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I’m having trouble booting up my Dell Inspiron 6000 laptop. When I start it, an error message on a black screen says that hardware was installed or Windows did not shut down properly. It then asks me to select how I would like to start up. When I arrow to Safe Mode, the screen scrolls down and the entire monitor fills with writing - most of it having to do with utilities and drivers - and then it freezes. I tried starting it from the Last Known Good Configuration, and once selected, it freezes on a blank blue screen. I tried a hard start (removing battery and holding power button) and reinstalling Windows XP. No luck. Any suggestions?

So Safe Mode freezes, Last Known Good Configuration causes a blue screen error, and reinstalling Windows XP didn’t work? Yikes! This is a tough one, but we might be able to get Windows to load one way or another.

Disconnect External Devices

First, let’s make sure we are working with the bare essentials. Turn off your wireless adapter and disconnect your printer and any other non-essential external devices such as microphones, external speakers, laptop chill pads, hubs, external hard drives, MP3 players, digital cameras, and so forth. The less interference from devices, the better. Try booting up now. If a device was interfering with the startup sequence, you’ll want to experiment by adding devices and rebooting one device at a time until you can determine which device is causing problems.   

Boot and Repair from Windows CD

I’m guessing that disconnecting the devices won’t get us anywhere, but doing so is worth a shot. If the laptop is still stuck, let’s see if you can boot Windows and repair it from the Windows CD. Insert your Windows CD and boot the computer up. Follow the onscreen instructions to repair Windows. This typically involves pressing a key to get started, pressing Enter to “set up Windows XP” (do not choose the Recovery Console option), agreeing to the licensing terms, and pressing “R” to repair Windows. Since you’ve reinstalled Windows unsuccessfully, this may not do much, but let’s give it a try.

Disabling Services and Devices

My final suggestion centers on the fact that a screen describing device drivers appears just before Windows freezes. See if you can write down the names of the utilities and drivers that the screen discusses as these could be clues. For example, a specific device or service may be interfering and Windows may be trying to tell you, in its cryptic way, what to do. If you can identify the service that is interfering with Windows, there is a way to disable the service via the Recovery Console. Microsoft’s Knowledge Base Article 244905 discusses this in greater detail.

This is a tricky problem that may require more help than we can provide here. Hopefully a repair from the installation CD will do the trick. If not, I’m afraid a trip to your local computer repair shop may be in order.

I have been having problems starting my Sony VAIO laptop. It will go straight to a black screen with startup options, but when I choose one, it won’t work.

Since you are seeing activity with the laptop, at least you know the power supply is good. Small comfort at this point, but it does give us a starting place.

Safe Mode Won’t Work: Overheating Issue

Overheating can lead to quite a few problems. Can you hear the fan on the laptop? Is the laptop in need of some cleaning? Perhaps a can of compressed air can be used to clean the area around the fan.

Safe Mode Won’t Work: Disk in Drive

Although this is a long shot, can you check the CD/DVD drive to see if you accidentally left a disk in the laptop? There are those occasions when a laptop or desktop will not boot up properly because the disk is interfering with the process. Once you take the disk out, start over and you should be able to get into normal mode if this is the problem. Another point to consider is whether you recently added any hardware. If you did, disconnect it safely and try to boot up the laptop.

Boot up with Installation Disk

If Safe Mode isn’t working as an option for you, you can try to boot up using the Windows installation disk. Turn the laptop on, insert the installation disk, and press first the “ESC” key and then the “F1″ key once you see the words “Check System” on the screen of the laptop. This should allow you to boot up using the disk and hopefully, it fixes the problem for you.

Safe Mode Won’t Work: User Entry

If your Safe Mode options won’t work and you can’t get the installation disk to work or don’t have one available, perhaps you can kick start it by calling it up instead of letting the computer do it. Try this- turn the power to the laptop on, immediately begin to press the “F8″ key until you hear/see the laptop booting up. (You might need to use the “F2,” “F12,” or F10″ key.) It should take you to Safe Mode. Try and access one of the options. If it works, great! If not, move on to the next option.

Hard Reset

If nothing else has worked, then it is time to power down the laptop and give it a hard reset. Make sure that your laptop is disconnected for the power outlet. Next, disconnect all peripheral devices, USB mouse, speakers, printers, etc from the laptop. Gently turn the laptop over so you can access and remove the battery. Hold the power button in for a full 60-second count. Replace the laptop battery, reconnect the power, reconnect the peripherals, and power up.