Dell forum: Dell E520 Never Gets Past Windows XP Splash Screen... HELP!!

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Answer Best answer as chosen by user DrunkMonk420

Try a LIVE CD.

by R. Proffitt - 8/2/11 6:00 PM

In Reply to: Dell E520 Never Gets Past Windows XP Splash Screen... HELP!! by DrunkMonk420

http://www.ubuntu.com/ gives you a free bootable LIVE CD (no install) which will let you gain access to the files so you can get them out onto external hard disks or maybe your DROPBOX (see google.)

After your files are safe, you can consider more repairs and installs.

1. Unplug ALL USB things. (ALL!)
2. And does SAFE MODE work?
Bob

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still not working

by DrunkMonk420 - 8/2/11 6:14 PM

In Reply to: Try a LIVE CD. by R. Proffitt

the only things plugged into the USB ports are my keyboard and my cordless mouse..... and safe mode freezes at Mup.sys it doesnt go any farther....

im using a completely different computer right now and my computer is next to me.. i dont know how im supposed to access the stuff on that hard drive while using this other system...

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And did you unplug those?

by R. Proffitt - 8/2/11 6:17 PM

In Reply to: still not working by DrunkMonk420

I emphasized ALL and I meant it.

Safe Mode failures are a sign of a damaged OS or a machine with issues.

http://www.aitechsolutions.net/mup-sys-resolved.html WRITES AGAIN there is no one cause or cure.

This is why we get the files SAFE before repairs.
Bob

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still nothing

by DrunkMonk420 - 8/2/11 6:52 PM

In Reply to: And did you unplug those? by R. Proffitt

i dont know what to do right now.. nothing is working and this has never happened before... i cant even repair that mup.sys file.. i cant even get to a DOS mode with my XP cd.... anything i can do in the BIOS?

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also

by DrunkMonk420 - 8/2/11 6:55 PM

In Reply to: And did you unplug those? by R. Proffitt

it says in my BIOS that in the boot sequence 1. Onboard SATA Hard Drive (not present)

is this not fixable? is my hard drive gone or what? i mean i ran a windows re-install and it still doesnt work.. how could it copy all that stuff to a hard drive that apparently doesnt exist?

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Could be proper.

by R. Proffitt - 8/2/11 8:25 PM

In Reply to: also by DrunkMonk420

Most XP machines came with IDE drives so let's hear what make and model drive this is.

Also, folk that run XP on SATA drives are hammered when the bios setting for AHCI, IDE EMULATION or SATA MODE is the wrong settings. There is NO STANDARD FOR THIS!!! There is no document I can find for your machine's BIOS so my advice is to look at all the BIOS settings and flip the AHCI or IDE EMULATION or SATA MODE and hope that's it.

--> You seem to be dismissing a well worn piece of advice about the LIVE CD.

It's only been handed out a few years now. READ http://tips.oncomputers.info/archives2004/0401/2004-Jan-11.htm

Bob

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Did you download ...

by Edward ODaniel - 8/4/11 8:46 AM

In Reply to: also by DrunkMonk420

and create the Ubuntu Live CD like Bob recommended?

If you didn't because you felt the ISO was too large and the process too time consuming follow this link and download and create the AVG Rescue CD (just a small download and explicit instructions for creating the disk)-
http://www.techmixer.com/avg-rescue-disk-free-avg-bootable-antivirus-cd/

It has several utilities that would help you determine whether the SATA hard drive is functional. This link is the user guide for it and as you can see one of the utilities is Midnight Commander which is a file manager that would allow you to rescue your data files as well as TestDisk which will detect all hard drives and partitions -
http://www.avg.com/us-en/226386

Also, think back to EXACTLY how you went about formatting and installing XP all those previous times. Bob has hinted that you might have altered the BIOS settings which only you can check and also that possibly you might have installed the SATA drivers on those previous installations when the installation process offered you the option to "Press F6 and install the mass storage drivers"

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try and remove keyboard and wireless mouse then try a reboot

by Prandy - 8/12/11 11:40 AM

In Reply to: still not working by DrunkMonk420

see ANSWER below;

Removal of keyboard will generate a new error to the effect that no connection with keyboard. Plugging keyboard back in should cause computer to move forward and eventually reboot.

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Answer Best answer as chosen by user DrunkMonk420

Had same problem; Dell support helpful, but fixed on my own.

by PaulZagortz - 8/12/11 5:04 AM

In Reply to: Dell E520 Never Gets Past Windows XP Splash Screen... HELP!! by DrunkMonk420

steps I followed:

1) Dell support web site. It described the exact problem I had where it essentially said to disconnect everything but mouse, keyboard and monitor. . Tapping the F2 and F12 keys did ZERO. None of the solutions worked and after about 10 steps .... it brought me back to where I had started.

2) Went to online tech support on 8-11-2011. Mine is a 2008 Inspiron 530 Quad Core XP Pro still under 4 year warranty. Dell tech said it was a hardware probllem, probably the hard drive and said tecnician would call by Monday 8-15-2011 to set up an appointment and they would ship replacement parts overnight. .

3) Did the following google search: Dell Inspiron XP Pro won't move past Flash screen

4) The problem is all over the place. 30 minutes of searching about every geek forum post closest to my issue, I found the two most likely things that might at least get me past the flash screen so I could run safe mode or dskchk. Found the following two possibilites.

a) remove mouse from USB port and reboot: That did nothting.
b) remove kepbboard from USB port and reboot. Low and behold - got splash sceen with a new error listed: NO CONNECTION TO KEYBOARD. Plugged in keyboard, did nothing else. Computer went straight to chkdsk, essentially found no errors there, and rebooted to XP Pro perfectly. That was yesterday. Computer still works fine.
c) Open the cover and remove existing hard drive and re-insert it. That is a good one to try if A & B don't work. If the problem happens again before and a) and b) above don't work, I will try it.

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Step 3(c) solved my problem, too. Thanks.

by martinmitch - 8/12/11 8:16 AM

In Reply to: Had same problem; Dell support helpful, but fixed on my own. by PaulZagortz

Found cnet by doing a last ditch effort google search early this morning. Joined cnet after solution worked. Thanks everyone .. these forums are great.

After calling Dell tech support, I already had an appointment for Dell Tech to come out and replace hard drive or whatever Monday 8-15-11 (extended warranty still good but expires soon) Called Dell Tech back, told him I simply unplugged the keyboard and it ran chkdsk and booted normally. He said it could still be a bad hard drive so he is still coming Monday morning. Will keep you all posted !!!!!!!!

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oops ...... correction: followed step 4(c); not 3(c)

by martinmitch - 8/12/11 8:22 AM

In Reply to: Step 3(c) solved my problem, too. Thanks. by martinmitch

I guess there is no "edit" feature in this forum.......

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