dell won't start

AirCanuckAirCanuck London, Ontario New
edited August 2008 in Hardware
Last night I had to restart my computer due to a windows vista upgrade (it was legit because my friend got it too and her computer is fine). It is a brand new (as of december) Inspiron 1520, and has always run like a dream. Today when I went to start it, it goes through the dell screen, the bar loads, and then it's just a blank black screen with a flashing cursor!! Help!!

I do regular viruscans and malware scans. Help me PLEASE! This couldn't have come at a worse time than during my finals for University.

Thanks in advance
AirCanuck

Comments

  • kryystkryyst Ontario, Canada
    edited April 2008
    Can you boot up into safe mode? If you don't know what that is start hitting F8 just after the computer posts (the Dell screen) and before the Windows bar starts up.
  • AirCanuckAirCanuck London, Ontario New
    edited April 2008
    I'll try tomorrow, thanks!
  • AirCanuckAirCanuck London, Ontario New
    edited April 2008
    right, it started in safe mode... now what?
  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    edited April 2008
    Um, SOME of those updates will install partially at startup time, giving a very long (I've seen an hour to startup) startup. That happened with my Mom's Dell laptop, with some of the updates (more than one, forget exactly how many) for Windows Vista. I finally let it sit for an hour at that black screen with flashing cursor after powering it off and on a few times, it runs fine now.
  • AirCanuckAirCanuck London, Ontario New
    edited April 2008
    well, it actually sat all night like that, to no avail - HOWEVER. After starting it in safe mode, I restarted and booted up in normal mode with no troubles! Thanks so much for your help, you were a life-saver during exams! :bigggrin:
  • AirCanuckAirCanuck London, Ontario New
    edited August 2008
    @#!@$! it happened again. this time f8 isn't working.

    EDIT: Please help me soon! Whether I hit f8, f2 for setup or any of the other options, it just goes to a flashing cursor. I'm right in the middle of registering for courses for university. What the hell is up with the timings of these problems?
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