Serious Trouble

Hi, trying to get some help here with my Compaq 2100 laptop running XP. Two days ago, it would turn on and then apparently lock up before Windows fully loaded. So, I would turn it off and turn it back on and the initial screen with "Compaq" showing would show, but strangle...wouldn't even try to load Windows really. The more I tried to restart it, the worse the picture would look. I have to seriously let it sit for over an hour between attempts to restart. Finally got it to try booting off the CD, and it starts loading files (gets further depending on how long it was left off before the attempt.) The furthest it's gotten is to a screen that says "the file vga.exe is corrupted...press any key to continue" but won't go any further than this. Any ideas besides the dumpster??????????? :cry

 

When I first started reading your post, I thought "maybe the video chip is dying or has completely died" then I kept reading and started thinking "maybe it's getting REALLY hot, REALLY fast" as laptops have been known to do. Then I saw the error about the VGA.exe file and I thought about the video chip again. So, honestly, I don't know :confused One thing you can do is to look at the fans and all the vents and make sure they're clean. Get some canned air or if you or a friend as an air compressor, blow some air thru the fans and vents. If it's not too hard, remove the fan covers and vent covers using a tiny screwdriver and see if everything is clean. Open the memory compartment and make sure it's clean and the RAM is seated firmly. Other than that, maybe take it to a shop that offers free or cheap estimates....

 

Yeah...those are the things I thought after I thought about a virus. I did the canned air thing last night...unscrewed everything I could....it didn't change what was happening. Thanks for the honesty though...time to take her in.