Big problems have a laptop - wouldn't get past the boot up screen. have no recovery disks - owner tried to boot up using ms dos 6.2 disks. now nothing works. can't find the cmos or bios setup. have win xp profess but unit doesn't recognize c drive or cd rom. what do I do now?

System Recovery is Factory Settings. Did you make the System Recovery Disk or are you trying to use the Recovery Partition that the manufacturer put on your hard drive?

Anyway, for the time being lets forget about system Recovery since you say it does not work.

Run the Check Disk Utility.

To run the check disk utility you will need a repair disc ora operating system disc. Put the disc in the cd drive and boot fromit. You want to get to the Dos Command Prompt (Black screen with whiteletters) and type the following command: chkdsk /r
Check disk will run well over an hour or two and you will notice thepercentages going from high to low, this is normal. Let it run tocompletion. Then reboot machine.

If check disk fails to solve your problem you might have to reinstall windows.Try doing a Repair Install that way you don't loose your data, documents,music, pictures, videos or programs.

In windows xp you get to the dos command prompt by selecting R for repair whenthe options appear.

In Vista and Windows 7 you want to get to the recoveryconsole and look down at the bottom of the window for the Dos Command.

When you power the laptop on pay close attention to the screen to see which key you hit to get into the Bios or System Setup. Hit it and go change the boot sequence to read the CD drive first. Or you can hit the key that says Change Boot Order when you initially turn the computer on and select the CD Drive.

If you can get it to read the CD drive then you can try the Check Disk Utility.
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To run the check disk utility you will need a repair disc or a operating system disc. Put the disc in the cd drive and boot from it. You want to get to the Dos Command Prompt (Black screen with white letters) and type the following command: chkdsk /r

Check disk will run well over an hour or two and you will notice the percentages going from high to low, this is normal. Let it run to completion. Then reboot machine.

If check disk fails to solve your problem you might have to reinstall windows. Try doing a Repair Install that way you don't loose your data, documents, music, pictures, videos or programs.

In windows xp you get to the dos command prompt by selecting R for repair when the options appear.

In Vista and Windows 7 you want to get to the recovery console and look down at the bottom of the window for the Dos Command.
If you can't get it to read any drive then you might have to do a System Recovery back to factory settings.

LOL, Vista or Windows 7??

Check Disk UtilityTo run the check disk utility you will need a repair disc ora operating system disc. Put the disc in the cd drive and boot fromit. You want to get to the Dos Command Prompt (Black screen with whiteletters) and type the following command: chkdsk /r
Check disk will run well over an hour or two and you will notice thepercentages going from high to low, this is normal. Let it run tocompletion. Then reboot machine.

If check disk fails to solve your problem you might have to reinstall windows.Try doing a Repair Install that way you don't loose your data, documents,music, pictures, videos or programs.

In windows xp you get to the dos command prompt by selecting R for repair whenthe options appear.

In Vista and Windows 7 you want to get to the recoveryconsole and look down at the bottom of the window for the Dos Command.If check disk does not solve the problem you might have to reinstall your operating system.

Have you tried booting into Safe Mode?

To run the check disk utility you will need a repair disc ora operating system disc. Put the disc in the cd drive and boot fromit. You want to get to the Dos Command Prompt (Black screen with whiteletters) and type the following command: chkdsk /r
Check disk will run well over an hour or two and you will notice thepercentages going from high to low, this is normal. Let it run tocompletion. Then reboot machine.

If check disk fails to solve your problem you might have to reinstall windows.Try doing a Repair Install that way you don't loose your data, documents,music, pictures, videos or programs.

In windows xp you get to the dos command prompt by selecting R for repair whenthe options appear.

In Vista and Windows 7 you want to get to the recoveryconsole and look down at the bottom of the window for the Dos Command.
If all fails Sounds like your operating system needs to be reinstalled or you can do a system recovery to set it back to when you first bought it.

First you must boot from a CD or DVD or from a floppy disk and not from the hard drive.

Creating a Windows XP boot disk

Note: The Microsoft Windows XP CD is a bootable CD and in many cases you should not need a bootable floppy diskette. Booting from the Windows XP CD will allow you to not only install/re-install Windows XP but will also allow you to troubleshoot it.

Create MS-DOS bootable diskette

When formatting a floppy diskette, users have the option of creating a MS-DOS startup disk, follow the below steps to do this.

1. Place diskette in the computer.
   
2. Open My Computer, right-click the A: drive and click Format.
   
3. In the Format window, check Create an MS-DOS startup disk.
   
4. Click Start
   

How to boot from Microsoft Windows XP CD.
1. Restart the computer while it is rebooting keep on tapping on F12
2. In the boot menu option select on CD/DVD Rom the press Enter
3. Computer will restart and you will be prompted to " Boot from CD/DVD press Any key" just press any key on your keyboard. Just the let the Windows Setup files be loaded.
4. Press "R" when you the screen below





5. Press 1 then Enter
6. In the command prompt type format c:/q then press Enter

Note: This will format the drive c: or wipe out the information in the hard drive

You will have to put a Windows DVD in and boot on that and do a "Repair" install, if that will not work, you will have to do a complete format and reinstall Windows.
But try the below first if you can.
1. Restart the computer.

