Carrie99

For reference my laptop was purchased brand new in August 2003, has Windows 2000 and is a Dell Latitude.

Okay, earlier today I was on my laptop (the computer I used 99.9% of the time). I was listening to a real player file and checking email. The computer froze. It's done this before, and when it does freeze Ctrl + Atl+ Del never works. I have to unplug the adapter and take out the battery to be able to restart it. This time the laptop got a few seconds into rebooting and shut down (nothing even came up on the screen). I waited a few minutes and tried again. I got through the Dell Logo screen, the black background/white bar loading screen and the Windows Logo loading screen. It then went to the disk check thing that it does when it isn't shut down completely. Sometimes it froze during the check. Other times it loaded completely and let me get to the desktop. I'm only able to be do things for a few minutes before it freezes again and I have to start all over.

I double checked the battery and CD drives to make sure they were installed properly and both clicked and seemed to be in place.

In the meantime I have to use my mom's old desktop, which is a pain.

Does anyone have any idea what could be the problem? I'm not that good with fixing computers, so any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Carrie99

I finally got an error message when I hit F8 on startup. It said that Windows 2000 couldn't start because system32\drivers\fastfat.sys is missing or corrupt. I found this page that says I should just repair the file w/ the Win2000 CD. Does anyone know if this is the best way to fix it? If it is, will I lose any files/programs when I do the repair? I've never done a repair w/ the CD so I wanted to check w/ people who know to be sure. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks.

SportyChick

repairing the file is the fastest way and the easiest in your case - I think
and you won't lose any files or folders while repairing
just follow the steps from the site you posted and everything should work fine

n e r b l e

also are you leaving hte pc on for extended periods of time? b/c i had that problem when i left mine on and it was b/c it was overheating.

barelylegal

If you leave the PC on for an extended period of time, it's best to leave the CPU ventilated, by either removing the (I forgot the name, but it's the plastic thing) or by placing an air conditoner near the CPU or the room being very fresh..

Carrie99

Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions.

The most my laptop has ever been on is overnight or during the day (8-10 hours) when I'm away from the computer and am downloading something.

Should I attempt to let the laptop start up completely before I put in the Win 2000 CD? Because the last few times I've tried it either freezes or shuts down before it completely loads.