No boot on XP laptop

One of our laptops suddenly stopped booting to windows.

I went into the bios, and enabled full diagnostics at
boot time. no issues reported.

I booted into the Dell Diagnostics, and did the full check
on the hard drive and optical drive. No errors reported.

I tried to boot to windows safe mode, it froze after loading
the isapnp.sys driver file.

I booted to dos to examine isapnp.sys and pciide.sys which
a google search told me loads after isapnp.

Dos could not find the c drive.

Should I try a repair install of XP? Another hard drive
diagnostic tool?

Any help would be highly appreciated...

Thank you,


--
Andrew Hall
(Now reading Usenet in alt.sys.pc-clone.dell...)

On 9/17/2010 3:29 PM, wrote:

One of our laptops suddenly stopped booting to windows.

I went into the bios, and enabled full diagnostics at
boot time. no issues reported.

I booted into the Dell Diagnostics, and did the full check
on the hard drive and optical drive. No errors reported.

I tried to boot to windows safe mode, it froze after loading
the isapnp.sys driver file.

I booted to dos to examine isapnp.sys and pciide.sys which
a google search told me loads after isapnp.

Dos could not find the c drive.

Should I try a repair install of XP? Another hard drive
diagnostic tool?

Any help would be highly appreciated...

Thank you,



do you have a blackberry or any other usb device connected to it via a
usb cable?

Christopher Muto writes:

On 9/17/2010 3:29 PM, wrote:

One of our laptops suddenly stopped booting to windows.

I went into the bios, and enabled full diagnostics at
boot time. no issues reported.

I booted into the Dell Diagnostics, and did the full check
on the hard drive and optical drive. No errors reported.

I tried to boot to windows safe mode, it froze after loading
the isapnp.sys driver file.

I booted to dos to examine isapnp.sys and pciide.sys which
a google search told me loads after isapnp.

Dos could not find the c drive.

Should I try a repair install of XP? Another hard drive
diagnostic tool?

Any help would be highly appreciated...

Thank you,



do you have a blackberry or any other usb device connected to it via a
usb cable?

No, just a mouse initially, and I used a usb floppy drive to boot
to DOS. The only other cables are power and LAN.

Thanks,


--
Andrew Hall
(Now reading Usenet in alt.sys.pc-clone.dell...)

Christopher Muto writes:

On 9/17/2010 3:29 PM, wrote:

One of our laptops suddenly stopped booting to windows.

I went into the bios, and enabled full diagnostics at
boot time. no issues reported.

I booted into the Dell Diagnostics, and did the full check
on the hard drive and optical drive. No errors reported.

I tried to boot to windows safe mode, it froze after loading
the isapnp.sys driver file.

I booted to dos to examine isapnp.sys and pciide.sys which
a google search told me loads after isapnp.

Dos could not find the c drive.

Should I try a repair install of XP? Another hard drive
diagnostic tool?

Any help would be highly appreciated...

Thank you,



do you have a blackberry or any other usb device connected to it via a
usb cable?

PS It is definitely trying to boot to windows, as I got half a screen
of boot info before it hung when trying to boot to safe mode.


--
Andrew Hall
(Now reading Usenet in alt.sys.pc-clone.dell...)

On 9/17/2010 10:32 PM, wrote:
Christopher writes:

On 9/17/2010 3:29 PM, wrote:

One of our laptops suddenly stopped booting to windows.

I went into the bios, and enabled full diagnostics at
boot time. no issues reported.

I booted into the Dell Diagnostics, and did the full check
on the hard drive and optical drive. No errors reported.

I tried to boot to windows safe mode, it froze after loading
the isapnp.sys driver file.

I booted to dos to examine isapnp.sys and pciide.sys which
a google search told me loads after isapnp.

Dos could not find the c drive.

Should I try a repair install of XP? Another hard drive
diagnostic tool?

Any help would be highly appreciated...

Thank you,



do you have a blackberry or any other usb device connected to it via a
usb cable?

PS It is definitely trying to boot to windows, as I got half a screen
of boot info before it hung when trying to boot to safe mode.



I've dealt with several laptops lately with dead or dying CMOS
batteries. The first symptom is incorrect date/time. The next symptom
can be anything, especially when the drive parameters in the CMOS are fubar.

Also, do not rule out a failing hard drive. Dell diagnostics and
Microsoft chkdsk scratch the surface in testing the disk. Run the
manufacturer's diagnostics and also HDAT2 to examine the SMART
parameters, looking for reallocated sectors and sectors pending
reallocation, both a sign of a drive going bad... Ben Myers

Ben Myers writes:

On 9/17/2010 10:32 PM, wrote:
Christopher writes:

On 9/17/2010 3:29 PM, wrote:

One of our laptops suddenly stopped booting to windows.

