Not the typical BOOTMGR error

[Jennifer Sands]

Yes, I am trying to use a BlueTooth Keyboard.

I am trying to locate a USB keyboard but everyone has either laptops or bluettooth themselves.

I will have to look harder or buy one I suppose.

 

[Dwarf]

Hi Jen,

Does your hard drive appear in the BIOS boot sequence? See Boot Sequence on pg119 of the Owner's Manual (see my earlier post for link).

 

[Jennifer Sands]

This is quite strange but now I can't access the F2 key which sends me to setup and bios.

Maybe this is why I can't use the CTRL F11 sequence either.

I was able to do this previously, and my keyboard will alloy me to hit CTRL ALT Delete to restart the computer at this time but the other functions aren't responding anymore.

Originally, I was able to access BIOS.

 

[Dwarf]

Hi Jen,

Do the function keys on your keyboard have other functions associated with them, such as Open, Close, Reply, Fwd, etc? If they do, check the status of the F Lock key. If the appropriate indicator on the keyboard is on (lit), then the keys act as F1-F12. If it is off, then the keys act according to the alternative function, i.e. Open, Close, etc.

 

[Jennifer Sands]

Ah, that must have been the issue. I am now able to enter setup for BIOS.

However, CTRL + F11 or F11 at the same time as CTRL still doesn't work.

 

[Jennifer Sands]

Yes, the HD appears

It's #4 and the only one other than CD/DVD drive that DOESN'T have a not present marker next to it

The order is like this:
1. DVD drive
2.USB floppy NP
3. SATA HARD DRIVE NP
4. ST3250820AS
5. ONBOARD NETWORK CONTROLLER NP
6.usb device NP

 

[Jennifer Sands]

Did you guys leave me

 

[SIW2]

Hi,

It's midnight for us. I haven't gone yet, tho.

The only thing I can suggest is a different keyboard.

Dwarf may have a better idea.

 

[Jennifer Sands]

I wasn't sure if there was another suggestion for me. The last thing I was asked was for my BIOS order, but I didn't hear anything beyond that, or what that was in question to.

Is there anything I should try? I couldn't get ctrl + f11 to work

 

[SIW2]

I think he was checking the setup. Looks ok to me. Dvd followed by the Seagate HD, and not setup to boot from usb.

Maybe someone with a Dell machine and/ or one of those keyboards will have a work around.

If you scroll to the bottom of the page - under the quick reply - you can see a couple of people reading it - to see if they can help.

 

[Jennifer Sands]

Anyone have anything worth trying?

Is it worth it for me to go buy a USB keyboard? I just moved to this area so I don't have anyone to borrow one from. Just not sure of the likelyhood of that being the problem.

I'm ready to scrap the computer @ this point. Seems like all methods are exhausted!

 

[SIW2]

I wouldn't throw it out. You can use your laptops till you get hold of or are able to borrow a different keyboard and see if that does the trick.

Might be it works perfectly after that.

 

[Jennifer Sands]

True. At least I backed up my files or else this would be truly a nightmare.

Is this a normal occurrence for Vista to have this kind of error? I have reformatted a system a few times in the past and never had anything like this occur.

Do you find it odd that the CTRL + F11 command doesn't work?

 

[SIW2]

It's not a normal occurence at all - there have been reported cases of usb devices causing installation errors - I don't think that's just with Vista.

Yes, the ctrl+F11 is odd - could be something to with the keyboard settings - is there a manual with it?

I don't have a fancy keyboard, so can't be sure.

 

[garysgold]

Hello Jennifer,

Only other thing I can think of besides another keyboard, which I'm not sure is the problem but could be, is to start the dell DVD from the command prompt. You said in your first post you could get there. From the prompt;

type cd X:\ where X is the letter of you DVD drive. probably D or E depending on the no. of partitions on your drive. If your not sure of which drive it is, you can use the dir command to have the contents listed. With the DVD in the drive you'll see a Setup.exe in the list along with folders Boot, EFI, Sources etc.

When your at the correct drive type Setup.exe and hit enter. That should start the installation process.

Hope this works. If not, it may well be a keyboard thing. You can pick a cheapy up at Walmart and try that. They'll let you return it if you want, but it's good to have a spare.

Gary

Edit: On my dell desktop it says press F8 to enter recovery. Don't know why they'd make it different for laptops. Might be worth a shot.

 

[Jennifer Sands]

Hi Gary,

Thanks for your advice.

One thing, I can access command prompt but that's ONLY from NEOsmarts windows recovery cd.

Would that still work?

Thanks,
Jen

 

[SIW2]

You can take the Neosmart cd out when you are at the command prompt - the Recovery Environment is loaded into Ram.

Put the dvd in and give Gary's idea a try.

Does pressing F8 do anything?

 

[Dwarf]

Yes, the ctrl+F11 is odd - could be something to with the keyboard settings - is there a manual with it?

I got the information from the manual - see http://www.vistax64.com/general-discussion/227232-not-typical-bootmgr-error.html#post1044114

 

[Dwarf]

Hi Jen,

Here is the link to the Dell forums for your system - have a browse to see if anything there helps you. I know that there is a lot of information about different aspects of your model there, but you might be able to find something.

Search Results - DELL COMMUNITY

 

[garysgold]

Yes, the ctrl+F11 is odd - could be something to with the keyboard settings - is there a manual with it?

I got the information from the manual - see http://www.vistax64.com/general-discussion/227232-not-typical-bootmgr-error.html#post1044114

Never doubted your info. Just never had to hit two keys to do anything at post before. My only laptop is at least 10 or 12 years old and almost never used (350mhz processor if I remember).

Gary