Laptop won't boot / endless loop

Question

Hi, folks.

My Dell Latitude D620 running WinXP SP2 will suddenly will not boot up properly.

When I power it on, I get a black screen saying that Windows did not shut down properly, and offers me a variety of choices, from Safe Mode to Last Known Configuration to Start Windows Normally.
Regardless of which I choose, eventually a blue screen with white text appears, just for a second or 2, too fast to read anything, and then I get returned to the original black screen. And so on, until I simply power down.

I do not have any of the original disks for this machine, and nothing has been changed on it.
This just started happening about 2 nights ago for no reason I can identify.

Thanks in advance for any assistance,
BubbaPaul

BubbaPaul · Answer

Oh, and I was able to determine what the blue screen shows:

<<

A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

If this is the first time you've seen this Stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:

Check to be sure you have adequate disk space. If a driver is identified in the Stop message, disable the driver or check with the manufacturer for driver updates. Try changing video adapters.

Check with your hardware vendor for any BIOS updates. Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing. If you need to use Safe Mode to remove or disable components, restart your computer, press F8 to select Advanced Startup options, and then select Safe Mode.

Technical information:
***STOP: 0x0000007E (0xc0000005,0x86F45562,0xF7A397E4,0xF7A394E0)

Beginning dump of physical memory
Physical memory dump complete.
Contact your system administrator or technical support group for further assistance.
>>

ejn63 · Answer

99th percentile probability :  the hard drive is bad.  F12 at powerup.  Boot the Dell diagnostics and run an extended test.

BubbaPaul · Answer

Thanks for the reply!

I did that, and ran the Pre-Boot System Assessment and it ran fine.
However, when I tried to run the Dell Diagnostics, all I got was a blue screen and nothing happening for over 10 min until I shut the laptop down.

ejn63 · Answer

Replace the hard drive.

BubbaPaul · Answer

Harsh!  Is it unusual to just fail all of a sudden like it seems to have?  What about options for recovering data?  What might it cost to replace the hd versus just buying a comparable new laptop altogether?

ejn63 · Answer

Yes, hard drives can fail suddenly -- and given that this is an older system, it's very possible.

You may be able to retrieve some data -- or maybe all of it . To attempt this, remove the drive, mount it in a 2.5" external case and attach it to a working system by USB.

A hard drive will cost $50-100 at most. A new system of the same level you have will run $1000 or more.

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Laptop won't boot / endless loop

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