I restart computer and it says lotsa numbers/letters, press F1 to continue, or F2 (and it takes me to some big menu thing, with teal colored bars, and white fonts) I press F1, and it takes me to a screen that says: System32/DRIVERS/pci.sys is corrupt or missing, press 'r' to repair. I press 'r' and it restarts.. So then after hours of doing this over & over, I just press 'F2', go through all the pages, and then restart. Then I press F1, takes me to the pci.sys file missing or corrupt, so I kept repeating this until windows finally came to life. I've tried this a few more times over the course of 48 hours, and it still works, but it takes 3-4 minutes to get through this, but at least I can still use it. So my question is, what on earth am I suppose to do? I spent hours googling, and all windows website says is lots of stuff I don't even understand. I know nothing about computers and everytime they die (this happened with desktop back in March 2008, but it kept restarting over & over, so then I just trashed it and got this laptop) I'd have my father or brother fix it. But neither my father or brother are able to help (they live miles&miles away). So can anyone please help me? I can still use the computer fine (with no problems), it's just this file is missing or corrupt and it's annoying when I shut my computer off/turn it back on and spend 4 minutes turning it on/off until it works.

I googled your problem and found that when you recieve a error mesage related to pci.sys ,it usaly is pointing to a hardware related prob! I copied and pasted these instructions which if like me you are comfortable working with the hardware inside your PC tower then move forward and perform the following directions ! Through a process of elimination you should be able to find which piece if hard ware is failing you ? Iam curious if you look at device manager for a yellow exclamation mark next to any of you H.W. connected to a PCI slot it will show you which piece of hardware is failing ,if not follow these instructions>>> Warning Do not complete the following procedure unless you are very familiar with internal computer hardware removal and installation. The hardware components in a computer are very sensitive to static electricity. For information about the correct handling of computer components, contact your computer manufacturer. Shut down your computer, and then remove all the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) devices. Restart your computer. If Windows starts successfully, shut down your computer, and then reinstall the PCI devices one at a time. Start Windows after the installation of each device. When you install a device that causes the issue that is described in the "Symptoms" section, remove that device, and then continue to install the other PCI devices. If Windows does not start successfully, remove one or more of the memory modules that are installed in your computer. Leave sufficient RAM for your computer to start and run Windows XP. Note Windows XP requires 128 megabytes (MB) RAM. The minimum is 64 MB and the maximum is 4 gigabytes (GB). For example, if two 256-MB memory modules are installed in your computer, remove one of the memory modules. If Windows starts successfully, shut down the computer, and then reinstall the RAM modules one at a time. Start Windows after the installation of each RAM module. When you install a module that causes the issue that is described in the "Symptoms" section, remove that module, and then continue to install the other RAM modules. Determine if the PCI devices in your computer are compatible with Windows XP. To do this, visit the following Microsoft Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) Web site: http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/hcl/d... (http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/hcl/default.mspx) Good Luck ,Nick

I agree that it's probably a hardware problem. It sounds to me like it might be a flaky connection that opens up when the system is cold. Instead of turning the system off, try putting it in standby.

Sorry, but Nick is not one of the most helpful helpers in these forums...he's more of a helpee. The instructions he provided are for a desktop system. Obviously a laptop has no tower or PCI devices. How can you not know the make/model of your laptop? My laptop says HP on the cover & the model number is on a label on the underside. If it's still under warranty, why not call tech support? The "big menu thing, with teal colored bars" is the BIOS (Basic Input Output System)...it controls ALL the hardware & tells WIndows what to do with it. Hopefully you didn't change anything. Here's a couple of things you can try: - during bootup, continually tap the F8 key. When the menu comes up, select "Last Known Good Configuration". Reboot & see what happens. - If that doesn't fix it...reboot again & tap the F8 key again. This time, select Safe Mode. Once in safe mode, try using System Restore. http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/wind... Once you get your system working properly again, run a complete virus scan. Also scan for spyware/malware & use a system cleaner such as CCleaner Slim. http://www.filehippo.com/download_s... http://www.ccleaner.com/download/bu... BTW, which antivirus program are you running?

Hi ojia, I apoligize I missed the part where you stated it was a laptop ! I really have no exprience at opening up a laptop and would not even attempt it out of fear of creating more problems then the system already may have. I have three very old laptops lying around that I think for kicks I will start opening up to make myself more familar with the inner workings of ! When it comes to desktops Iam very comfortable working inside the tower and often open up the tower on my two PC's just to clean out the inside remove the dust bunnies etc. I hope you are able to get your system up and running trouble free ! Also may you have a Merry X-Mas and a Happy New Year ! Take Care ,Nick P.S. computing.net is one of the best web sites to get recomendations on what course of action you should take with both H.W. and software related probs !