I have a Dell Insipron 1545 with Windows Vista Home Edition (32 bit I think). That's about all I know about the laptop I started having issues with being able to connect to the internet then restarts would be very slow with a lot of things not responding or locking up and not being able to do anything. I booted from CD and did a start up repair. I also ran a chkdsk and was able to start up in safe mode.I ran trends micro virus scan in safe mode and it had no issues. I restarted and got nothing. If I try a normal boot I get to the "Microsoft Corporation" logo then the screen goes black. If I try booting from CD I get the same thing. If I press F8 to get to safe mode the screen goes black and I don't even get to the safe mode options.If created a bootable USB with Ultimate Boot CD but found that confusing so I downloaded and created a bootable USB from Spotmau PowerSuite. That gives me the same results as booting from the CD (Black screen right after MC logo) but now there's a cursor at least.Any ideas what might be going on?1 person needs an answerI do too

Hello B_DiP,If you are booting from the CD or USB, it would not take you to the Microsoft logo screen. This means that it is failing to boot from the CD or the USB. It appears to me that the some of the hardware is failing to load on your computer.If you have any external devices connected to the computer, I suggest that you remove all the external devices (Except the mouse and keyboard) and try to boot.Also if you are trying to boot from the USB and CD drive, I suggest that you change the boot priority.This can happen if the Boot priority in the BIOS is not configured to boot from CD/DVD as the first boot device, to fix it you need to change the first boot device in BIOS as the CD/DVD drive. You can refer the below article that will give you information on accessing the BIOS options:http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/BIOS-frequently-asked-questionsChange the settings to boot from CD/DVD drive.Note:I suggest that you contact your computer manufacturer if you are not comfortable performing these steps.BIOS DISCLAIMER:Modifying BIOS/ complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) settings incorrectly can cause serious problems that may prevent your computer from booting properly. Microsoft cannot guarantee that any problems resulting from the configuring of BIOS/CMOS settings can e solved. Modifications of the settings are at your own risk.Thanks,Irfan H, Microsoft Answers Support Engineer. Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.

Hi Irfan H Thanks for the answer but I believe it is booting from the USB as I've tried it with a version of Ultimate Boot CD which worked but I wasn't sure how to do anything with that. It also says booting from a USB device then goes to Windows is Loading Files. It does then give me the Microsoft Corporation logo with the progress bar followed by the black screen and white mouse pointer and nothing else. Not sure why I can't even load into Safe Mode optionsThanks

Hello B_DiP,From what you describe that it goes to the logon screen with a cursor, it appears to me that it is neither booting from the CD or DVD.To begin with, disconnect all the external devices connected to the computer except the mouse and the keyboard.If you are able to boot using the USB drive, I suggest that you should try to do a repair. You can refer the below article that will give you information on ‘Start your computer from a Windows 7 installation disc or USB flash drive’:http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Start-your-computer-from-a-Windows-7-installation-disc-or-USB-flash-driveThanks,Irfan H, Microsoft Answers Support Engineer. Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.

Is the hard drive recognised by the BIOS?Hope this helps, Gerry Cornell