ClineTyme

this ones a real lu-lu.....i got this laptop (Dell Inspiron 1100 notebook) from a buddy of mine pretty cheap...now i know why....lol. Heres the situation...i guess its gotta virus, so i figured that id just pop in a windows xp cd format it and vwalla...new comp...aint workin like that. When i boot up i get a err message b-4 windows pops up .... " Userinit.exe Application failure" (it gets better...)....i reboot w/ the windows xp cd in, thinkin that i was gonna wipe it clean.....it goes straight back to the err message, doesnt read the xp cd. I get out the manual it says to press F12 to read from the cd-rom when reinstalling windows....i did that, it ignored me about a dozen times, so i took the time to try all the "F" keys 1 by 1..... It says that F2 will take me into the bios settings...figured id go in there and check out the boot order, make sure that the Cd-rom is bootin first, wont even let me do that...the next thing i do is start tappin the F8 to get in safe mode, got in safe mode so now i know that the "F" keys r workin....but it gave me the same err message......so i grab my external dvd burner...plugged er in and it basically told me to eat s*it. Ive formatted many many computers w/ the various windows cd's i have so i know that they all work.....this 1 has me stuck right from the start button.....any suggestions would be great.....

TriggerFinger

Hi ClineTyme,

To enter BIOS, tap the F2 key when DELL logo appears. Or try F12 continuously from boot up.

ClineTyme

thx for the response triggerfinger, but as stated in my post i tried all that it, nothing seems to work....

TriggerFinger

You may have to replace your keyboard. Try an external keyboard instead. If it works well, then you know you need a new keyboard for your laptop.