I have a friend who has a laptop that will not boot. When she boots it with
the power cord plugged in, it starts to boot and then shuts off. With the
battery removed, it seems to work better, but still shuts off. Sometimes she
can get it to boot a little into Windows, but then gives her an error
message (see below), and then shuts down.

Though it seems to me to be a hardware issue, someone told her to reinstall
Windows (XP Home). So she put in the Windows disk, and it began the
reinstall. It actually got much further than it had in the past when just
trying to boot. So that made me think that maybe it was something related to
Windows.

She said she got to a part asking if she wanted to create a FAT partition or
something to that effect (she doesn't remember the actual prompt), and,
after that, the system shut down. Here's her actual message to me:

"I got a CD from Dell, to reload my Windows XP. I got my laptop to boot
from the CD. It loaded lots of files. Drivers and such. And now it wants
to put a FAT partition or something like that on. In order to do that it
will erase what I have on the hard drive. (I think) But then, when I clicked
ENTER the whole thing just went blank which makes me think - yes - the power
cord needs to be replaced. But I'm wondering do you think the hard drive is
okay if it's working this far, loading stuff on and giving me options?

"AS before, when it starts without the CD booting it, which I can get it to
do if I have patience, it gives me the same error message of it shut down to
prevent damage to my computer and its a unbootable volume error (I'm not
sure of these words, it's something like that)."

My instinct at this point would be to reformat the C drive, then reinstall
Windows. Perhaps the hard drive just got corrupted and needs to be
reformatted.

Any ideas/thoughts/suggestions?

Also, is it possible to just boot from the Windows XP CD, without loading
Windows from the hard drive? Perhaps that might show whether it's a hard
drive or Windows problem or none of the above.

Thanks!

Neil

Neil wrote:
> I have a friend who has a laptop that will not boot. When she boots it with
> the power cord plugged in, it starts to boot and then shuts off. With the
> battery removed, it seems to work better, but still shuts off. Sometimes she
> can get it to boot a little into Windows, but then gives her an error
> message (see below), and then shuts down.
>
> Though it seems to me to be a hardware issue, someone told her to reinstall
> Windows (XP Home). So she put in the Windows disk, and it began the
> reinstall. It actually got much further than it had in the past when just
> trying to boot. So that made me think that maybe it was something related to
> Windows.
>
> She said she got to a part asking if she wanted to create a FAT partition or
> something to that effect (she doesn't remember the actual prompt), and,
> after that, the system shut down. Here's her actual message to me:
>
> "I got a CD from Dell, to reload my Windows XP. I got my laptop to boot
> from the CD. It loaded lots of files. Drivers and such. And now it wants
> to put a FAT partition or something like that on. In order to do that it
> will erase what I have on the hard drive. (I think) But then, when I clicked
> ENTER the whole thing just went blank which makes me think - yes - the power
> cord needs to be replaced. But I'm wondering do you think the hard drive is
> okay if it's working this far, loading stuff on and giving me options?
>
> "AS before, when it starts without the CD booting it, which I can get it to
> do if I have patience, it gives me the same error message of it shut down to
> prevent damage to my computer and its a unbootable volume error (I'm not
> sure of these words, it's something like that)."
>
> My instinct at this point would be to reformat the C drive, then reinstall
> Windows. Perhaps the hard drive just got corrupted and needs to be
> reformatted.
>
> Any ideas/thoughts/suggestions?
>
> Also, is it possible to just boot from the Windows XP CD, without loading
> Windows from the hard drive? Perhaps that might show whether it's a hard
> drive or Windows problem or none of the above.

From your very thorough description of the problem (thanks!), this is
hardwar-related and not software. Your friend should contact Dell tech
support for repair/replacement.


Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

Neil wrote:

> I have a friend who has a laptop that will not boot. When she boots it with
> the power cord plugged in, it starts to boot and then shuts off. With the
> battery removed, it seems to work better, but still shuts off. Sometimes she
> can get it to boot a little into Windows, but then gives her an error
> message (see below), and then shuts down.
>
> Though it seems to me to be a hardware issue, someone told her to reinstall
> Windows (XP Home). So she put in the Windows disk, and it began the
> reinstall. It actually got much further than it had in the past when just
> trying to boot. So that made me think that maybe it was something related to
> Windows.
>
> She said she got to a part asking if she wanted to create a FAT partition or
> something to that effect (she doesn't remember the actual prompt), and,
> after that, the system shut down. Here's her actual message to me:
>
> "I got a CD from Dell, to reload my Windows XP. I got my laptop to boot
> from the CD. It loaded lots of files. Drivers and such. And now it wants
> to put a FAT partition or something like that on. In order to do that it
> will erase what I have on the hard drive. (I think) But then, when I clicked
> ENTER the whole thing just went blank which makes me think - yes - the power
> cord needs to be replaced. But I'm wondering do you think the hard drive is
> okay if it's working this far, loading stuff on and giving me options?
>
> "AS before, when it starts without the CD booting it, which I can get it to
> do if I have patience, it gives me the same error message of it shut down to
> prevent damage to my computer and its a unbootable volume error (I'm not
> sure of these words, it's something like that)."
>
> My instinct at this point would be to reformat the C drive, then reinstall
> Windows. Perhaps the hard drive just got corrupted and needs to be
> reformatted.
>
> Any ideas/thoughts/suggestions?
>
> Also, is it possible to just boot from the Windows XP CD, without loading
> Windows from the hard drive? Perhaps that might show whether it's a hard
> drive or Windows problem or none of the above.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Neil

Description of the Windows XP Recovery Console
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;EN-US;314058

Have her run chkdsk /r on the drive.

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/d....mspx?mfr=true

John

With a Dell you should be able to press a function key (don't know which one, F5. F8, F12 ?) to load a diagnostic program. If the program will load you can run diagnostics. If the program won't load you probably have a bad hard drive.

Neil wrote:
>
> I have a friend who has a laptop that will not boot. When she boots it with
> the power cord plugged in, it starts to boot and then shuts off. With the
> battery removed, it seems to work better, but still shuts off. Sometimes she
> can get it to boot a little into Windows, but then gives her an error
> message (see below), and then shuts down.
>
> Though it seems to me to be a hardware issue, someone told her to reinstall
> Windows (XP Home). So she put in the Windows disk, and it began the
> reinstall. It actually got much further than it had in the past when just
> trying to boot. So that made me think that maybe it was something related to
> Windows.
>
> She said she got to a part asking if she wanted to create a FAT partition or
> something to that effect (she doesn't remember the actual prompt), and,
> after that, the system shut down. Here's her actual message to me:
>
> "I got a CD from Dell, to reload my Windows XP. I got my laptop to boot
> from the CD. It loaded lots of files. Drivers and such. And now it wants
> to put a FAT partition or something like that on. In order to do that it
> will erase what I have on the hard drive. (I think) But then, when I clicked
> ENTER the whole thing just went blank which makes me think - yes - the power
> cord needs to be replaced. But I'm wondering do you think the hard drive is
> okay if it's working this far, loading stuff on and giving me options?
>
> "AS before, when it starts without the CD booting it, which I can get it to
> do if I have patience, it gives me the same error message of it shut down to
> prevent damage to my computer and its a unbootable volume error (I'm not
> sure of these words, it's something like that)."
>
> My instinct at this point would be to reformat the C drive, then reinstall
> Windows. Perhaps the hard drive just got corrupted and needs to be
> reformatted.
>
> Any ideas/thoughts/suggestions?
>
> Also, is it possible to just boot from the Windows XP CD, without loading
> Windows from the hard drive? Perhaps that might show whether it's a hard
> drive or Windows problem or none of the above.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Neil

--
Mike Walsh

"Neil" <(E-Mail Removed)> writes:

> I have a friend who has a laptop that will not boot. When she boots it with
> the power cord plugged in, it starts to boot and then shuts off.


Windows detractors might not be able to resist a comment like:

She should consider herself lucky!

Depending on the day and the problem, I am such a detractor, but
stillw we gotta work with these things. *sigh*.


