[jamesb9898]

Hi,

Last night I was on my Dell Inspiron E1705 laptop and it started running slow and wouldn't start so I manually turned it off; upon restarting the "Dell" logo pops up just fine followed by the blue line containing www.dell.com and then I see "PBR 2...done" quickly flash and I am greeted with this window:

Please select operating system to start:

Microsoft Windows Recovery Console
do not select this [debugger enabled]
Windows XP Media Center Edition
Use the up and down arrow keys to move the highlight to your choice.
Press ENTER to choose.

For troubleshooting and advanced startup options for Windows, press F8.

If I don’t touch anything it will automatically select "Windows XP Media Center Edition" within a second or two and boot to a completely black screen. I tried selecting "Microsoft Windows Recovery Console" which ultimately leads to this:

Microsoft Windows XP(TM) Recovery Console.
The Recovery Console provides system repair and recovery functionality.
Type EXIT to quit the Recovery Console and restart the computer.

1: C:\WINDOWS

Which Windows installation would you like to log onto
<To cancel, press ENTER>?

I also tried hitting F8 and booting up in safe mode but it always sends me back to the "Please select operating system to start:" only difference being "Safe Mode" is illuminated in blue on the bottom right corner.

I don't know what else to try....please help!

Thanks,
Brian

 

[Old Rich]

I would start with running diagnostics on the hard drive

Hard Drive Diagnostics Tools and Utilities (Storage) - TACKtech Corp.

See this for how to make a bootable cd

 

[jamesb9898]

Hi Rich,

Where can I find the manufacturer info for the hard drive on my Dell?
Secondly, I dont have my windows xp boot cd's....is there somewhere that I can download them?

Thanks,
Brian

 

[Old Rich]

You can look at the drive, or just use the Seagate diagnostic . . it will run on most drives.

You can request a replacement instalaltion disc here:

https://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dellcare/en/backupcd_form

 

[joeten]

Hi dell has diagnostics built in How to Run the Dell or you could use seatools for dos SeaTools | Seagate