Windows XP will not start

[Guest]

My laptop was having problems going into standby and then coming out of it.
A couple of Fridays ago, my computer wouldn't come out of standby, so I
pushed the reset button to restart my computer.

Now windows goes into a continuous cycle of trying to start. It gives a
message stating that windows did not start successfully. I have 5 options
for trying to start Windows:

Safe Mode (does nothing when selected)
Safe Mode with Networking (does nothing when selected)
Safe Mode with Command Prompt (does nothing when selected)
Last known good configuration (does nothing...)
Start windows normally (nothing...)

I have forced it into safe mode a couple of times by pushing F8, and I can
get it into the diagnostic screen and boot menu, but there's not much I can
do with it since I really don't know what to do.

Has anyone else had this problem? Any fixes?

I'm not sure what other information I would need to give, so if anything
else would help, just let me know.

Thanks!

 

[Guest]

That sounds difficult to say the least. Can I be clear? You do mean stand-by
and not hibernate - there is a difference.

First off, we need to make sure there is a cold restart taking place, so
make sure you remove the mains adapter lead and the battery. Count to 10 (old
wives tale but I always feel better with a notebook if all residual current
has drained away). Plug in the mains adapter then power up. Leave the battery
out of the machine until you've got it going again.

If that doesn't do the trick then consider re-installation (not recovery) of
XP over the top of your current installation. You may need to change the BIOS
if the machine doesn't have the CD/DVD drive in it's boot list.

If these things don't work then post again to see if I or anyone else has
any further thoughts.