Laptop wont boot

princethorpe · November 21st, 2005, 03:47 PM

I have a Dell L400 which was working fine. New HD 3 months ago clean XP load. I only use it for email when travelling. Being at home for the last 6 weeks i haven't been using it. When I tried it last it turns on but only achieves the Dell logo and pf2 enter setup etc display then stops. I cant enter the setup or progress further. I 've tried different memory and don't think it's reaching the stage of reading the HD. ago.

Anyone got any ideas??

princethorpe · November 21st, 2005, 04:30 PM

Hi

Battery appears to be charging and is about 2 thirds charged. I have tried with mains connected and just on the battery.

princethorpe · November 21st, 2005, 05:16 PM

Sorry Steve. Thanks for the welcome to TechIMO. I haven't tried it with mains only (no battery). I had put the L/top on charge before trying to use it and discovering the fault so battery may have gone flat. It's the not being able to get into the bios which is throwing me. If the cmos batt and laptop battery both being dead cause this lockout?

Such a little box so much grief

bonwalcpm · November 25th, 2005, 08:43 PM

Try recharging the battery - also check to see if you have a CD left in your CD drive - After charging the battery try rebooting and pressing F2 to get into the BIOS setup.

princethorpe · November 27th, 2005, 02:40 PM

Hi,

Sorry for being so long replying. You cant leave a cd in the drive as the l/top has no fiited drives they all have to be external. This is what makes it ideal for travelling. however I have disconnected the Battery and the cmos batt left for 20 mins I have reconected both and now can enter the bios or by selecting boot up order get windows to fire. I do how ever have a new problem I cant alter the boot order in the bios it defaults to a floppy which doesn't exist. The warning message is I cant alter the bios when logged on as a user. There is no administrator setup anyone any ideas how to get around this one.

Thanks

Flav_cool · November 27th, 2005, 03:52 PM

So it doesn't remember your bios settings? (i.e. it goes back to floppy)...Maybe the cmos battery is dry and thats why it doesn't rememeber.

princethorpe · November 27th, 2005, 03:55 PM

Sorry I wasn't very clear. I cant alter the boot up sequence in the bios it says" as a user i dont have authority" It is presuming there is an "asdministrator" There has never been one set. There isn't one on the HD as it's new?

Flav_cool · November 27th, 2005, 04:14 PM

Oh I see so then you probably have to enter a password somewhere...maybe it came w/ a default "administrator" bios acount...If you still have the manual try looking through that in the bios section.

princethorpe · November 27th, 2005, 04:28 PM

The bios says there isn't an administrators password set. I'll check the book. I'll also try setting one and then see what happens I can always delete it.

Thanks for you help. It will be tomorrow before I can try the above so i'll try and post then.

bonwalcpm · November 28th, 2005, 12:36 AM

Check your manual or the Dell site - There is usually a way to reset the CMOS - on a desktop motherboard it is usually a jumper you clear or close - Maybe the same but you have to remove the battery or some small plate to get at it. or dell may have a program to reset it to the factory default.