Try this again....."Stuck from the start"

i got this laptop (Dell Inspiron 1100 notebook) from a buddy of mine pretty cheap...now i know why....i guess its gotta virus, so i figured that id just pop in a windows xp cd format it and vwalla...new comp...its not workin like that. When i boot up i get a err message b-4 windows pops up .... " Userinit.exe Application failure" i reboot w/ the windows xp cd in, thinkin that i was gonna wipe it clean.....it goes straight back to the err message, doesnt read the xp cd. I get out the manual it says to press F12 to read from the cd-rom when reinstalling windows....i did that, it ignored me about a dozen times, so i took the time to try all the "F" keys 1 by 1..... It says that F2 will take me into the bios settings...figured id go in there and check out the boot order, make sure that the cd-rom is bootin first, wont even let me do that...the next thing i do is start tappin the F8 to get in safe mode, got in safe mode so now i know that the "F" keys r workin....but it gave me the same err message......this 1 has me stuck right from the start button.....any suggestions would be great.....


And as for Lee "the administrator" the windows xp pro cd that i use for this comp is a new one purchased from walmart for $99.95, yes i have various windows cd and there all purchased, xp home, windows 98 and vista. Dont assume that everyone is a "pirate", just because i said that i had various windows cd's does not mean that there pirated....if the problem seemed to tough for u to answer then let 1 of the other pro's try, dont just lock it out because u "ASSUME"......

 

Little more info?
Do you have the restore CD from Dell?

Is the HD partitioned and has a backup in the second partition?

Both are popular schemes to restore.

You may not be able to get the drivers to do a fresh XP install from a store bought disk.

 

the only cd's that came w/ this is the dell driver cd, and word perfect, i cant get the desktop to come on to try a restore point, cant get there is safe mode either, cant see if theres a 2nd partition, when the desktop does pop on, there r no icons, but if i wait long enough a pop up will come on ( do to malware i figure) i can use that to get on the internet and go to other sites....wierd.....

 

That would be Lev "the administrator" and not Lee. I can see how she arrived at the assumption as you mentioned XP Dark Edition in one of your previous posts, and I don't believe this came from Microsoft.

Why didn't you just reformat the drive when you had the opportunity to do so, as you said in a previous post that Darik's Boot'nNuke booted fine.

Best bet now may be to slave the hard drive in another computer and reformat it.

Hope this helps!

 

understandable about Lev......the only other notebook that i have is a Gateway 7330GZ, will the hard drive from the Dell slave to it?, is it compatable? I forgot all about the Nuke-em, but it still doesnt let me run my new xp cd, i tried b-4 i got that err message that i am getting now. Im going to try the Nuke-em again....ill post back afterwards....thx

 

Bad news.....the Nuke-em cd wont boot from the start up either.....oh-man....really lost now.......any othe suggestions would be great....thx again

 

I was hoping that you still had the "guinnea pig desktop" that you referred to in this thread, http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=157738&page=2. This would have made it as simple as buying an adapter from a pc parts store, and making the notebook hard drive a slave, and then reformatting same.

Afraid that I'm at the end of my knowledge in this, but don't despair as other MG members will probably jump in to help you.

 

ni do still have guinnea pig desktop, but can u slave a notebook HD to a desktop?

 

Yes, you can slave a notebook hard drive to a desk top. It only requires the adapter that I mentioned in my previous post ( cost $4:00 to $15.00 ) depends on who you purchase it from. :major

 

for some reason i dont think that im gonna pick up a part like that at walmart.........i pulled the hard drive from both my notebooks, they have to different types of plugs....thx for the help

 

I wish to address this myself - thanks for trying Novice

My response was based on your quote

indicating you know the disks work as you have used each of them previously - otherwise you would not know they worked.

As for my assuming everyone pirates, I did not. I clearly stated

Because you stated you had tested all the disks before, you admitted they had already been used to install on another PC.

As to "to tough for u to answer" not at all. Those kind of gauntlets are only ever laid down by those who need to be defensive for their actions. I could have solved your issue in one post, but chose (and will continue to choose) to look after the interests of MajorGeeks.com first. If you have an issue with that you are welcome to contact the site owners

End of discussion.

 

geesh.......i didnt come here to argue w/ a tech guru, i came here to get a computer issue resolved, but i c that Lev needs the last word....ive managed to figure out and fix my problem, many thx to those who helped me in this issue.....

now its ... "End of Discussion"

 

Post how you fixed it so others can benefit from the resolution.

As for the last word, the moderator always has the last word. Creating a new thread on the same thing and continuing nonsense in it may be hazardous to your account. Please do not do it again. Take it to PMs if you have an issue.