> With the battery removed, it seems to work better, but still shuts
> off. Sometimes she can get it to boot a little into Windows, but
> then gives her an error message (see below), and then shuts down.
>
> Though it seems to me to be a hardware issue, someone told her to reinstall
> Windows (XP Home). So she put in the Windows disk, and it began the
> reinstall. It actually got much further than it had in the past when just
> trying to boot. So that made me think that maybe it was something related to
> Windows.
>
> She said she got to a part asking if she wanted to create a FAT partition or
> something to that effect (she doesn't remember the actual prompt), and,
> after that, the system shut down. Here's her actual message to me:
>
> "I got a CD from Dell, to reload my Windows XP. I got my laptop to boot
> from the CD. It loaded lots of files. Drivers and such. And now it wants
> to put a FAT partition or something like that on. In order to do that it
> will erase what I have on the hard drive. (I think) But then, when I clicked
> ENTER the whole thing just went blank which makes me think - yes - the power
> cord needs to be replaced. But I'm wondering do you think the hard drive is
> okay if it's working this far, loading stuff on and giving me options?
>
> "AS before, when it starts without the CD booting it, which I can get it to
> do if I have patience, it gives me the same error message of it shut down to
> prevent damage to my computer and its a unbootable volume error (I'm not
> sure of these words, it's something like that)."
>
> My instinct at this point would be to reformat the C drive, then reinstall
> Windows. Perhaps the hard drive just got corrupted and needs to be
> reformatted.
>
> Any ideas/thoughts/suggestions?
>
> Also, is it possible to just boot from the Windows XP CD, without loading
> Windows from the hard drive? Perhaps that might show whether it's a hard
> drive or Windows problem or none of the above.

Yes, this is possible. You boot the Windows CD, and when it will
prompt you and give an option to Repair a windows installation.

From there, it should ask for the admin password and drop you to a DOS
prompt. From there, I'd strongly recommend a variant of

chkdsk /f


But be prepared for needing to replace the laptop hard drive. That
teh machine gets as far as it does on the CD alone, and then locks up
when accessing the hard disk to format it indicates a problem. If
there is audible clicking when the hard drive operates, it's almost a
sure bet.

Also, do a quick search on teh dell support site as to the key press
to get the option to boot the Dell diagnostic aprtition to run
hardware checks. If the disk is well enough to give access to that,
of course. It's on a separate partition at least.

If the drive is clicking, save yourself a lot of headache and order a
replacement, and start from scratch.

Best Regards,
--
Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/

"Neil" wrote:

"... it gives me the same error message of it shut down to prevent damage to
my computer..."

There's a number of reasons why windows would display that message, but the
most common ones are related to overheating and a bad Hard Disk. Both these
emergency shutdowns are controlled by your BIOS and they kick in to prevent
damage to your computer (in case of overheating) or to prevent loss of data
(in case of the of the Hard Disk S.M.A.R.T function).

"... and its a unbootable volume error..."

This part of your message suggests that the Hard Disk S.M.A.R.T function has
detected a serious problem in your HDD and has shut down the machine to
prevent the further loss of any valuable data you may have stored on it.
I would suggest you to run the diagnostic tool from Dell (if avaliable) or
the chkdsk command from the windows CD console to check your HDD.
But keep in mind that if you have important data stored on your disk and it
is in fact damaged, then accessing it may cause further damage to it's
surface and the data stored on it, rendering a successful data recovery more
and more improbable with each time you try to access the disk.

Thanks. Data recovery isn't an issue. Only issue is getting the machine
working again and trying to avoid sending it to Dell and spending hundreds
on repair costs. Replacing the hard drive would be a viable option, if that
were the problem.


"Rui Correia (MCSE)" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
message news:7B9BDE16-AE7B-4DAF-B3FE-(E-Mail Removed)...
> "Neil" wrote:
>
> "... it gives me the same error message of it shut down to prevent damage
> to
> my computer..."
>
> There's a number of reasons why windows would display that message, but
> the
> most common ones are related to overheating and a bad Hard Disk. Both
> these
> emergency shutdowns are controlled by your BIOS and they kick in to
> prevent
> damage to your computer (in case of overheating) or to prevent loss of
> data
> (in case of the of the Hard Disk S.M.A.R.T function).
>
> "... and its a unbootable volume error..."
>
> This part of your message suggests that the Hard Disk S.M.A.R.T function
> has
> detected a serious problem in your HDD and has shut down the machine to
> prevent the further loss of any valuable data you may have stored on it.
> I would suggest you to run the diagnostic tool from Dell (if avaliable) or
> the chkdsk command from the windows CD console to check your HDD.
> But keep in mind that if you have important data stored on your disk and
> it
> is in fact damaged, then accessing it may cause further damage to it's
> surface and the data stored on it, rendering a successful data recovery
> more
> and more improbable with each time you try to access the disk.

