconds before the safe mode screen is displayed.
Once you are in safe mode go to system restore and choose one of the available dates. If that doesn't do the trick, it is reversible so do that and follow the same procedure again trying an even early restore point.
 




carlzeiss

carlzeiss

Well-known member
May 19, 2009
5,844
Amazonia
Have you tried connecting from the vga output to a separate monitor to prove that the lap top screen is OK .
 


British Bulldog

British Bulldog

The great escape
Feb 6, 2006
10,893
Rugrat said:
Had problems in past overheating but got fixed. Still runs hot but been no prob until other day when it cut out on me when I disconnected from mains. Battery is in good nick. When I switch on I get the standard Dell logo then a "Starting Windows" screen with the MS logo fading in ... then the screen just goes dark grey ... I can see and move my cursor around but that's it. Any ideas ... a Dell about 3 years old and already spent £100 on clean up and fan 6 months ago so wondering if it's kaput?

Any sensible advice/help appreciated
Click to expand...

Give it up, When a Dell starts giving up the ghost it's time to get a new computer. Had 2 dells that have gone that way.
 


Rugrat

Rugrat

Well-known member
Mar 13, 2011
10,215
Seaford
blackprince said:
Arrow down to Safe Mode on it's own

On my desktop running Windows 7, the command lines are on the screen for nearly 30 seconds before the safe mode screen is displayed.
Once you are in safe mode go to system restore and choose one of the available dates. If that doesn't do the trick, it is reversible so do that and follow the same procedure again trying an even early restore point.
Click to expand...

Yes the command lines last about 30 secs but then to grey screen

carlzeiss said:
Have you tried connecting from the vga output to a separate monitor to prove that the lap top screen is OK .
Click to expand...

Y, tried that, nothing

British Bulldog said:
Give it up, When a Dell starts giving up the ghost it's time to get a new computer. Had 2 dells that have gone that way.
Click to expand...

Thinking you may be right :)
 












empire

empire

Well-known member
Dec 1, 2003
11,699
dreamland
a member on here is a lap top specialist ....hotlips i think
 






beorhthelm

beorhthelm

A. Virgo, Football Genius
Jul 21, 2003
35,302
if it does it in safe mode and with monitor connected, its going to be pretty difficult to fix. try searching t'interweb and Dell forums in case of a common fault. a reinstall may be the only way, but bear in mind you may loss data. if at all poosible, fit the drive into another computer (you can get an adapter cheap) to copy everything you want off first. other than that its over to experts im afraid.

btw under 3 years it should still be under warranty, albeit return to base. check before spending ££.
 




Rugrat

Rugrat

Well-known member
Mar 13, 2011
10,215
Seaford
beorhthelm said:
if it does it in safe mode and with monitor connected, its going to be pretty difficult to fix. try searching t'interweb and Dell forums in case of a common fault. a reinstall may be the only way, but bear in mind you may loss data. if at all poosible, fit the drive into another computer (you can get an adapter cheap) to copy everything you want off first. other than that its over to experts im afraid.

btw under 3 years it should still be under warranty, albeit return to base. check before spending ££.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure I'm actually getting it into safe mode I hit "Safe" get the command strings and then the grey screen. I've got everything I need backed up so that's not an issue. 3 years is a guess and can't find receipt. Might drop a note to Dell but I thought these things were one year unless extended warranty was bought
 




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