boot disk

Hello again....... I wrote on Sunday with regards to being unable to get my
computer started up. I can't get past the DELL LOGO screen and then it goes
to a black screen with the cursor blinking on the left top. I tried the F8,
the control key, F5 key............... so far, NIX! And so someone asked if I
had a boot disk. YES, I do....but before I put it in and start
trying........could someone tell me what the procedure is and how I should
respond to hopefully get my old girl up and running. Appreciation extended to
those who are in the know!!

"lutra" wrote in message
...
| Hello again....... I wrote on Sunday with regards to being unable to get
my
| computer started up. I can't get past the DELL LOGO screen and then it
goes
| to a black screen with the cursor blinking on the left top. I tried the
F8,
| the control key, F5 key............... so far, NIX! And so someone asked
if I
| had a boot disk. YES, I do....but before I put it in and start
| trying........could someone tell me what the procedure is and how I should
| respond to hopefully get my old girl up and running. Appreciation extended
to
| those who are in the know!!
|

As you posted your model and other previously, you apparently know or have
the manual, and are somewhat familiar with your computer.

Go into the BIOS/CMOS [check that manual if you don't know how] and set for
boot from floppy, e.g., *boot sequence* A, C, {whatever}.

Insert the boot floppy and reboot.

Refer to my original post [in the other discussion] for issues to attend to
first. You can also restore a previous registry IF available from the boot
floppy and a Windows folder/directory. However, try the other first, if
fail, then post back for further discussion.

Test after changing those items to see if Windows boots, or if you can then
get into Safe Mode.

Post back with the results.

--
MEB
http://peoplescounsel.orgfree.com
--
_________

1. Insert the bootable floppy disk.

2. Start the computer. Does it boot from the floppy? If not, you'll have to
get into BIOS and change the boot order. If it boots, when you get to the
A:\ prompt (it will take a while), type in the following:
DIR C:
then press Enter. Note the space after DIR and before C:

What do you get back?

Also, when you first boot up, toward the end it will tell you what letter
the CD drive is. What is it?

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
www.grystmill.com



"lutra" wrote in message
...
Hello again....... I wrote on Sunday with regards to being unable to get
my
computer started up. I can't get past the DELL LOGO screen and then it
goes
to a black screen with the cursor blinking on the left top. I tried the
F8,
the control key, F5 key............... so far, NIX! And so someone asked
if I
had a boot disk. YES, I do....but before I put it in and start
trying........could someone tell me what the procedure is and how I should
respond to hopefully get my old girl up and running. Appreciation extended
to
those who are in the know!!

Hello again,
1.It seems to boot with the floppy disk.

2. When I type in DIR C: it gives me a listing (very quickly) of files, I
presume.

3. And the "RAM" drive mentioned is "D" or it also says the diagnostic
tools were loaded to D.

Is this what you were looking for?

"Gary S. Terhune" wrote:

1. Insert the bootable floppy disk.

2. Start the computer. Does it boot from the floppy? If not, you'll have to
get into BIOS and change the boot order. If it boots, when you get to the
A:\ prompt (it will take a while), type in the following:
DIR C:
then press Enter. Note the space after DIR and before C:

What do you get back?

Also, when you first boot up, toward the end it will tell you what letter
the CD drive is. What is it?

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
www.grystmill.com



"lutra" wrote in message
...
Hello again....... I wrote on Sunday with regards to being unable to get
my
computer started up. I can't get past the DELL LOGO screen and then it
goes
to a black screen with the cursor blinking on the left top. I tried the
F8,
the control key, F5 key............... so far, NIX! And so someone asked
if I
had a boot disk. YES, I do....but before I put it in and start
trying........could someone tell me what the procedure is and how I should
respond to hopefully get my old girl up and running. Appreciation extended
to
those who are in the know!!

Yes, that's what I was looking for, sort of. You still didn't mention a CD
drive, which was probably E:\.

Anyway, I'm not sure what to suggest. Have you tried tapping the Ctrl key
during startup? I don't know why the other person wanted you to use a floppy
boot disk. I suppose it couldn't hurt to run a SYS C: from the floppy.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
www.grystmill.com

"lutra" wrote in message
...
Hello again,
1.It seems to boot with the floppy disk.

