Ok my problem is that when I try and start up my laptop it goes onto this black screen with white writing, as it did before it went wrong, and then goes onto another black screen with white writing that says...

Safe Mode
Safe Mode with Networking
Safe Mode with Command Prompt

Last Known Good Configuration (your most recent settings that worked)

Start Windows Nowrmally

...and some other stuff before that and it has a count down bit at the bottom and it says with that use the up and down arrow keys to more the highlighted to your choice. Then it flashes blue once and goes onto the Windows XP logo startup, does that for a few seconds and then just goes right back to the beggining again...as if I was turing it on and off each time.

I hope this made sense, I just don't really know what I need to do, my aunty took it to one of her collegues but he didn't say much really other than I need to download Windows 2000? Which really confused me...

Thanks a million,
BethanSims2 xx

Anyone have any ideas?

put in the Windows XP install disc, and run recovery console

Hello, BethanSims2, and welcome to PCHF! Please be patient; we get a lot of requests for service and sometimes it'll take a bit for you to get an answer.

Can you please highlight "Safe Mode," and see if booting in that can get you to Windows? What you have here is what we at PCHF call a BSOD, which stands for "Blue Screen of Death" (get used to that abbreviation; if you decide to stick around the site, you'll see it a lot). It's used to identify a critical error that causes Windows to shut down unexpectedly. These are normally called "Stop Errors," but you have to admit, "Blue Screen of Death" is more menacing.

Anyway, when you get into safe mode (if you can of course), pop in a floppy disk. If you don't have any around the house, I suggest buying some since it's really an essential tool for any PC user. You can pick up a 10-pack for under $5.00. Remember to insert the floppy disk after you've booted to Windows, otherwise the computer may try to boot from it, and since there'd be nothing on it, your computer would just sit there with a flashing underscore in the top-left.

Then, if you've gotten this far, please go into "My Computer." Up in the address bar (it should say "My Computer" in it, and will look like the Address Bar of your internet browser), and type in C:\Windows\Minidump. Remember to use backslashes, and not regular slashes. If you don't know, Backslash is located above Enter (or Return, depending on your keyboard).

Now, open My Computer in a separate window (don't close Minidump just yet!), and find your floppy drive in there. It should be Drive A. Double-click on that to open up the contents of the floppy disk. Click and drag as many files as you can from the Minidump folder onto the floppy disk (only try one at a time, because you may not be able to fit all of them on there).

Next, insert the floppy disk into the computer you are using to connect to the internet, and attach the files you retrieved to your next post. You can attach files by clicking "Go Advanced" under the Quick Reply box underneath all these posts, and scrolling down beneath where you type and finding a spot labeled "Attach Files." Click on "Manage Attachments" and upload as many of the files from the floppy as you can. You may have to post two or three times in order to get them all up here.

Good luck!

Thankyou for the help, I tried the floppy disk thing you suggested but still no luck...but as for the Windows XP install disc we cannot find it anywhere? We have the recovery disks for our Toshiba but not this one and I'm not sure how to go about it exactly?

BethanSims2 xx

Does that mean you cannot boot into safe mode, or you cannot put the files on the floppy disk?

I can't reboot in safe mode or on any of them...