Great idea. Thanks.

"Mike Walsh" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> With a Dell you should be able to press a function key (don't know which
> one, F5. F8, F12 ?) to load a diagnostic program. If the program will load
> you can run diagnostics. If the program won't load you probably have a bad
> hard drive.
>
> Neil wrote:
>>
>> I have a friend who has a laptop that will not boot. When she boots it
>> with
>> the power cord plugged in, it starts to boot and then shuts off. With the
>> battery removed, it seems to work better, but still shuts off. Sometimes
>> she
>> can get it to boot a little into Windows, but then gives her an error
>> message (see below), and then shuts down.
>>
>> Though it seems to me to be a hardware issue, someone told her to
>> reinstall
>> Windows (XP Home). So she put in the Windows disk, and it began the
>> reinstall. It actually got much further than it had in the past when just
>> trying to boot. So that made me think that maybe it was something related
>> to
>> Windows.
>>
>> She said she got to a part asking if she wanted to create a FAT partition
>> or
>> something to that effect (she doesn't remember the actual prompt), and,
>> after that, the system shut down. Here's her actual message to me:
>>
>> "I got a CD from Dell, to reload my Windows XP. I got my laptop to boot
>> from the CD. It loaded lots of files. Drivers and such. And now it
>> wants
>> to put a FAT partition or something like that on. In order to do that it
>> will erase what I have on the hard drive. (I think) But then, when I
>> clicked
>> ENTER the whole thing just went blank which makes me think - yes - the
>> power
>> cord needs to be replaced. But I'm wondering do you think the hard drive
>> is
>> okay if it's working this far, loading stuff on and giving me options?
>>
>> "AS before, when it starts without the CD booting it, which I can get it
>> to
>> do if I have patience, it gives me the same error message of it shut down
>> to
>> prevent damage to my computer and its a unbootable volume error (I'm not
>> sure of these words, it's something like that)."
>>
>> My instinct at this point would be to reformat the C drive, then
>> reinstall
>> Windows. Perhaps the hard drive just got corrupted and needs to be
>> reformatted.
>>
>> Any ideas/thoughts/suggestions?
>>
>> Also, is it possible to just boot from the Windows XP CD, without loading
>> Windows from the hard drive? Perhaps that might show whether it's a hard
>> drive or Windows problem or none of the above.
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> Neil
>
> --
> Mike Walsh

Thanks. If it were the hard drive, i guess that would explain why, when
booting normally, it would shut down after a few seconds most of the time?
At first we thought it was the power supply or the motherboard because it
would just turn off. But if it was the hard drive, and if the machine was
trying to load Windows from the hard drive, then that would explain why it
would shut off after a few seconds, right?


