cannot boot

[Guest]

Good afternoon

Situation: have a used Dell laptop that came with Windows 2000 installed; plugged into DSL line; now cannot get into the system because it says it's an invalid password. Cannot boot from program disk, which is the only disk available. Is there any way to start from scratch

Thanks for any help you can give me

 

[Dave Patrick]

To do a clean install, either boot the Windows 2000 install CD-Rom or setup
disks. The set of four install disks can be created from your Windows 2000
CD-Rom; change to the \bootdisk directory on the CD-Rom and execute
makeboot.exe (from dos) or makebt32.exe (from 32 bit) and follow the
prompts.

When you get to the point, delete the existing NTFS and or other partitions
found. After you delete the partition(s) abort the install, then again
restart the pc booting the CD-Rom or setup disks to avoid unexpected drive
letter assignments with your new install.

--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft MVP [Windows NT/2000 Operating Systems]
Microsoft Certified Professional [Windows 2000]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect.


:
<snip>
Is there any way to start from scratch?

 

[Guest]

Please forgive a Macaddict trying to help a total novice, the dumb leading the dumber, but...

Can I force the computer to boot from the program CD? Can't get to DOS or a prompt or anything--it runs the bios, then goes to the screen that says I cannot access the information on the computer because of security, then tells me the password is invalid. I have set-up, but on floppes--and the Dell doesn't have a floppy drive. Argghhhhh...

 

[Dave Patrick]

You can set the boot order in cmos setup, then watch for the key stroke at
POST (F2 or something) to confirm boot from CD-Rom

--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft MVP [Windows NT/2000 Operating Systems]
Microsoft Certified Professional [Windows 2000]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect.


:
| Please forgive a Macaddict trying to help a total novice, the dumb leading
the dumber, but...
|
| Can I force the computer to boot from the program CD? Can't get to DOS or
a prompt or anything--it runs the bios, then goes to the screen that says I
cannot access the information on the computer because of security, then
tells me the password is invalid. I have set-up, but on floppes--and the
Dell doesn't have a floppy drive. Argghhhhh...

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Good afternoon,

Situation: have a used Dell laptop that came with Windows 2000 installed;

plugged into DSL line; now cannot get into the system because it says it's
an invalid password. Cannot boot from program disk, which is the only disk
available. Is there any way to start from scratch?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

It is not clear from your post if you want to rebuild your machine (in which
case Dave Patrick's suggestion of changing the BIOS boot order, then booting
from your Win2000 CD applies), or if you wish to reset the Win2000 password
(in which case one of several tools could be used).

 

[Guest]

I believe the machine needs to be rebuilt, but to be candid, all this is Greek to a PC neophyte such as I. I have very limited resources, intellectual and technical (I'm on a desert island in the Bahamas). I'm embarrassed to tell you that I have absolutely no idea how to change the BIOS boot order
On a Mac, one can force the machine to boot from the CD by restarting with the letter C on the keyboard depressed. At this point, only I am depressed because I'm such an idiot.

 

[Dave Patrick]

A good source of info on your laptop can be found here. Just enter in the
service tag number found on the bottom of the laptop.

http://support.dell.com/home.aspx

--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft MVP [Windows NT/2000 Operating Systems]
Microsoft Certified Professional [Windows 2000]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect.


:
| I believe the machine needs to be rebuilt, but to be candid, all this is
Greek to a PC neophyte such as I. I have very limited resources,
intellectual and technical (I'm on a desert island in the Bahamas). I'm
embarrassed to tell you that I have absolutely no idea how to change the
BIOS boot order.
| On a Mac, one can force the machine to boot from the CD by restarting
with the letter C on the keyboard depressed. At this point, only I am
depressed because I'm such an idiot.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

As Dave Patrick said: Watch the messages that pop up on your screen at boot
time. They usually say something like "Press Delete to set up BIOS". When
doing so, you will get the so-called BIOS setup screen.

Look for "Advanced BIOS Features", or for "Boot", then use common sense to
change the boot order so that the machine will use the CD drive as its
primary boot device.

If your knowledge about PCs is as limited as you say it is then you may be
facing an uphill battle while loading & configuring Windows 2000. It might
be more pleasurable to concentrate on the bikini-clad beauties on your
desert island than to do battle with your PC.

I believe the machine needs to be rebuilt, but to be candid, all this is

Greek to a PC neophyte such as I. I have very limited resources,
intellectual and technical (I'm on a desert island in the Bahamas). I'm
embarrassed to tell you that I have absolutely no idea how to change the
BIOS boot order.

On a Mac, one can force the machine to boot from the CD by restarting

with the letter C on the keyboard depressed. At this point, only I am
depressed because I'm such an idiot.

 

[Jisha]

LOL Pegasus...

It might be more pleasurable to concentrate on the
bikini-clad beauties on your desert island than to
do battle with your PC.

What if the only bikini-clad beauties are on his screensaver!
....didn't he say he was on a "deserted island"? ;]

Chris