not sure where to post this, but what's happened is that my dell laptop won't start at all. i turn it on and it asks me to choose which mode to start it in (safe mode, normal etc) but when i pick any of them, a blue screen and error message comes up and then the laptop shuts down. i'm trying to reboot it, but in the paperwork for it, it says that there isn't an actual reboot cd. i've been on the dell website, but all it says is that i'm meant to make the cd before the laptop crashes. does anyone have any idea how to go about fixing my laptop? help would be greatly appreciated. thanks xxxx

Depends on a few things. One is trying to save what you have. Two is trying to either repair or replace the software that you have. Step one might be to get or have someone make a live linux cd or other type of bootable cd to get your info off. You can use a network to copy much of it off to another machine that has a shared folder. Step two is not that easy. Call Dell and see if they can ship you a disk that can either restore it to OEM state or a disk that can be used to recover the system. If no to either then you need to consider -repairing the current OS, using some type of bootable cd that has repair tools. It may be possible to use a common XP cd to repair. Be warned that you can loose the OEM data if you are not sure how to use a repair. -using a Barts' PE based cd to create the recover disk. -Find someone with the correct cd's and change the numbers to fit your sticker. I read it wrong and answer it wrong too. So get off my case you goober.

Does your laptop has any important data? then you need to use data recovery software before doing system recovery. dell comes with system recovery software build in ,when you turn laptop on press control key press F11 then release together it may take few times to get it right follow the directions. iam newbie i recently install suse linux 10.1 when i use su and type /etc/shadow it says permission denied i dont know why.

unmountable boot volume perhaps??if it is, ouch, I hate those. And yes you should have created a bootable disc before your notebook crashed but oh well. you might be able to download XP boot files to help you boot your notebook here below http://www.techtips4u.com/kb/sw/SW0... OVERRIDE