Skamikazee Posted May 17, 2005 Report Share Posted May 17, 2005 Sorry to harass you guys with another computer help question my my laptop is screwed. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Its a Dell Inspiron 510m notebook running Windows XP.When I switch it on it has the initial windows screen but then goes to an all black screen with a white bar filling up across the bottom of it, when the bar is almost full I get the message:"Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:System32\Drivers\Ntfs.sysYou can attempt to repair this file by starting Windows Setup sing the original Setup CD-ROM. Select 'r' at the first screen to start repair." My problem is that my laptop (which i bought really recently) didn't come with a startup disc (as far as I can see I got 3 discs and none of them are a startup one). Everything came pre-installed (this is the same as with my desktop comp, everything came pre-installed).Any suggestions on what to do? I haven't been able to get through to Dell Support all day and now they are shut.Cheers in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threeornothing Posted May 17, 2005 Report Share Posted May 17, 2005 If you bought the machine new from Dell you should have an operating system disc, it will either be green or blue..and will most likely say something like MICROSOFT WINDOWS XP on it (thats a guess ) You'll want to run through the setup, it'll be a blue screen and it will show you the currently installed operating systems. Hit 'r' as you the highlight the OS installed on C: and let it do its not-so-magic. TBH whenever I see the ntfs message I just wipe the fucker and start again, it could also be a knackered HDD though, ie. the drive head is fucked hence why it can't read the file....bit funny it can't read the NTFS file as this is the file format of your drive. If the over the top install doesn't work, then phone Dell. If they need to replace your hard drive, be firm and tell them that you will destroy the one your are returning as the data is your property. Wouldn't be the first time someone has bought a refurbed drive off them and been able to restore peoples bank details etc....Dell cust support is the worst in the world, I always wanted to get my "STFU idiot" dell training so I could bypass the tech support and tell THEM the problem without 20 hours of troubleshooting, listening to an Irish moron reading me the same manual in front of my face. Left the company I was with before I got on the course Best one ever was when I phoned up to report a monitor which had begun smelling like it was burning and black smoke emitting from it, it was also making a dodgy noise.."Can ye switch that there monitor on for me laddy and let me me have a wee listen to it" ... "Yes, if you pay life assurance"...twats.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrinkDrankPunk Posted May 17, 2005 Report Share Posted May 17, 2005 All you need is a copy of XP.I got myself a Dell desktop a while ago, and the XP disk doesnt actually say XP on it, its Purple and says Dell.. Just figure out which disk has the operating system, set the system to boot off of the CD and then follow the on screen prompts.I very much doubt your hard xrive is nackered, its probabaly caused from not shutting the system down properly. You should be able to carry out a repair, if not you can just reinstall Windows over the copy already on the HDD without losing everything else on the disk.Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skamikazee Posted May 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2005 Cheers for the help both of you. I'll have another look for the disc and if I cant find it i'll phone dell again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skamikazee Posted May 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2005 Problem:I haven't been able to find the disc so I have borrowed one from my friend across the road. It's a purple XP set-up CD (does it matter if it's one for a desktop?). Now I'm not quite sure what do do with the disc, I've inserted it into the laptop then went to the boot menu, clicking to boot the hard drive did nothing. The error message said to click 'r' at some point to initiate repair but im not sure when to press it. Again, any help would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattJimF Posted May 18, 2005 Report Share Posted May 18, 2005 When you get the boot menu DON'T select the hard drive! Select boot from cd that will start up the windows installation thing, then when you get the options to repair, reinstall and another option choose repair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skamikazee Posted May 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 Update:The laptop is still on the fritz but I spoke to Dell yesterday and they said they'd send me the discs I need and they have managed to do it (first good thing to come out of Dell tech support).The Discs they sent me (and the info on them):Drivers and Utilities-For reinstalling Dell Inspiron System Support (Blue in colour)Operating System- Reinstallation CD Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (Lilac in colour)Application-For Reinstalling Dell Inpiron Eurotools System Software (Green in colour)Application-For Reinstalling Dell Inpiron Eurotools System Software (Blue in colour)So I inserted the lilac CD but I'm not sure how to get to this setup screen to choose repair, just inserting it didn't do anything.Again, any help would be greatly appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threeornothing Posted May 20, 2005 Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 If its anything like the latitudes, constantly hit F12 when you first turn it on to get the temporary boot menu, and select CD rom... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midgeski Posted May 20, 2005 Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 why dont you... take it back and ask for a refund? if they say no, shout that you know your statuary rights and demand to see themanager and kick off a fuss. but your probs to ocool for that. AINT YA RYAN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachie Posted May 20, 2005 Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 Yer, hit F12 to get the set up menu, but make sure you tap it repeatedly until it comes up as soon as you switch the thing on.I have to use it to boot my comp up from the hard drive every time I switch it on cause it's fucked. If I don't hit it early enough it doesn't work at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threeornothing Posted May 20, 2005 Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 Hit F2, got into Bios, ALT+P to move through the page until you get to the boot menu and check your HDD is in there somewhere....typical setting would be 1.FDD 2.CDROM 3.HDDYou could stick HDD at 1 if you don't ever want to boot from a disc... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skamikazee Posted May 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 The above instruction worked and now im at a black screen that says:Microsoft Windows XP Recovery ConsoleThe Recovery Console provides system repair and recovery functionalityType EXIT to quit the Recovery Console and restart computerc:\>So yea, what do I enter now? Presumably nothing has been done yet so I don't enter EXIT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threeornothing Posted May 20, 2005 Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 You hit R at the wrong time, type EXIT and restart, this time select INSTALL instead of repair, it will then on a blue screen display the current version of windows installed ina little blue box down at the bottom, highlight this selection and then press R to repair it...I think thats right, its years since I've done this shit... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skamikazee Posted May 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 OK, i've selected install and agreed to the user licence agreement and now ive got a box listing the partitions on the hard drive (-,C, E) with the options to install windows on the individual partitions, delete the contents of a partition or exit.What do i choose? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threeornothing Posted May 20, 2005 Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 you should be able to highlight the partition and press R to repair it, failing that, reset , maybe you press R to repair a current version and then it shows you which version there are. COmputers aren't one of my strong points....but searching for stuff on google is!! http://www.windowsreinstall.com/winxppro/installxpcdrepair/indexfullpage.htmThats a full walk though what Im meaning, with screenshots! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skamikazee Posted May 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 Excellent, cheers for all the help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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