dell inspiron 1521 stuck in startup repair

Dear Cindy,

when it ends up looking for the repairs,perhaps it prompts you," do u want to send a report to microsoft?" or "ignore....." sumthing like this.....

If you could see at the bottom of the prompted window ,you could see advanced options....there! you could see the options for restoring your system for the previous good condiiton time!

hope this helps you....

Cheers

Maddy

My 1521 laptop has started doing the same thing some time in November.  I only get the startup repair mode when I am working from the battery.  I have two batteries, and I have noticed that the startup repair comes on when I use the different battery than I had in when I last used the laptop.  I highly suspect Windows Vista is behind this problem.  It started suddenly in November probably with the addition of one of Vista updates.  Perhaps Vista is trying to remember how the system was last configured, and if is not exactly the same as it remembers, it goes into startup repair mode.  The ONLY way I can ever get it through the startup repair mode is to do a recover when it gies you the option.  I have been looking for a solution on all the message boards.  I can imagine Dell will blame Vista and Microsoft will blame Dell and nothing will get done until a smart engineer posts a solution.  I am sorry you are experiencing the same problem.  I will post again if I find a solution.

Sincerely,

Mike

Have you tried booting from the Vista re-install DVD and using the repair options there?  I directed a user using an Insp XPS M1330 to open Command Prompt and run 'chkdsk c: /r'.  The result was three files, one was 'explorer.exe', had allocation errors.  Unfortunately for my user, the Startup Repair tool continues to run automatically even in Safe Mode.

I now understand more what the problem I am having is, but I have not found a satisifactory answer.  To recount, I have a DELL Inspiron 1521, running Windows Vista Home Edition, which had been working perfectly until last November--possibly because of a Windows Update.  Since then, I have had the following problem: When I have my laptop plugged in, everything boots up fine and there is no trouble whatsoever.  Whenever I use the battery to power the laptop, it will work fine at first.  Then when I charge the battery at night in my laptop with the power off, on the next day, when I use the same battery, the laptop will go to the Windows Startup screen and freeze there permanently or until I manually force-shutdown the laptop.  When I reboot after the shutdown, Startup Repair will force me to restore my computer to a previous startpoint in order to continue to boot up.  I forunantely have two batteries, so I found a work-around.  The laptop remembers the last battery used.  When I charge a battery with the laptop off, the laptop will not boot up from the same battery and freeze at the Windows Startup screen.  At this point, I would changeout the batteries to the secondary battery and start the laptop in normal mode.  After I charge that battery overnight, I have to boot from the first battery.  I just have to keep in my memory which battery I used last and I have no more freezes.  For some reason, the laptop wants to see the battery at the same power level it remembers it having.  If the battery's power level DOES NOT MATCH the last remembered power level for that same battery, it will freeze in the Windows Startup screen, unless you use another battery to reset the power level meter in the computer.  Somehow, the laptop can tell the difference between my two batteries (even though they have the same model number).  None of this applies if you are plugged into an outlet.  When the laptop is plugged in, Vista always boots up correctly, whether a battery is in or not. 

Maybe someone reading this may investigate this power meter in Vista and find a better solution.  If anyone finds a better solution, please post it.  I only want people who have encountered this same problem and have corrected it, not someone who will say "reinstall Vista" but have never encountered this problem.  As long as I can operate with my work-around, I will.  Re-installing is a last resort--and may not fix the problem.

Thanks,

Mike

This seems to be a very common problem. Dell will deny responsibility, in our case on a 3 month old laptop, saying it is software AND THEREFORE NOTHING TO DO WITH THEM. However I am prepared to go a long way to demonstrate the fact that the unit is clearly not 'fit for purpose' as this clearly is something that happens on Inspirons and therefore a function of the hardwares interaction with the software. WHY SHOULD I PAY £60 TO £90 TO REPAIR A 3 MONTH OLD LAPTOP. If they value loyal customers they should sort this or in future we will go elsewhere.

We are experiencing a similar problem with our dell inspiron that is less than 30 days old.  I'm thinking we should get our money back fast.

My Husband bought me a new Dell a couple years ago. He bought himself a Apple Macbook. He uses his a lot and I use mine mostly for email and Facebook. The Dell Inspiron with windows 7 is Junk. The buttons started falling off it after one year. Now it is in repair mode. I try and try to correct it but it will not recover and I cannot get into operating mode. Michael Dell you should be ashamed of your self. I am tying this on my husbands still working incredible Macbook. When Michael Dell left IBM he was to make a better Laptop. WHERE IS IT??????

I am having the same exact issue with this laptop... did you ever get your problem resovled?

I have three laptops that did this starting in November and only one of them has safely made it through.  Unfortuanely My studio  is stuck in start up repair saying that they can't fix it and my Inspiron is now on the black screen of death.  I have been waiting for a response from dell with solutions.