2. When I type in DIR C: it gives me a listing (very quickly) of files, I
presume.

3. And the "RAM" drive mentioned is "D" or it also says the diagnostic
tools were loaded to D.

Is this what you were looking for?

"Gary S. Terhune" wrote:

1. Insert the bootable floppy disk.

2. Start the computer. Does it boot from the floppy? If not, you'll have
to
get into BIOS and change the boot order. If it boots, when you get to the
A:\ prompt (it will take a while), type in the following:
DIR C:
then press Enter. Note the space after DIR and before C:

What do you get back?

Also, when you first boot up, toward the end it will tell you what letter
the CD drive is. What is it?

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
www.grystmill.com



"lutra" wrote in message
...
Hello again....... I wrote on Sunday with regards to being unable to
get
my
computer started up. I can't get past the DELL LOGO screen and then it
goes
to a black screen with the cursor blinking on the left top. I tried the
F8,
the control key, F5 key............... so far, NIX! And so someone
asked
if I
had a boot disk. YES, I do....but before I put it in and start
trying........could someone tell me what the procedure is and how I
should
respond to hopefully get my old girl up and running. Appreciation
extended
to
those who are in the know!!

Yes, previously I tried tapping the ctrl key, F8, F5 ....... during startup.
It always just goes to a black screen after the DELL logo page and a cursor
blinking.

As for the boot disk. I was in the dark on that one. What should that enable
one to do? It does not start up one's computer?? I see at the bottom of the
first page when I use the boot disk options to go to safe mode with F5, etc.
But when I did press F5 I just got the Aprompt.



"Gary S. Terhune" wrote:

Yes, that's what I was looking for, sort of. You still didn't mention a CD
drive, which was probably E:\.

Anyway, I'm not sure what to suggest. Have you tried tapping the Ctrl key
during startup? I don't know why the other person wanted you to use a floppy
boot disk. I suppose it couldn't hurt to run a SYS C: from the floppy.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
www.grystmill.com

"lutra" wrote in message
...
Hello again,
1.It seems to boot with the floppy disk.

2. When I type in DIR C: it gives me a listing (very quickly) of files, I
presume.

3. And the "RAM" drive mentioned is "D" or it also says the diagnostic
tools were loaded to D.

Is this what you were looking for?

"Gary S. Terhune" wrote:

1. Insert the bootable floppy disk.

2. Start the computer. Does it boot from the floppy? If not, you'll have
to
get into BIOS and change the boot order. If it boots, when you get to the
A:\ prompt (it will take a while), type in the following:
DIR C:
then press Enter. Note the space after DIR and before C:

What do you get back?

Also, when you first boot up, toward the end it will tell you what letter
the CD drive is. What is it?

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
www.grystmill.com



"lutra" wrote in message
...
Hello again....... I wrote on Sunday with regards to being unable to
get
my
computer started up. I can't get past the DELL LOGO screen and then it
goes
to a black screen with the cursor blinking on the left top. I tried the
F8,
the control key, F5 key............... so far, NIX! And so someone
asked
if I
had a boot disk. YES, I do....but before I put it in and start
trying........could someone tell me what the procedure is and how I
should
respond to hopefully get my old girl up and running. Appreciation
extended
to
those who are in the know!!

"lutra" wrote in message
news
Yes, previously I tried tapping the ctrl key, F8, F5 ....... during
startup.
It always just goes to a black screen after the DELL logo page and a
cursor
blinking.

As for the boot disk. I was in the dark on that one. What should that
enable
one to do? It does not start up one's computer??

(Intervening since I am currently trying to sort out a friend's Dell . . . )

"Boot disk" is whatever disk starts the computer.
This can be a floppy or a hard drive or a (booting) CD.
Your BIOS governs this.

BIOS = Basic Input/Output Services, governed by a
Read-Only chip inside every PC, with a CMOS battery
to power a special memory holding custom settings
via BIOS Menu. You get to the BIOS menu by interrupting
the boot process early, usually with the DELete key:
messages on screen should tell you which.