I went into the bios, and enabled full diagnostics at
boot time. no issues reported.

I booted into the Dell Diagnostics, and did the full check
on the hard drive and optical drive. No errors reported.

I tried to boot to windows safe mode, it froze after loading
the isapnp.sys driver file.

I booted to dos to examine isapnp.sys and pciide.sys which
a google search told me loads after isapnp.

Dos could not find the c drive.

Should I try a repair install of XP? Another hard drive
diagnostic tool?

Any help would be highly appreciated...

Thank you,



do you have a blackberry or any other usb device connected to it via a
usb cable?

PS It is definitely trying to boot to windows, as I got half a screen
of boot info before it hung when trying to boot to safe mode.



I've dealt with several laptops lately with dead or dying CMOS
batteries. The first symptom is incorrect date/time. The next
symptom can be anything, especially when the drive parameters in the
CMOS are fubar.

The BIOS setup reported the correct time.

Also, do not rule out a failing hard drive. Dell diagnostics and
Microsoft chkdsk scratch the surface in testing the disk. Run the
manufacturer's diagnostics and also HDAT2 to examine the SMART
parameters, looking for reallocated sectors and sectors pending
reallocation, both a sign of a drive going bad... Ben Myers

I will try that. No C drive in DOS made me wonder --- the Safe mode
boot did indicate some C drive reading, and a full one hour hard drive
Dell test found no bad sectors. Will I find the HDAT2 software via
google? Will it work from a DOS system floopy? I am not sure who made
the hard drive, but I can probably figure it out from the BIOS setup
pages.

Thanks,


--
Andrew Hall
(Now reading Usenet in alt.sys.pc-clone.dell...)

On Fri, 17 Sep 2010 22:44:36 -0400, wrote:

Ben Myers writes:

On 9/17/2010 10:32 PM, wrote:
Christopher writes:

On 9/17/2010 3:29 PM, wrote:

One of our laptops suddenly stopped booting to windows.

I went into the bios, and enabled full diagnostics at
boot time. no issues reported.

I booted into the Dell Diagnostics, and did the full check
on the hard drive and optical drive. No errors reported.

I tried to boot to windows safe mode, it froze after loading
the isapnp.sys driver file.

I booted to dos to examine isapnp.sys and pciide.sys which
a google search told me loads after isapnp.

Dos could not find the c drive.

Should I try a repair install of XP? Another hard drive
diagnostic tool?

Any help would be highly appreciated...

Thank you,



do you have a blackberry or any other usb device connected to it via a
usb cable?

PS It is definitely trying to boot to windows, as I got half a screen
of boot info before it hung when trying to boot to safe mode.



I've dealt with several laptops lately with dead or dying CMOS
batteries. The first symptom is incorrect date/time. The next
symptom can be anything, especially when the drive parameters in the
CMOS are fubar.

The BIOS setup reported the correct time.

Also, do not rule out a failing hard drive. Dell diagnostics and
Microsoft chkdsk scratch the surface in testing the disk. Run the
manufacturer's diagnostics and also HDAT2 to examine the SMART
parameters, looking for reallocated sectors and sectors pending
reallocation, both a sign of a drive going bad... Ben Myers

I will try that. No C drive in DOS made me wonder --- the Safe mode
boot did indicate some C drive reading, and a full one hour hard drive
Dell test found no bad sectors. Will I find the HDAT2 software via
google? Will it work from a DOS system floopy? I am not sure who made
the hard drive, but I can probably figure it out from the BIOS setup
pages.

Thanks,


Did you check the ram memory in the tests too? Do you think that the
ram or hard drive need to be re-seated? I would think if you can
boot to an external floppy, then the hard drive might be going bad.
See if Ben or Chris agree.

On 9/17/2010 10:44 PM, wrote:
Ben writes:

On 9/17/2010 10:32 PM, wrote:
Christopher writes:

On 9/17/2010 3:29 PM, wrote:

One of our laptops suddenly stopped booting to windows.

I went into the bios, and enabled full diagnostics at
boot time. no issues reported.

I booted into the Dell Diagnostics, and did the full check
on the hard drive and optical drive. No errors reported.

I tried to boot to windows safe mode, it froze after loading
the isapnp.sys driver file.

I booted to dos to examine isapnp.sys and pciide.sys which
a google search told me loads after isapnp.

Dos could not find the c drive.

Should I try a repair install of XP? Another hard drive
diagnostic tool?

Any help would be highly appreciated...

Thank you,



do you have a blackberry or any other usb device connected to it via a
usb cable?

PS It is definitely trying to boot to windows, as I got half a screen
of boot info before it hung when trying to boot to safe mode.



I've dealt with several laptops lately with dead or dying CMOS
batteries. The first symptom is incorrect date/time. The next
symptom can be anything, especially when the drive parameters in the
CMOS are fubar.

