Have a 32 bit version of Vista Home Premium running on a Dell Inspiron 1520. All of a sudden it simply stopped working. It will not boot in normal mode, or safe mode, or safe mode with command prompt, or last good configuration, et al. They all take me to the same black screen with 2 options - Launch Startup Repair or Start Windows Normally.
Either of those options takes me back to that same screen. I tried selecting the option for disengaging the automatic restart on an error, but it does nothing but take me to those same 2 choices. Doesn't even have the decency to give me a BSOD.
Further problems - This Dell DID NOT come with any disks. I do have a Vista Home Premium disk from Microsoft that I have used to attempt repairs, bur when it hits the recovery screen where it lists the OS, there is nothing there.
If I press F6 to load drivers, and click on Computer, there is nothing listed next to Local Disk:C. If I click on it I get a msg that says the disk must be formatted before I can use it.
On the next screen, Startup Repair does nothing but run for a lonnnng time, then suggest I restart to see if the repairs have worked. They haven't. The command prompt is useless since I can't get to the drive with Windows on it. If I type C: and press enter I get a msg Data Error (Cyclic Redundancy Check).
The last fly in the ointment is the product code sticker. In their infinite wisdom Dell put in on the bottom of the laptop. Over the years, being on people's laps or on their knees, the product code on the sticker has worn away to the point where it's become unreadable. Perhaps if I had a Dell Vista disk, I could reinstall without the product key, but possessing only a Microsoft disk sort of closes that avenue. If I select Install from the Recovery screen I am immediately prompted for the product code.
I have run Seagate HD diagnostics which finds bad sectors but cannot repair them. At the Recovery command prompt, I can run chkdsk /f, but of course it will not run immediately, and if I schedule it to run a next startup, it will, of course, do nothing, since it fails to detect a C: drive or an operating system. SFC / scannow and System Restore are useless for the same reasons. Ditto for Bootrec /fixboot and /fixmbr.
So tell me... am I f**ked?
Either of those options takes me back to that same screen. I tried selecting the option for disengaging the automatic restart on an error, but it does nothing but take me to those same 2 choices. Doesn't even have the decency to give me a BSOD.
Further problems - This Dell DID NOT come with any disks. I do have a Vista Home Premium disk from Microsoft that I have used to attempt repairs, bur when it hits the recovery screen where it lists the OS, there is nothing there.
If I press F6 to load drivers, and click on Computer, there is nothing listed next to Local Disk:C. If I click on it I get a msg that says the disk must be formatted before I can use it.
On the next screen, Startup Repair does nothing but run for a lonnnng time, then suggest I restart to see if the repairs have worked. They haven't. The command prompt is useless since I can't get to the drive with Windows on it. If I type C: and press enter I get a msg Data Error (Cyclic Redundancy Check).
The last fly in the ointment is the product code sticker. In their infinite wisdom Dell put in on the bottom of the laptop. Over the years, being on people's laps or on their knees, the product code on the sticker has worn away to the point where it's become unreadable. Perhaps if I had a Dell Vista disk, I could reinstall without the product key, but possessing only a Microsoft disk sort of closes that avenue. If I select Install from the Recovery screen I am immediately prompted for the product code.
I have run Seagate HD diagnostics which finds bad sectors but cannot repair them. At the Recovery command prompt, I can run chkdsk /f, but of course it will not run immediately, and if I schedule it to run a next startup, it will, of course, do nothing, since it fails to detect a C: drive or an operating system. SFC / scannow and System Restore are useless for the same reasons. Ditto for Bootrec /fixboot and /fixmbr.
So tell me... am I f**ked?
