rjmiller15 Posted October 7, 2006 Report Share Posted October 7, 2006 I got a friend's computer today. This is what she described.She has a Dell Inspiron 2200 laptop with Windows XP. She used a Verizon Wireless PCMCIA internet card to gain access to the internet. She said she pulled the card out of the laptop, and received a BSOD, she tried to reboot and she said the computer got stuck on the Windows XP bootup window for like 10 min. She tried again and the same thing.She gave the computer to me. I plugged in the card, and turned on the laptop. I had the same problem. So I restarted again and hit F12 for Setup. I then came to the Safe Mode menu, and it said something about a hardware issue, and I could go into safe mode or normal mode, etc. I chose safe mode, and then booted up. I tried to open the Verizon Connection box and connect to the internet, but it said the card was in use with another application. There were no other applications running.So then I went to Start, Restart, and now the computer went back the Windows Boot up screen and it's sitting on a black screen with a movable white arrow. The hard drive activity light shows no HD activity.What should I do? And what might have gone wrong? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Breen Posted October 7, 2006 Report Share Posted October 7, 2006 (edited) On the boot menu have you tried to boot to the last known good config? Edited October 7, 2006 by Breen Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rjmiller15 Posted October 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2006 Yes, and it's stuck on the black screen with the white arrow. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rjmiller15 Posted October 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2006 I also went into setup (F2) and disabled the wireless, to see if it would do anything. Nothing....same thing Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shanenin Posted October 7, 2006 Report Share Posted October 7, 2006 If it was me, I would try a clean install. If that does not fix it, you need to start looking at individual hardware components. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Breen Posted October 7, 2006 Report Share Posted October 7, 2006 You may have to do a repair install of windows. Do you have an XP disc available?A repair installation basically replaces all essential windows system files but leaves installed applications intact. All updates and service packs will need to be reapplied after a repair install. It's also a good idea to back up any important documents before you do a repair install in case anything goes wrong. Since the computer isn't bootable, making a backup will be tough but could be done with a live linux distro (like knoppix) or some other bootable "CD based" operating system. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rjmiller15 Posted October 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2006 I was afraid you would suggest a clean install, unfortunately I know she has extensive work records on her computer, and knowing her she didn't back up either.I wish there was an easier way of disabling the device, or some diagnostic to run in safe mode to fix this.If I CAN get to safe mode again, is there anything I can do there in the hardware properties? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Breen Posted October 7, 2006 Report Share Posted October 7, 2006 Is the card listed in the device manager in safe mode? If so, uninstall it from there and see what happens. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rjmiller15 Posted October 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2006 Ok I am trying to get back to safe mode. When I choose safe mode, and it's goes through the list of drivers, it gets hung up on....multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\windows\system32\drivers\mup.sys After a LONG while, I COULD get to the safe mode, we'll see if it works again, and I'll try to go to devices Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rjmiller15 Posted October 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2006 Ok I am in safe mode now! I went to Control Panel, System, and then Hardware. Under PCMCIA adapters, I saw Texas Instruments PCI-1510 CardBus Controller.Should I disable it, restart, and then enable it?? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Breen Posted October 7, 2006 Report Share Posted October 7, 2006 Go ahead and disable it and then see if you can boot into normal mode. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rjmiller15 Posted October 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2006 Disabled the PCMCIA adapter, and same thing. Very long boot time, and then a black screen with white movable cursor.I wonder how removing the card could cause this... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Breen Posted October 7, 2006 Report Share Posted October 7, 2006 Do you know the error code the BSOD spit out when the card was intitially removed? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rjmiller15 Posted October 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2006 no the laptop was not in my possession at the time.Haha, sounds like something from Mission Impossible..... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Breen Posted October 7, 2006 Report Share Posted October 7, 2006 Did you see mission impossible III? I was a little disappointed with it, but ah well...back to the topic though. Unfortunately your options seem to be dwindling down... I think you should give a repair install a try. I've done many before and have never lost any data but that doesn't mean that data loss never happens.This site gives the rundown on a repair install if you're interested. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rjmiller15 Posted October 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2006 Thanks for the help!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Breen Posted October 7, 2006 Report Share Posted October 7, 2006 Thanks for the help!!yep, no problem Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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