Among BIOS menus, either "Boot" or "Start-up" is
probably one of the main headings, including under
it "Boot Drive" or something similar. Usual settings
are that the PC should seek startup instructions from
(in order):
1 = Floppy Drive A:
2 = CD Drive
3 = Hard Drive C:
This means that in everyday operation (with no disk in
the floppy or CD drives) you boot from the hard drive.
For special purpuses, if you put a bootable disk into
A: or the CD drive, the computer goes there first. This
is convenient for special purposes (e.g. to run Dell
Diagnostics) which differ in anyway from everyday
operation. (If you wanted to run the Linux operating system,
you can have the whole thing on a CD, thus load Linux at
boot, without altering the hard drive which boots Windows.)

I see at the bottom of the
first page when I use the boot disk options to go to safe mode with F5,
etc.
But when I did press F5 I just got the Aprompt.

1. Try again and verify the menu really calls for F5 (function key F5)
not the ordinary number key (5 or percent sign).
2. Whichever the menu calls for, if you key correctly and the
behavior is not what the menu says, this indicates there is
something wrong either with the booting drive or with the PC
as a whole.

Your main alternatives on this startup menu are
-- regular Windows
-- Safe Mode Windows (omitting several extras e.g.
high-definition screen, useful for making repairs)
-- DOS = old-fashioned MS Disk Operating System,
useful only if you know DOS and its commands --
which include all the basics, e.g. CHKDSK, EDIT and so on.

2. When I type in DIR C: it gives me a listing (very quickly) of
files, I
presume.

1. For help for any DOS command, add /? e.g. for
directory help key DIR /?
and you will see a short list of subcommands e.g. /P
which means "display page by page" -- so if you
key DIR /P
you will get one screen of directory listings which
then stop on screen, until you hit any key, which
gets you another "page" and so on. The subcommand
/P works for several DOS commands.

The DOS prompt looks like
A
i.e. one drive letter and a or similar symbol.
If you see anything less, e.g. "a cursor blinking"
but no A this means you did not boot correctly
into DOS, i.e. your boot disk is probably faulty.

You can download a new boot floppy free from
www.bootdisk.com
You download one big EXE file, then run it on a
PC with a new floppy in the floppy drive, and it
writes onto the floppy all the small DOS files
needed to boot DOS. There are 6 or 8 varieties
so be sure you choose the correct master file.

computer started up. I can't get past the DELL LOGO screen and then
it
goes to a black screen with the cursor blinking on the left top. I
tried the
F8, the control key, F5 key............... so far, NIX!

Dell users who must repair their installation may
choose between:
-- Microsoft tools, which may or may not effect a
good repair (or 3d party tools e.g. SpinRite) and:
-- The Dell Restore routine, which wipes the hard
drive and reloads it the way it came from the factory.
This means data will be lost (unless you have a
Drive D: on the hard drive and Dell Procedures reformats
only Drive C
For this reason it is usual to attempt repairs using MS
tools, and to use Dell Restore only as a last resort.

Post results back here for more help.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

That F5 isn't the one we want.

Boot to the floppy disk, run the following command:
SYS C:

Remove the floppy and restart. Any luck?

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
www.grystmill.com

"lutra" wrote in message
news
Yes, previously I tried tapping the ctrl key, F8, F5 ....... during
startup.
It always just goes to a black screen after the DELL logo page and a
cursor
blinking.

As for the boot disk. I was in the dark on that one. What should that
enable
one to do? It does not start up one's computer?? I see at the bottom of
the
first page when I use the boot disk options to go to safe mode with F5,
etc.
But when I did press F5 I just got the Aprompt.



"Gary S. Terhune" wrote:

Yes, that's what I was looking for, sort of. You still didn't mention a
CD
drive, which was probably E:\.

Anyway, I'm not sure what to suggest. Have you tried tapping the Ctrl key
during startup? I don't know why the other person wanted you to use a
floppy
boot disk. I suppose it couldn't hurt to run a SYS C: from the floppy.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
www.grystmill.com

"lutra" wrote in message
...
Hello again,
1.It seems to boot with the floppy disk.

