Basic netbook question...

Hi,

I've never owned a laptop/notebook/netbook. A friend of mine was given a new Lenovo netbook without a manual.

It has, what I think is a driver issue, and I tried to boot into Safe Mode. It says to key F12 to load the boot menu. The keys number from F1-F11, with the F-11 key being dual function with F12 underneath.

I tried every combination of key(s) that I could think of that would make F12 live and nothing worked... Fn, Shift, Alt, Fn+Shift, Fn+Alt, etc.

What key/key combination do I need to use to access the "lower case" on the function keys?

Thanks, much!

 

What are you trying to do?The boot menu only allows you to adjust the first boot device or rearrange the hard drive boot order.

Download the manual and support information here;

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/homeLenovo.do

EDIT some notebooks have F12 boot menu disabled in bios,enable through bios F2 on boot,then hitting the F12/F11 key should work.

 

Thanks, Rikky!

Trying to get it to load in Safe Mode so I can see if I can figure what driver(s) are causing a problem.

I got in the bios and only found (sorry, I don't know the right term) the place to rearrange the boot order. I will look more closely and see if I can find a boot menu.

 

The boot menu won't help you there.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/support/nostart.mspx

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...ll/proddocs/en-us/boot_failsafe.mspx?mfr=true

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545

 

I've just read back through this thread you say your getting the boot menu option after you've hit F8 for safe mode? Hitting F8 should bring up safe mode diagnostic options,start in safe mode,safe mode with networking,last known good config,start windows normally.

The boot menu comes before safe mode you hit F10,F11,F12 'depending on the motherboard' just after the bios screen,the only options are to choose the first boot device or a different operating when you have multiple OS's on multiple drives.

If the comp is asking you to hit F12 after you've hit F8 for safe mode then there's something wrong,my best guess is malware has locked you out of safe mode.

You could tough it out on your own but if you would like more help diagnosing the problem post the operating system and all the specs you have to hand including a good description of the problem.

Good luck!

 

Thanks again, Rikky!

I went over to her house last night and got her netbook running smoothly. I appreciate your help!

Best,
Rock

 

What was wrong with it?What did you do?:-D

 

Uh, I wish I could say. I just kinda got lucky.

Let's see, first, because of where the boot failure occurred each time I was pretty certain it was the facial recognition program that got corrupted. The computer started to boot then locked up as the facial rec was loading. Since, I never got it to load into Safe Mode, nor was I able to load the individual drivers/programs I didn't know how to keep the offending program from loading. Anyway, it was just a guess.

Also, it was one of those times when it got really late and you're really tired and you're just trying a bunch of different things and...wait, wait, wait, error. Didn't work. Try something else...wait, wait, wait, error, Try something else, wait, wait, wait...."Cool. It worked. Uh, what did I just do? Whatever we're in."

Sorry, somehow I was able to get into Windows.zzz I went into Control Panel thinking that the facial recognition program was going to be somewhere in the vicinity of User Accounts/passwords. It wasn't there. I then looked everywhere in CP that made any sense, but didn't find it.

I went back into User Accounts and tried to create another account so, until I figured out how to fix the computer (with more of your help, of course:-D), she could at least use her computer. For whatever the reason that didn't work.

I tried Add/Remove Program but it wouldn't deinstall the facial rec program.

Since I didn't have a manual and didn't know where else to look I thought it must be hidden for security reasons because I coudn't find any way to disable it/deinstall it.

Next, even though, for security reasons, it didn't make much sense to me to look there, I finally found the facial rec program right off the Start > All Programs menu. I thought it would be Administrator only access, but it was even available when I booted into Guest. Anyway, I fired it up and was able deactivate it with her password. I then deinstalled it and reinstalled it and it worked fine for several test boots/reboots.

By the way, I did try to find the manual via the Lenovo link you posted, but I didn't have the model number. I tried about 8 of the pdf manuals but I didn't find the right one and ran out of time.

Sorry, it's so lame. :-o I'm usually more precise.