Laptop not responding at all!

Hi,
Have a friends laptop that is completely dead! When I try & start in safe mode I just get a load of commands similair to this "multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS\System32\Drivers\xxxxxxx" xxxxx is different on each command eg VolSnap.sys or Fastfat.sys etc.
I've tried "last known good configuration ", but, I keep going back to the set up screen.
I've tried "Start windows normally ", but again, I return to the set up screen.
Also, tried "start with command prompt ",but, I get the same problem as I do when starting in safe mode.
HELP!

 

OK Tony, I'll try it & get back to you. Thanks

 

Tried what was suggested. It's been stuck on the same screen for about an hour now, nothing happening.

 

I've managed to recover the laptop by using the system recovery cd. I'm now in safe mode. Any ideas how to proceed?

 

Also check in Device Manager for any error listings.

 

Try without the battery
A dead battery can give all types of symptoms
Try booting with a windows 98 disk - if it is fat32 and see if you can read


www.bootdisk.com

you can try spinrite as well later on if it is a hard drive issue
Go into the bios and reset to factory defaults

 

No luck. As soon as I tried to open a program, blue bsod appeared very briefly & computer shut down. Tried starting up again, got as far as the blue screen with the microsoft logo on it & that's it, will not load up any further.

 

Ok, Ive managed to get it back up again, but, I'm unable to do anything in safe mode. When I try to open a program in safe mode, nothing happens. I've run AdAware & AVG, but, can't run SpyBot until I download the updates (I'm not online at the moment). Tried running AdAware again & the following bsod appeared "PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA ". Tech info, STOP: 0x00000050 (0xC0F7971C, 0X00000000, 0X804EEF61, 0X00000000. I haven't managed to check Device Manager (I don't know how to). Also, don't know how to reset factory settings via BIOS. Did manage to uncheck automatically restart.Don't know how to check the event viewer.
Sorry it's a bit long, but, I'm still an newbie when it comes to all this!

tried restarting, following error window appears "svchost.exe - ApplicationError. The instruction at "0x77f52109" referenced memory at "0x00000000 ". The meory could not be "written ". Click on OK to terminate the program. When I clicked on OK, windows loaded up OK. Also, the fan keeps starting & stopping in short bursts, every minute or so?
Tried running Adaware again, bsod, appeared, but, I couldn't read it, as it disappeared immediately. When restarting, a scan was done as there were inconcistency with the hard drive, fat32?

 

Hi Rich,
You can find all these things by searching in Help and Support.

For Device Manager, right-click on My Computer, select Properties -> Hardware -> Device Manager (or what is sometimes referred to around here as Device Mangler). As a tip, get updated drivers from the device manufacturer's website, don't use the search facility in "Update Drivers" or driver downloads from Windows Update. If you think there is a driver problem, you can uninstall the driver in Device Manager and at the very least, install the drivers that came with the device. Main system drivers will be on a CD that came with the computer.

Event Viewer, right-click on My Computer and select Manage -> Event Viewer.

You get to most system utilities through Control Panel.

If the STOP: 0x00000050 keeps reappearing, look through some of the PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA links here:
http://support.microsoft.com/search...&ast=3&ast=4&ast=7&ast=10&ast=12&mode=a&adv=1

It is good that you let us know what areas you are not sure about. Help and Support will get you started.

Matt

 

try taking out the battery for 10 minutes or so
reset the bios to factory defaults as a start as well