"Todd H." <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> "Neil" <(E-Mail Removed)> writes:
>
>> I have a friend who has a laptop that will not boot. When she boots it
>> with
>> the power cord plugged in, it starts to boot and then shuts off.
>
>
> Windows detractors might not be able to resist a comment like:
>
> She should consider herself lucky!
>
> Depending on the day and the problem, I am such a detractor, but
> stillw we gotta work with these things. *sigh*.
>
>
>> With the battery removed, it seems to work better, but still shuts
>> off. Sometimes she can get it to boot a little into Windows, but
>> then gives her an error message (see below), and then shuts down.
>>
>> Though it seems to me to be a hardware issue, someone told her to
>> reinstall
>> Windows (XP Home). So she put in the Windows disk, and it began the
>> reinstall. It actually got much further than it had in the past when just
>> trying to boot. So that made me think that maybe it was something related
>> to
>> Windows.
>>
>> She said she got to a part asking if she wanted to create a FAT partition
>> or
>> something to that effect (she doesn't remember the actual prompt), and,
>> after that, the system shut down. Here's her actual message to me:
>>
>> "I got a CD from Dell, to reload my Windows XP. I got my laptop to boot
>> from the CD. It loaded lots of files. Drivers and such. And now it
>> wants
>> to put a FAT partition or something like that on. In order to do that it
>> will erase what I have on the hard drive. (I think) But then, when I
>> clicked
>> ENTER the whole thing just went blank which makes me think - yes - the
>> power
>> cord needs to be replaced. But I'm wondering do you think the hard drive
>> is
>> okay if it's working this far, loading stuff on and giving me options?
>>
>> "AS before, when it starts without the CD booting it, which I can get it
>> to
>> do if I have patience, it gives me the same error message of it shut down
>> to
>> prevent damage to my computer and its a unbootable volume error (I'm not
>> sure of these words, it's something like that)."
>>
>> My instinct at this point would be to reformat the C drive, then
>> reinstall
>> Windows. Perhaps the hard drive just got corrupted and needs to be
>> reformatted.
>>
>> Any ideas/thoughts/suggestions?
>>
>> Also, is it possible to just boot from the Windows XP CD, without loading
>> Windows from the hard drive? Perhaps that might show whether it's a hard
>> drive or Windows problem or none of the above.
>
> Yes, this is possible. You boot the Windows CD, and when it will
> prompt you and give an option to Repair a windows installation.
>
> From there, it should ask for the admin password and drop you to a DOS
> prompt. From there, I'd strongly recommend a variant of
>
> chkdsk /f
>
>
> But be prepared for needing to replace the laptop hard drive. That
> teh machine gets as far as it does on the CD alone, and then locks up
> when accessing the hard disk to format it indicates a problem. If
> there is audible clicking when the hard drive operates, it's almost a
> sure bet.
>
> Also, do a quick search on teh dell support site as to the key press
> to get the option to boot the Dell diagnostic aprtition to run
> hardware checks. If the disk is well enough to give access to that,
> of course. It's on a separate partition at least.
>
> If the drive is clicking, save yourself a lot of headache and order a
> replacement, and start from scratch.
>
> Best Regards,
> --
> Todd H.
> http://www.toddh.net/

Thanks.

"John John" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:O%(E-Mail Removed)...
> Neil wrote:
>
>> I have a friend who has a laptop that will not boot. When she boots it
>> with the power cord plugged in, it starts to boot and then shuts off.
>> With the battery removed, it seems to work better, but still shuts off.
>> Sometimes she can get it to boot a little into Windows, but then gives
>> her an error message (see below), and then shuts down.
>>
>> Though it seems to me to be a hardware issue, someone told her to
>> reinstall Windows (XP Home). So she put in the Windows disk, and it began
>> the reinstall. It actually got much further than it had in the past when
>> just trying to boot. So that made me think that maybe it was something
>> related to Windows.
>>
>> She said she got to a part asking if she wanted to create a FAT partition
>> or something to that effect (she doesn't remember the actual prompt),
>> and, after that, the system shut down. Here's her actual message to me:
>>
>> "I got a CD from Dell, to reload my Windows XP. I got my laptop to boot
>> from the CD. It loaded lots of files. Drivers and such. And now it
>> wants to put a FAT partition or something like that on. In order to do
>> that it will erase what I have on the hard drive. (I think) But then,
>> when I clicked ENTER the whole thing just went blank which makes me
>> think - yes - the power cord needs to be replaced. But I'm wondering do
>> you think the hard drive is okay if it's working this far, loading stuff
>> on and giving me options?
>>
>> "AS before, when it starts without the CD booting it, which I can get it
>> to do if I have patience, it gives me the same error message of it shut
>> down to prevent damage to my computer and its a unbootable volume error
>> (I'm not sure of these words, it's something like that)."
>>
>> My instinct at this point would be to reformat the C drive, then
>> reinstall Windows. Perhaps the hard drive just got corrupted and needs to
>> be reformatted.
>>
>> Any ideas/thoughts/suggestions?
>>
>> Also, is it possible to just boot from the Windows XP CD, without loading
>> Windows from the hard drive? Perhaps that might show whether it's a hard
>> drive or Windows problem or none of the above.
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> Neil
>
> Description of the Windows XP Recovery Console
> http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;EN-US;314058
>
> Have her run chkdsk /r on the drive.
>
> http://www.microsoft.com/resources/d....mspx?mfr=true
>
> John
>