2. Repeatedly tap the F8 key until you see the Advanced Boot Option Screen.

3. Select Repair Your Computerand hit Enter.

4. Select your country >> OK.

5. On the System Recovery Options Screen select Restore Application.

6. Follow the on-screen instructions.

8. When prompted, select on "Full Factory Recovery"

9. Select Next >> Yes.

10. After a couple of minutes the recovery will be completed. Check to see if your PC will perform a Factory reinstall from a "Recovery partition" usually accessed via CTRL F10, or just F10 or F12 Check your manual, as if this is available it will restore your PC to a "From the factory state"
BTW, your hard drive may be ruined you may need to get a new one. Then reinstall Windows from DVD.

How far will windows get in the boot-up process before it stops loading? My thoughts on this would be using the F8 key when you first boot up your computer. After the inital screen comes up with your laptop information, press the F8 key. This should gice you the options for safe mode. Load windows in safe mode, then go into start - Programs - Accessorys - system tools - system restore and use that to restore your computer to a point in tha past that the machine worked correctly.

Kerry L

It is probably a software issue, and a complete system recovery to the original factory condition would be best for you.

Have a great recovery, and rate me well, OK?

i can help you with this but need to know what windows you are using

How to get to a MS-DOS prompt.
Reason: If Windows or the computer is not operating properly, it may be necessary to get to a MS-DOS prompt to diagnose and to perform additional troubleshooting on the computer.
Solution: MS-DOS users
Windows 3.x users
Windows 95, 98 and ME users
Windows NT, 2000 and XP users
Windows Vista users
Other PC Operating System users
MS-DOS users If you are running MS-DOS with no other operating systems, the computer should be booting into a MS-DOS prompt automatically unless you have a shell or other program loading automatically. If the computer is not getting you to a MS-DOS prompt, reboot the computer and as the computer is booting, press the F5 key when you see the message "Starting MS-DOS" or the MS-DOS version. This will load the default standard MS-DOS. If you successfully get to a MS-DOS prompt and would like to prevent the computer from loading the program that is preventing you from getting to a MS-DOS prompt, or if you would like to fix possible error messages you may be receiving when booting the computer, edit the autoexec.bat and/or the config.sys files.

Windows 95, 98, and ME users If you are able to get into Windows 95, 98 or ME, you can get to a MS-DOS prompt by following the below steps.

1. Click Start
2. Click Run
3. Type "command" and press enter.

This will open a MS-DOS shell. However, if you are attempting to troubleshoot an issue with the computer and are using Microsoft Windows 95 or Windows 98we suggest you restart the computer into MS-DOS. To do this follow the below steps.

1. Click Start
2. Click Shutdown
3. Choose the option to restart the computer into a MS-DOS prompt.

If you are unable to get into Windows 95 or Windows 98 to get into a MS-DOS prompt, follow the below instructions (Windows ME does not have this option).

1. Reboot the computer
2. As the computer is booting, press the F8 key when you hear a beep or when you see "Starting Windows 95" or "Starting Windows 98". Windows 98 users sometimes may find it easier to press and hold the left CTRL key as the computer is booting.
3. If done properly the user should get to a screen similar to the below screen.

Microsoft Windows 95 Startup Menu
============================= 1. Normal
2. Logged (\BOOTLOG.TXT)
3. Safe mode
4. Step-by-step confirmation
5. Command prompt only
6. Safe mode command prompt only
Enter a choice: 1
F5=Safe Mode Shift+F5=Command prompt Shift+F8= Step-by-step confirmation [N]

4. Select the option for Safe mode command prompt only.
Windows NT, 2000, XP, and Vista users If you're running Windows NT, 2000, or Windows XP and need to get to MS-DOS prompt follow the below steps.

1. Click Start
2. Click Run or click in the "Start Search" field if you're running Vista
3. Type "cmd" or "command" and press enter.

Additional information about the difference between "cmd" and "command" can be found on document CH000395. If you're attempting to get into a MS-DOS prompt to troubleshoot the computer boot the computer into safe mode. Additional information about how to get into safe mode can be found on document CHSAFE. Windows 2000, XP, and Vista users who are unable to boot the computer into Normal Windows mode or Safe mode can also enter the recovery console to manage their computer from a prompt. Additional information about how to do this can be found on document CH000627. Finally, if you are experiencing issues getting into Windows NT, 2000, or XP, it may be necessary to run troubleshooting steps from a MS-DOS prompt. It is recommended that the Network Administrator get into the MS-DOS prompt by using either a standard MS-DOS boot diskette (note: will not be able to access data using a standard MS-DOS bootable diskette) or the ERD diskettes created after the installation of Windows NT, or boot from the Windows XP CD.


Index

Category:
MS-DOS Q&A

Companies:
Microsoft

Related Pages:
MS-DOS
Safe Mode
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