Start-up Problems

Hi. My client has 2 problems which go like this...

1. The laptop, if getting past the initial post screen, always display 'Please wait while Setup Updates your configuration files. This may take a few minutes'. I have cleared the wininit.ini file, run scandisk, started in safe mode, all the usuals. Any idea why it always starts like this?

2. If re-booting or starting soon after switching off, it won't go past the initial boot screen (press F2 for setup etc), not even into BIOS. This worries me as it suggests a cooling problem, but I would be grateful for any other ideas.

Thanks
Richard