Question Windows XP Laptop Doesn't boot

[Jaizan]

After been sat for about a year (indoors), my Dell XP laptop will not boot.

1 It will go through the repair, but that doesn't succeed
2 There is a Dell checking utility. That's got a full set of OK results for memory, hard drive etc.
3 The laptop will not even boot up from the XP CD.
4 Viruses etc are very unlikely, as I don't connect the laptop to the internet.

Any ideas on how to proceed ?

• I need the laptop running XP, as it contains diagnostic software for my car, which requires a 32 bit OS.
• Ideally, I would repair the installation, as the software for my car has a very lengthy installation process, with numerous upgrade steps.

 

[Grobe]

What laptop model is this, and how old ? No laptops lives forever.

Have you considered using a virtual computer to run XP and that diagnostic software ?

Do you have to connect the computer to RS232 ?

 

[Jaizan]

It is a Dell Latitude E6420. This gets very little use, but when I do need it, it's very useful.
It uses a USB connection.

I haven't considered using a virtual computer, as my main PC is a big tower unit which is difficult to move to the car when I need it.

At the moment, I'm more interested in trying to figure out why the laptop isn't working

Obviously it powers on and the display works. It even goes though all the error checking routines. However, it will not boot from the main drive, the CD or even a USB stick.

EDIT: I've got it booting by going into BIOS and changing the SATA to ACHI. I'm not quite sure why it's lost the setting there.

 

[Grobe]

It even goes though all the error checking routines. However, it will not boot from the main drive, the CD or even a USB stick.

Can you elaborate how it behaves excactly, i.e. what you expect to happens and how it diverges from from the expectation ?

Also - what happens if you remove the HDD, will it then boot ?

 

[onespeedbiker]

It's possible the CMOS battery has died. I have read that the E6420 defaults to SATA/ RAID bios, which won't boot ACHI, CDs or USB. Changing to ACHI appears to work, but unless you but in a new CMOS battery, you'll have to change the BIOS everytime you turn on your laptop.