I have a Dell Inspiron laptop with Windows Vista Home Basic and it has worked great for almost a year. Now, however, when I try to start it I get stuck with a copyright logo and a green loading bar. This screen stayed on my screen for several hours and I just turned the computer off manually. I get an error message and a blue screen when I try to do Startup Repair, and I cannot enter Safe Mode or Restore Last Succcessful Boot. When I try Safe Mode my computer freezes with a list of files showing. I tried to use the installation disc, but after a bar loads Windows Files, I get a black screen with only a mouse pointer. I really need to use my computer for a soon-to-be-due paper in English. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Sound like you need to restore from the cd.
Will your computer work in safe mode?

My computer will not work in Safe Mode.
I'm not sure what you mean by Windows CD. I have the Vista Installation Disc, and I tried it but I got stuck with a black screen and only a white mouse cursor (Ctrl+Alt+Del doesn't work either).

have you recently changed any hardware? or possibly update anything like the bios?

I hadn't changed hardware of BIOS before this happened. I did just change the BIOS so that the computer would boot from the CD, but that was after the problem.

Originally Posted by DgDeBx

I hadn't changed hardware of BIOS before this happened. I did just change the BIOS so that the computer would boot from the CD, but that was after the problem.

how old is the machine? most hdds only last about 3-5 yrs depending on usage. i would also agree a good quick fix is to just get a new drive and install a fresh copy of windows. if there are important files on the drive you still need to access, you could try running a live cd of knoppix (which is free) to move them to an external drive before replacing it.

Originally Posted by DgDeBx

The hard drive came with the computer, which is about 8 months old.

i hope its under warranty then. thats just some crap. but like i said you can get a live cd iso from here:

Linux Online - Distributions and FTP Sites

try knoppix (which reads ntfs file systems) or any of the other ones in the list you feel could be of service to you incase you need personal files from the drive still before ripping dell a new brown eye. good luck