The BIOS setup reported the correct time.

Also, do not rule out a failing hard drive. Dell diagnostics and
Microsoft chkdsk scratch the surface in testing the disk. Run the
manufacturer's diagnostics and also HDAT2 to examine the SMART
parameters, looking for reallocated sectors and sectors pending
reallocation, both a sign of a drive going bad... Ben Myers

I will try that. No C drive in DOS made me wonder --- the Safe mode
boot did indicate some C drive reading, and a full one hour hard drive
Dell test found no bad sectors. Will I find the HDAT2 software via
google? Will it work from a DOS system floopy? I am not sure who made
the hard drive, but I can probably figure it out from the BIOS setup
pages.

Thanks,



you c partition is probably formated as ntfs and so it is not so
suprising that a unknown version of 'dos' did not recognize it. you
should provide more information than 'xp laptop' and 'booted to dos'if
you want meaningful replies. good luck.

On 9/17/2010 10:44 PM, wrote:
Ben writes:

On 9/17/2010 10:32 PM, wrote:
Christopher writes:

On 9/17/2010 3:29 PM, wrote:

One of our laptops suddenly stopped booting to windows.

I went into the bios, and enabled full diagnostics at
boot time. no issues reported.

I booted into the Dell Diagnostics, and did the full check
on the hard drive and optical drive. No errors reported.

I tried to boot to windows safe mode, it froze after loading
the isapnp.sys driver file.

I booted to dos to examine isapnp.sys and pciide.sys which
a google search told me loads after isapnp.

Dos could not find the c drive.

Should I try a repair install of XP? Another hard drive
diagnostic tool?

Any help would be highly appreciated...

Thank you,



do you have a blackberry or any other usb device connected to it via a
usb cable?

PS It is definitely trying to boot to windows, as I got half a screen
of boot info before it hung when trying to boot to safe mode.



I've dealt with several laptops lately with dead or dying CMOS
batteries. The first symptom is incorrect date/time. The next
symptom can be anything, especially when the drive parameters in the
CMOS are fubar.

The BIOS setup reported the correct time.

Also, do not rule out a failing hard drive. Dell diagnostics and
Microsoft chkdsk scratch the surface in testing the disk. Run the
manufacturer's diagnostics and also HDAT2 to examine the SMART
parameters, looking for reallocated sectors and sectors pending
reallocation, both a sign of a drive going bad... Ben Myers

I will try that. No C drive in DOS made me wonder --- the Safe mode
boot did indicate some C drive reading, and a full one hour hard drive
Dell test found no bad sectors. Will I find the HDAT2 software via
google? Will it work from a DOS system floopy? I am not sure who made
the hard drive, but I can probably figure it out from the BIOS setup
pages.

Thanks,



Yes, google for HDAT2. There are floppy and CD ISO downloads.

Some laptop BIOS setup screens tell all, including drive mfr. Others,
especially Toshiba and HPaq, tell you next to nothing. Worst case,
you'll need a small Philips head screwdriver to remove screws from the
drive bay and examine the label on the drive.

Toshiba is the ONLY major drive mfr that does not provide a free
download of drive diagnostic software.

Toshiba has rapidly become my most unfavorite manufacturer in the
computer industry, altho their CD-ROM drives were once excellent... Ben
Myers

On Sep 17, 9:40*pm, Ben Myers wrote:
On 9/17/2010 10:32 PM, wrote:



Christopher *writes:

On 9/17/2010 3:29 PM, wrote:

One of our laptops suddenly stopped booting to windows.

I went into the bios, and enabled full diagnostics at
boot time. *no issues reported.

I booted into the Dell Diagnostics, and did the full check
on the hard drive and optical drive. *No errors reported.

I tried to boot to windows safe mode, it froze after loading
the isapnp.sys driver file.

I booted to dos to examine isapnp.sys and pciide.sys which
a google search told me loads after isapnp.

Dos could not find the c drive.

Should I try a repair install of XP? *Another hard drive
diagnostic tool?

Any help would be highly appreciated...

Thank you,

do you have a blackberry or any other usb device connected to it via a
usb cable?

PS It is definitely trying to boot to windows, as I got half a screen
of boot info before it hung when trying to boot to safe mode.

I've dealt with several laptops lately with dead or dying CMOS
batteries. *The first symptom is incorrect date/time. *The next symptom
can be anything, especially when the drive parameters in the CMOS are fubar.

Also, do not rule out a failing hard drive. *Dell diagnostics and
Microsoft chkdsk scratch the surface in testing the disk. *Run the
manufacturer's diagnostics and also HDAT2 to examine the SMART
parameters, looking for reallocated sectors and sectors pending
reallocation, both a sign of a drive going bad... Ben Myers

Could this also be the basic symptom of over-heating of the CPU?