I am trying to fix a laptop (DeLL Inspiron 5100). Used the recovery disk but
did not work. Decided to try a new XP Pro cd (this is what is on it already
so I know the system can handle it) and get this error when it is in setup
mode "The critical system information file syssetup.inf is corrupt or
missing". A search through the internet was NO help. Hopefully someone here
knows something about this?

TIA

--
JOHN C. HARRIS; MPA
JCZ CONSULTING OF TAMPA BAY

JC HARRIS wrote:

> I am trying to fix a laptop (DeLL Inspiron 5100). Used the recovery
> disk but did not work. Decided to try a new XP Pro cd (this is what is
> on it already so I know the system can handle it) and get this error
> when it is in setup mode "The critical system information file
> syssetup.inf is corrupt or missing". A search through the internet was
> NO help. Hopefully someone here knows something about this?

You need to use a Dell XP disk for the repair/reinstall.

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

I tried that and it doesn't work either. I said that in the second sentence.


"JC HARRIS" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>I am trying to fix a laptop (DeLL Inspiron 5100). Used the recovery disk
>but did not work. Decided to try a new XP Pro cd (this is what is on it
>already so I know the system can handle it) and get this error when it is
>in setup mode "The critical system information file syssetup.inf is corrupt
>or missing". A search through the internet was NO help. Hopefully someone
>here knows something about this?
>
> TIA
>
> --
> JOHN C. HARRIS; MPA
> JCZ CONSULTING OF TAMPA BAY
>

JC HARRIS wrote:

> I tried that and it doesn't work either. I said that in the second
> sentence.
>
>
> "JC HARRIS" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>I am trying to fix a laptop (DeLL Inspiron 5100). Used the recovery
>>disk but did not work. Decided to try a new XP Pro cd (this is what is
>>on it already so I know the system can handle it) and get this error
>>when it is in setup mode "The critical system information file
>>syssetup.inf is corrupt or missing". A search through the internet was
>>NO help. Hopefully someone here knows something about this?

Sorry, I thought the question was why an XP Pro disk wouldn't install
and that's when you got the syssetup.ini message - which would be
because you didn't use a Dell full XP install. What happened when you
used Dell's recovery cd? Any error messages? What was the reason you
decided the laptop needed to be restored; i.e., what were its symptoms?

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

The system would not load at all (its a personal laptop) so I tried to do a
repair using the DeLL disc and got a bios.if missing error. After several
tries without it working, tried a full recovery instead of the repair and
got the syssetup error. Then tried it with an XP Pro disc and got the same
error. I have a sneaky suspicion that it is a bad Hard Drive. The laptop
looks pretty abused.



"Malke" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> JC HARRIS wrote:
>
>> I tried that and it doesn't work either. I said that in the second
>> sentence.
>>
>>
>> "JC HARRIS" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>>I am trying to fix a laptop (DeLL Inspiron 5100). Used the recovery
>>>disk but did not work. Decided to try a new XP Pro cd (this is what is
>>>on it already so I know the system can handle it) and get this error
>>>when it is in setup mode "The critical system information file
>>>syssetup.inf is corrupt or missing". A search through the internet was
>>>NO help. Hopefully someone here knows something about this?
>
> Sorry, I thought the question was why an XP Pro disk wouldn't install
> and that's when you got the syssetup.ini message - which would be
> because you didn't use a Dell full XP install. What happened when you
> used Dell's recovery cd? Any error messages? What was the reason you
> decided the laptop needed to be restored; i.e., what were its symptoms?
>
> Malke
> --
> Elephant Boy Computers
> www.elephantboycomputers.com
> "Don't Panic!"
> MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

JC HARRIS wrote:

> The system would not load at all (its a personal laptop) so I tried to
> do a repair using the DeLL disc and got a bios.if missing error. After
> several tries without it working, tried a full recovery instead of the
> repair and got the syssetup error. Then tried it with an XP Pro disc
> and got the same error. I have a sneaky suspicion that it is a bad
> Hard Drive. The laptop looks pretty abused.

I Googled "bios.if" and got nothing, but I think you've definitely got
hardware errors. It might be just the hard drive, but more probably is
the motherboard. Here are some general hardware troubleshooting steps:
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/...ardware_Tshoot

If the laptop is still under warranty, the owner should call Dell for
repair/replacement. If its an old (cheap, and thrashed) laptop and the
motherboard is bad, it's more cost-effective to just replace the
machine.

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