Inspiron 1520 Startup Problem

Hello everyone. I've had my laptop for just under a year now and it has given me so much trouble. This is not the first time it's been acting up. However, this is the first time it won't start up properly. I don't know what the problem is. I've added a link to my youtube video below for you guys to look at. Helpful responses would make my day! Thanks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBOlCUZt0LY

 

please help! anyone

 

Hi JH35,
I could tell from your video, but was there any devices plugged in while you were booting? Also, how long have you had the computer, and when was your last clean restore? It seems like there may be a problem with Vista. You can attempt to repair, but it may be faster to restore.

Gabe

 

Can you boot into Safe Mode?

 

Hello Gabe. No there were not any devices plugged in while I was booting. I've had my laptop since June 2007. My last clean restore... hmmm I think it was a couple of months ago.

Yes I can. I've tried to use anti-virus software, but it won't work in Safe Mode.

I've also tried System Restore in Safe Mode, but it said I did not have any recent save points.

 

It looks like your system could use a nice reformatting. Take your Vista recovery discs that Dell gave you and wipe your entire hard drive and start from scratch. I know it sucks, but a fresh install will probably fix all of your problems and make your system 100 times faster.

 

Yeah I know, but is there any way to copy my files in Safe Mode? I really want to keep my music and documents. And I can't seem to find my recovery discs.

 

any more suggestions?! i'll be back on tomorrow morning. night fellas

 

is there any way to transfer my files before i use the re-installation discs?

 

The only way I know of would be to remove the hard drive and attach it to another computer using an external drive enclosure. You'd have to get an enclosure that works with laptop drives.

If there were a way to load USB drivers while in Safe Mode, that might work.

 

i copied my files to my other computer and used the reinstall disc, so everything on my laptop is wiped out. I noticed that my camera isn't available too. Why's that?

 

You might need to install drivers for it.

 

what the hell is wrong with my laptop? it was working fine (in it's renewed state) until this morning. i closed the lid last night to go to bed and now the damn thing won't start up (BLUE SCREEN problem now). i used the cd you guys mentioned to try and repair my computer, and it said that my laptop was having this problem due to a recent update. how the hell can a laptop be acting up after an update?? shouldn't it help the laptop? anyways, it asked for me to use system restore. but how can i make sure this NEVER happens again?? thanks.

oh and i tried to start up in safe mode... no can do. blue screen.

 

I think it's time to start running some hardware diagnostics. This doesn't sound like a software problem.

 

how do you run hardware diagnostics?

 

Dell has a built-in diagnostics partition that you could try.
Try pressing the F12 key repeatedly when you first boot the computer, then choosing Diagnostics from the menu. If you're too late pressing the F12 key and don't get the menu, you'll have to reboot and try again.