My Dell Inspiron 6000 wont boot OS Windows XP Pro, black screen reading Loading PBR 2 . . . done. I was able to F12 and run diagnostics with results being one error: Code OFOO:2871 MSG: optical drive BIST -- FLASH ROM test failed. That's as far as I can go...I have no idea what this means, is it fixable?!

Before you use the Recovery CD you need to backup your data because to restoring your laptop will wipe your data off the hard disk.
To backup your data when you cannot boot up your laptop, remove the hard drive and connect it to an USB hard drive adapter. Connect this hard drive/USB adapter into the USB port of a working computer. The computer will see it as an external storage device, you can then open the folders and backup your data.
You can then fit the hard drive back into the Dell laptop and boot up with the Dell recovery CD to reinstall Windows etc.

"Loading PBR for descriptor 2 ... failed" would be the exact error message if the MBR is unable to load the partition boot record for the second partition. There may be more, but here are three possible causes:
1) the partition table is corrupted so that the descriptor points to the wrong place (i.e., says the partition is one place when it's really somewhere else);

2) the partition table descriptor points to the right place, but the boot record there is corrupted or has been erased;
3) The hard disk is failing and having trouble reading the sector with the boot record.

To check (1), visit www.goodells.net/dellrestore/fixes.htm and download the dsrfix utility. In short, if dsrfix reports a clean bill of health, then (1) isn't the problem.

To check (3), run hard disk diagnostic tests. Press F12 when the machine is starting and see if the bios boot menu offers you a hard disk diagnostic test that you can run. Or even better, if you know the brand of the hard disk, most manufacturers should have a free diagnostic utility you can download to test the hard disk.

If it's not (1) or (3), then use Ctrl+F11 to run the Dell restore utility to recreate the Windows partition.

Start the PC and run diagnostics (Fn + Power) then run the hard drive diagnostics. If this fails then chances are the Hard Drive has errors which probably means you would be lucky to get your file back Im afraid.

May I know whether the Hard Drive is listed in the BIOS? Try reinstalling the Windows using the Windows OS disc.

battery had all lights lit. Took it out and now the front battery display light is flashing. I have a new mother board could there be a problem with recognition?

I suspect that the viruses had infected some of the files that windows needed to boot up. The moment you ran the Mcafee, the scanning might have deleted or quarantined those files. That is the reason you're having this Loading PBR message because it is now trying to boot from the network and not from the hard drive. You will need to repair windows using the CDs that came with the computer (the Operating system CD/DVD) and run CHKDSK /R at the screen where it says 'repair your computer using the command prompt". If this does not work, chances are, you may need to reinstall windows and everything and that all information in your hard drive will be wiped out.

Hi,
You may be right , the harddrive on the system may have gone bad.
You can run a diagnostics on the hardrive,shut down the computer, and then Press the Fn+ power button at the same time , it would initate the diagnostics.

Do post the results back

Thanks
proton

Boot to the Diagnistics FN+POWER at boot, run hard drive diagnostics. The PBR Descriptor 2 message is part of the normal boot process (directing the boot loader to Primary Boot Recond 2, the C: Drive) but usually flashes on an off so fast most people never notice it. Since the boot process is not going past the re-direct it is indicative of a bad hdd (Since the re-image process crashed)
Most likely you are looking at a hard drive replacement.
Regardless you are going to need an XP CD (you'll have to reinstall windows or run recovery console at a minimum)

As the notebook is starting you see the Dell 'Splash' screen. Press F2 to go into the BIOS setup. Check to make sure two things: first that your cd/dvd and hard drive are being recognized and identified, second that your boot order has the cd/dvd first and internal hard drive second. Your machine may be trying to do a USB device boot or network boot when these options are not available. Next try pressing F8 immediately after the splash screen disappears to try to get into Safe Mode. If it still fails to boot, I would try booting using a Windows XP installation disk and then going into the repair console to check if the hard drive is damaged or corrupted.

Try "Safe Mode" (holding F8 key on boot and selecting "Save Mode"), then run diagnostics and an up to date (virus definitions) Anti-Virus full scan.
If Safe Mode is not accessible then you may want to consider a format and clean install by booting to your Windows (?) CD.