Hello, I am trying to troubleshoot my friend's laptop. Basically, it won't start. It goes to the Windows XP logo screen and sometimes will restart on its own or sometimes not go anywhere beyond that. I tried to start the machine in Safe Mode (all three types) but interestingly, as I select the type of Safe Mode, the screen goes black and the computer restarts itself automatically. I have tried to boot the machine through the CD but that won't work at all either. Lastly, I tried the option of starting in the previously WORKING state but that too doesn't work. Any ideas? Thanks, Manoj

can you hear the fan going at all? does it run untill you select safe mode or will it restart if left on options sreen for a time?does it beep?(just ruleing out overheating). most stops on logo are useally drivers loading, any new programs/updates installed before it started going this? when you try to boot from cd what happens? do you get to any options? does it bring up an error? does it try to boot then fail?is the boot sequence set to boot cd 1st? sorry for givig you more questions than you gave us, but this bunch will probably ask more, lol Andy

Thanks Andy. No probs. The more questions there are, gives me a chance to keep these in mind and learn even more. Thanks. To answer your questions: -Yes, fan is going on. Yes, it does seem to run till I select "Safe Mode." If I don't hit F8, it goes to the windows logo and just stays there. -Coming to think about it, I'm 99% certain that it doesn't beep. But nor does my own laptop at home which works fine. -Yes, my friend did say he installed a couple programs but doesn't remember clearly which ones. :-( I wanted to get into it and uninstall them but couldn't even get to Safe Mode. -When I try to boot from a CD, it bypasses that in spite of setting BIOS so it boots from the CD. -I'm not sure if this would be considered as trying to boot but fails but it does go to the Windows XP screen but then either restarts or just stays there. -Yes, at one point it did bring up an error that read: PXE-?????????-Media Test Failure Hope this helps? Thanks, Manoj

ok, I think the 1st thing to do is get booted on the xp cd, go into bios and check that your cd drive is listed (pxe code could be refering to boot sequence error in bios) select boot from cd only, disable boot from floppy or hdd, then restart with cd in. if it then boots to setup, were on the way to getting sorted, if not, we try more

"I have tried to boot the machine through the CD but that won't work at all either." What exactly do you mean by that? It won't boot to the CD? Or is there some other issue after booting to the CD? Life's more painless for the brainless.

Damn theres to many problems with these comps im in the same problem as you jennifer. does a blue flash appear when it restarts by itself? dkljsa