a friend has a Dell Inspiron not sure on the model...
When booted the computer runs a test and displays this Error Code
Dell Inspiron Error code:0142. msg. Error Code: 2000-0142

Now according to Google it's a hardrive failure or something.. \
Dell's website wasn't particulaly helpful if i'm honest.
Any ideas how to sort this error and would rebooting from the Windows CD help?

Thanks guys
Pires

how old is it? in other words has the warranty expired or not? because if it's still covered let Dell handle it.. if not you need to search more on the error code to find out precisely what that error code refers to.. meaning if it's a hardware fault or a software.. if obviously enough it's just a software fault a reinstall should fix it.. if not you need to find out what company made the harddrive in the pc, each producer of harddisks usually have their own software that they use to test it for faults with.. but ultimately if at first you find out that it's a hardware fault the only real solution is to replace it with a new one.. but as I said first if it's still covered by insurance then let Dell handle it..

okay well i'll speak to the friend and get details, thanks LardXray i'll post as soon as i get some more stuff

You're welcome mate ^^

you sure this can't help? ... first google hit is the dell costumer support

http://support.dell.com/support/topics/ ... 0A55174AE6

Right, Here goes...
The laptop only displays the error when the battery charger is plugged in.
However after starting the computer system up she cannot connect to the internet, just says can't find any networks in range. Also it says that Wireless compatibilty is turned off and there should be a button on the laptop to toggle this on/off however there isn't.. Any way to do this from the OS?
Also there were 76 program errors displayed e.g. Internet Explorer failed etc.

But, It's still in Warranty haha
so i'll help her back up files onto USB Sticks and tell her to send it to Dell after a phone call...
Thanks very much for you help

Pires

Ehm... Are you sure the warranty is software included? As this doesnt sound like a hardware problem... except for the battery maybe.

Well Dee I'll let her speak to Dell as they're better than me lol.. I'll keep you posted

hmm.. this could maybe be a hardware fault.. but not likely.. it could maybe be something like around the battery as Dee says.. or maybe in extreme occasions the ram.. but that would also cause it to reboot at random times.. so as stated most likely a SW problem.. if Dell won't help you are probably gonna have to reinstall everything.. that's also the best way to fix windows anyway..

I thought he said the error was showing at boot time (IE: During the POST), which would make it almost certainly a hardware issue, especially if it only happens when the power cable is plugged in. No point blaming Windows for something that happens before the Windows bootloader is even invoked...

Okay, well Dell have said they need more details about the error and are sending a rep round at some point next week to have a proper look at it..
Thanks for you help guys

there is allways a button to turn off wireless. i think it's a aviation requirement. sometimes it's a fn+Fn something combo.

sep

He is talking about laptops of 2 yrs back which had a physical wirelss on/off button. Nowadays its performed by going into services and switching the following file onto off:


1. Go to Start and right click Computer. Select and click Manage.
2. Computer Management window will appear. Under Services and Applications, select Services.
(Another way to reach this is: Start -> Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services
3. Scroll down and select WLAN AutoConfig.
4. Double-click the service and its properties window will appear. If the startup type is not set to automatic, click on the dropdown arrow and change it to Automatic. Click Start to start the service if it’s not started. Click OK at last.

There must still be a hardware switch to actually turn the radio off at the hardware level, although very often this is not a key in it's own right but a combination of the Fn key and another key, often one of the number of F# keys. Without a switch to physically disable the radio you could not use a laptop on a plane, which would annoy a lot of business travellers.

You should never have to enter the services menu to manually turn WLAN AutoConfig on or off, it is set to on by default with Windows and should only ever be disabled if you either do not have a WiFi adapter or intend to manually configure your wireless networks. Besides, disabling the WLan AutoConfig does NOT actually stop your WiFi adapter from working, it simply disables Windows built in auto configuration of wireless networks.

Check the owners manual for the correct key combination / button to press to activate the WiFi adapter at the hardware level. There is usually an LED indicator somewhere on the laptop to inform you when the WiFi adapter is enabled. Often the same button will disable / enable the WiFi and Bluetooth adapters at the same time because in most modern laptops these are actually built into the same chip.