[RESOLVED] Re:Start up help needed

Hello all, my daughters computer would not go past the password stage, the desktop or the computer password. Both the passwords typed in where lower case and 100% correct.

So, having gone through a few things, told her to remove the Battery, instal a new battery, which she did, then a set-up screen appeared, and she followed whatever instructions it asked to do.

Now, a blue screen appears saying, can't run setup (on this weird blue screen) saying: system, system info,(with sub categories): processor info, memory info, pci info, date/times, boot sequence, hdd boot sequence. Main categories: drives, onboard devices, video, performance, security, power management, maintenance, post behaviour.

It does not allow her any further.

Can anyone suggest what next??

I think she has the windows vista disc, but, not sure.

How do i instal windows vista with a disc, and how if its Pre-Installed do i do this??? If i need to do, which i hope not, lol.

Thanks, Gep

Hello all, my daughter has re-stated the computer and now it comes up saying " it goes onto a black screen that says 'diskette drive o seek failure, invalid configuration information please run setup programme. Press f1 to continue f2 to enter setup.' if i reps f1 it goes onto the log in screen which doesn't work if i press f2 it goes onto the blue screen

The black screen message about diskette drive seek failure etc etc sounds like an older computer looking for - and not finding - the floppy disk drive. This would tell the computer the ESCD (system configuration) in the BIOS was corrupted and needed resetting.

Before spending the night guessing, how about posting the make and model of computer (or mobo make/model if a homebuild)?

Hello lqbpop and all, it is a Dell Dimension E521 with windows vista.

Thanks, Gep

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gep

... Press f1 to continue f2 to enter setup.'

if i reps f1 it goes onto the log in screen which doesn't work ...

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Does it get as far as the normal Windows Vista logon screen?

If so, what happens when you click the username/icon to logon?

Hello Spywaredr and all, it no longer gets there, see my first post. Cannot run set-up etc, and black screen post.

Thanks, Gep

Turn the computer off. Wait about 15 seconds. Turn it back on and then wait, (without touching the mouse or keyboard).

If there is a hardware problem, the computer may beep more than once (with a particular pattern), or, it should stop with an error message of some type on the screen.

If you see an error message, what is the exact wording?

Hello Spywaredr and all, dell screen appears, then straight onto Diskette drive0, seek failure, press f1 to continue or f2 to enter set up.

Will ask her to press F1 see where it takes her.

Thanks, Gep


i have her on the phone at present

Hello Spywaredr and all, pressed F1, the user profile service, service failed to the logon.
User profile can not be loaded. Pressed ok, then it logs off, then back to logon screen screen again.

When she tries the computer password, that does not work either.

All passwords are correct. No reset disc, which it also asks for, she has the windows vista OS disc.

WILL BE ONLINE Again around 2pm UK time, 2 hours from now, thanks.


Thanks, Gep

Was that a motherboard battery that was replaced? If so you have reset all the BIOS settings to their defaults, which in turn may have upset Windows. You'll need to go through everything in the BIOS Setup and put the settings back as they were.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gep

Hello Spywaredr and all, dell screen appears, then straight onto Diskette drive0, seek failure, press f1 to continue or f2 to enter set up.

Will ask her to press F1 see where it takes her.

Thanks, Gep


i have her on the phone at present

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Is there a diskette in drive A:? If so, remove it and try rebooting again. If not, disabling the floppy drive in the BIOS should stop the error message. (You can replace the flaky/dead floppy drive later for maybe $20 or so).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gep

Hello Spywaredr and all, pressed F1, the user profile service, service failed to the logon.
User profile can not be loaded.

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Fixing User Profiles in Vista
http://cherrybyte.blogspot.com/2007/...-in-vista.html

?

Hello Spywaredr, Supersparks, and all, she cannot get into Safe mode to do a system restore. How can i Restore please??

I will try going into the bios and checking things there.

Can you post what the settings should be??

Thanks for your replies, Gep

Unfortunately every computer is different, so it's not possible to give specific BIOS settings. But disable any hardware that you know is not present or not needed (for example, disable onboard sound if you have a separate sound card).

Did she shut down for at least 30 seconds then try to boot up and get into safe mode?

Try hitting Alt and F10 as soon as you hear the POST beep, see if there's a recovery partition hidden on that machine.

Hello all, thanks for your help, it was a Registry problem, and a User profile problem.

A computer expert friend who i don't like to ask too often sorted it.

Thanks, Gep