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Solved Win 10 Laptop with STOP FAULT

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DavidA

PCHF Member
Mar 24, 2023
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#1
I have a DELL laptop with Win 10 and never had any trouble with it before now.

I encountered what I believe was called a stop code or stop fault and The PC will not start. I went though most of the options they offer among which was to preserve documents and re-install Windows. Now, when it is started it does get to my desktop but the mouse (trackpad) is only active for about 8 seconds so I simply re-start and repeat. It has done a disk repair. How can I get past this problem and regain my windows fully? I realize I will need to re-install software.

Thank you for any ideas.
 
#4
if it has done a disk repair, it must have found something wrong with the drive, so backing up your files would be the first priority.
if you can get into Windows, copy your Docs, Pics, Vids, Music, Downloads, etc onto another drive.
if you can't get into Windows, have you tried booting into Safe Mode, or using a USB stick with a Linux distro on it.

on the assumption we are looking at a failing hard drive, and you have important docs, let's get them squared away first.
 
#5
Bruce said:
if it has done a disk repair, it must have found something wrong with the drive, so backing up your files would be the first priority.
if you can get into Windows, copy your Docs, Pics, Vids, Music, Downloads, etc onto another drive.
if you can't get into Windows, have you tried booting into Safe Mode, or using a USB stick with a Linux distro on it.

on the assumption we are looking at a failing hard drive, and you have important docs, let's get them squared away first.
Click to expand...
How do I get to Bios on this machine to tell it to boot from a stick?
Thanks
 
#6
each PC is different, but they all use a certain standard group of keys, so as the PC starts to boot, try hitting Del, or F2, or F10 as the usual culprits to get into BIOS.

usually the key to use is displayed briefly as the PC first starts - like "Press F2 to enter setup".

I've also seen PC's require Tab, or Esc.
 
#8
Bruce said:
each PC is different, but they all use a certain standard group of keys, so as the PC starts to boot, try hitting Del, or F2, or F10 as the usual culprits to get into BIOS.

usually the key to use is displayed briefly as the PC first starts - like "Press F2 to enter setup".

I've also seen PC's require Tab, or Esc.
Click to expand...
No important files that need to be saved. Just want to have a working computer primarily for email and chrome.
 
#11
since it has no data you wish to keep, and your previous process of reinstalling Windows may have been a reset keeping your data and settings, let's go for as complete clean install.

on a PC that works (of course) use Windows Media Creation Tool and use it to make a bootable USB stick with the latest Win10 build.
then plug that into this laptop, and check the boot order is USB first.
reload Windows, with he laptop disconnected from the internet, and don't load anything else.
now try to boot and see if the trackpad works.

did you try booting the laptop into Safe Mode first, just in case you get lucky!
 
#12
Bruce said:
since it has no data you wish to keep, and your previous process of reinstalling Windows may have been a reset keeping your data and settings, let's go for as complete clean install.

on a PC that works (of course) use Windows Media Creation Tool and use it to make a bootable USB stick with the latest Win10 build.
then plug that into this laptop, and check the boot order is USB first.
reload Windows, with he laptop disconnected from the internet, and don't load anything else.
now try to boot and see if the trackpad works.

did you try booting the laptop into Safe Mode first, just in case you get lucky!
Click to expand...
I did try Safe Mode, with no success. I was not aware that one can make a bootable stick this way. If it boots from the stick, is there a way to get Windows re-installed on the laptop since the one that is there now may be damaged?

Thanks for your help, Bruce.
 
#13
so that process will create a bootable USB with the installation files to reload Windows.
not to be confused with having Windows boot from a USB stick.

the process of doing the reload this way is it allows the current partitions to be deleted and a complete clean install of Windows done.
since we are maybe looking at a faulty hard drive, this process will also stress test the drive, if Windows reloads without error, we can maybe have a bit of faith in the drive.
 
#14
Bruce said:
so that process will create a bootable USB with the installation files to reload Windows.
not to be confused with having Windows boot from a USB stick.

the process of doing the reload this way is it allows the current partitions to be deleted and a complete clean install of Windows done.
since we are maybe looking at a faulty hard drive, this process will also stress test the drive, if Windows reloads without error, we can maybe have a bit of faith in the drive.
Click to expand...
Many thanks again, Bruce. I am hoping this will get me to a solution.


Dave
 
#17
whoa - excellent news!

run the rig for a few days, see if the stop fault comes back.
I'm still not 100% sure you may not be looking at a failing drive - but time will tell.

even if the drive was reliable, and particularly in it's current potential state, do your backups!!

I'll close this as solved.
if things go pear-shaped, either PM a staff member to have this re-opened, or you can start a new thread.

good luck! (y)
 
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