Windows 7 will not start...

Hello Major Geeks,

A little background... I'm attempting to repair a laptop (Dell Latitude E6500, Windows 7) for a friend of a friend... in other words, I don't know much about it's history. All I know is it was bought on the cheap from a company that upgraded all of their equipment.

He called me and said it wouldn't start. I thought it would be an easy fix. It's turned out to be the exact opposite.

To my knowledge, nothing was recently installed to cause this problem. No new software or hardware/drivers. I'm told it just "shut off" while watching a Youtube video.

Here's what's happening...

On normal startup, it hangs at the normal "Starting Windows" screen. Ok, no problem, I'll launch startup repair. Nope, that doesn't work. I let it run overnight and while I was at work (approx. 16 hours). I got home and it was still "running".

Ok, no problem, I'll use a Windows 7 Repair CD that I created from a working computer. Nope, that don't work. It'll let me get as far as choosing a keyboard language. As soon as I hit "next" after choosing keyboard language, it just hangs there forever, searching for Windows installations.

The big problem is, due to the fact he bought it used from a business "as is", he doesn't have a full Windows 7 install disc, therefore I cannot do a clean install.

More info - last known good config doesn't work. It will not boot into Safe Mode either.

Is there anything I can do to get this thing to start?

Thanks in advance.

 

does the machine have a sitcker with a product key on it. You might have to look under the battery for it. If you have it, you can DL a legit ISO of Windows 7 from Digital River (google it) and do a clean install.

 

You are a true hero. I never thought to look under the battery for the product key. And that's exactly where it was.

The ISO worked flawlessly and I'm up and running.

Thank you!!!

 

Glad to hear it worked out for you.