2. When I type in DIR C: it gives me a listing (very quickly) of files,
I
presume.

3. And the "RAM" drive mentioned is "D" or it also says the diagnostic
tools were loaded to D.

Is this what you were looking for?

"Gary S. Terhune" wrote:

1. Insert the bootable floppy disk.

2. Start the computer. Does it boot from the floppy? If not, you'll
have
to
get into BIOS and change the boot order. If it boots, when you get to
the
A:\ prompt (it will take a while), type in the following:
DIR C:
then press Enter. Note the space after DIR and before C:

What do you get back?

Also, when you first boot up, toward the end it will tell you what
letter
the CD drive is. What is it?

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
www.grystmill.com



"lutra" wrote in message
...
Hello again....... I wrote on Sunday with regards to being unable to
get
my
computer started up. I can't get past the DELL LOGO screen and then
it
goes
to a black screen with the cursor blinking on the left top. I tried
the
F8,
the control key, F5 key............... so far, NIX! And so someone
asked
if I
had a boot disk. YES, I do....but before I put it in and start
trying........could someone tell me what the procedure is and how I
should
respond to hopefully get my old girl up and running. Appreciation
extended
to
those who are in the know!!

May I ask before I try this.......what does the SYS C: do? Forgive my lack of
knowledge, just worried what this does to the computer??

"Gary S. Terhune" wrote:

That F5 isn't the one we want.

Boot to the floppy disk, run the following command:
SYS C:

Remove the floppy and restart. Any luck?

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
www.grystmill.com

"lutra" wrote in message
news
Yes, previously I tried tapping the ctrl key, F8, F5 ....... during
startup.
It always just goes to a black screen after the DELL logo page and a
cursor
blinking.

As for the boot disk. I was in the dark on that one. What should that
enable
one to do? It does not start up one's computer?? I see at the bottom of
the
first page when I use the boot disk options to go to safe mode with F5,
etc.
But when I did press F5 I just got the Aprompt.



"Gary S. Terhune" wrote:

Yes, that's what I was looking for, sort of. You still didn't mention a
CD
drive, which was probably E:\.

Anyway, I'm not sure what to suggest. Have you tried tapping the Ctrl key
during startup? I don't know why the other person wanted you to use a
floppy
boot disk. I suppose it couldn't hurt to run a SYS C: from the floppy.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
www.grystmill.com

"lutra" wrote in message
...
Hello again,
1.It seems to boot with the floppy disk.

2. When I type in DIR C: it gives me a listing (very quickly) of files,
I
presume.

3. And the "RAM" drive mentioned is "D" or it also says the diagnostic
tools were loaded to D.

Is this what you were looking for?

"Gary S. Terhune" wrote:

1. Insert the bootable floppy disk.

2. Start the computer. Does it boot from the floppy? If not, you'll
have
to
get into BIOS and change the boot order. If it boots, when you get to
the
A:\ prompt (it will take a while), type in the following:
DIR C:
then press Enter. Note the space after DIR and before C:

What do you get back?

Also, when you first boot up, toward the end it will tell you what
letter
the CD drive is. What is it?

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
www.grystmill.com



"lutra" wrote in message
...
Hello again....... I wrote on Sunday with regards to being unable to
get
my
computer started up. I can't get past the DELL LOGO screen and then
it
goes
to a black screen with the cursor blinking on the left top. I tried
the
F8,
the control key, F5 key............... so far, NIX! And so someone
asked
if I
had a boot disk. YES, I do....but before I put it in and start
trying........could someone tell me what the procedure is and how I
should
respond to hopefully get my old girl up and running. Appreciation
extended
to
those who are in the know!!

"lutra" wrote in message ...
Hello again....... I wrote on Sunday with regards to being unable to get my
computer started up. I can't get past the DELL LOGO screen and then it goes
to a black screen with the cursor blinking on the left top. I tried the F8,
the control key, F5 key............... so far, NIX! And so someone asked if I
had a boot disk. YES, I do....but before I put it in and start
trying........could someone tell me what the procedure is and how I should
respond to hopefully get my old girl up and running. Appreciation extended to
those who are in the know!!

Please repost with more information, including the method you used to start
the computer in Safe mode and what happens now when you attempt a Safe
mode start.

Ben