Upgrading & Fixing Laptops DUMmIES

With luck, problems with a system BIOS are a once-in-a-laptop’s-lifetime event

and can be fixed using one of the methods above. If you believe the BIOS isn’t

corrupted and its settings are correct, the next step is to look for problems

with the operating system; I assume you’re working with a version of Windows.

Reboot your laptop and select a Safe Boot

Under current versions of Windows, you can initiate a Safe Boot by restarting

your machine and holding down the F8 function key as soon as the BIOS test

information begins to appear on the screen. The Safe Boot options, listed in

Table 3-1, vary slightly based on the version of Microsoft Windows you’re using.

Table 3-1: Safe Boot Options for Windows XP Pro

with Service Pack 2

Safe Boot What It Does

Safe Mode Starts Windows with the basic set of device drivers and

services. Safe Mode uses the generic vga.sys driver at

640 ×480 resolution with 16 colors in the palette. In most

cases you can get the machine running and then go to the

Control Panel to change settings or to add, remove, or

update troublesome device drivers. If you have added

software, see if the program includes any adjustable video

settings. Or, Add/Remove Programs from Windows (or a

specialized removal program associated with the new

application to uninstall the software). Reboot the system

and restart.

Safe Mode with Works in the same manner as basic Safe Mode, adding

Networking just those necessary drivers and services needed to con-

nect your laptop to a wired or wireless network.

Safe Mode with Starts your machine and goes to the hidden operating

Command Prompt system prompt, a facility that reaches back to DOS and

the original PC. From the command prompt you can exam-

ine the file structure, erase or add files, and run certain

utilities (including virus removal tools). Use this choice

only if you have specific instructions from a technician or

a software program.

Enable Boot Logging Turns on a utility that records each step taken by the com-

puter and the operating system in getting ready to run

Windows. The results are recorded in a text file called

Ntblog.txt. You can search for the file from within

Windows or go directly to it by navigating to the

%SystemRoot% folder.

46 Part II: Explaining What Could Possibly Go Wrong