This morning I come back to my Dell Laptop Insp. 1720 to find it continually rebooting itself.

It reboots, and automatically goes to the screen which says " Configuring windows update stage 3 of 3 - 0% complete / Do not turn off your computer" then after a few seconds or minutes varies each time it will reboot itself and cycle through this same process.

After so many times, I did power down the Laptop and when powered up again it did the same cycle repeatedly.

I tried to start in safe mode but no luck went to same screen and same reboot cycle happened.

I put the system disk in to see if it would boot from the disk but no such luck...

HOW can I get past this screen and have a working laptop again (and hopefully not losing anything in the process0????

Please Help!!!!!
Thank you!

Oh I had installed a wireless router a month ago but a couple of weeks ago my wireless just stopped working as well and haven't been able to connect to my network.. have it wired in right now.. (well with this last problem I am UNABLE to have any computer usage.. )

LOL.. oh.. another vista great.. my CPU usage keeps hitting 100% everytime I open a program and my Laptop is only a few months old.. and has 4gb of ram, and a 320mb Harddrive, and an excellent video card.. I also have an external HD 750gb, which it keeps telling me is unknown device until I unplug and plug back in the cable... hhmm there's got to be a problem somewhere there..

I am really starting to hate VISTA about now.... Please any advise is greatly appreciated

This happened to my daughter's notebook(another Dell Inspiron 1720) exactly as you describe when we tried to install service pack 1.

I don't know if it's the same update on yours, but I booted from the Dell disk and used system restore to recover. Once it was working I updated the bios and all the drivers(chipset, video, audio, etc.) and was then able to install the service pack successfully.

Thank you for your reply, I am unsure which update it is trying to install being it downloaded it when I was away from the computer, and have not been able to get back on the computer to see.

Are you referring to the OS disk Dell provided? If so I have tried to boot from the CD and it continues to go back to the screen saying it is configuring windows update.. etc as stated before and then shuts down and restarts it's self..

Is there something I am missing or not doing when trying to boot from the CD? I went into the BIOS and set the boot sequence to have it boot from the CD first.

I will continue to try, but so far I have had no luck with getting past the dreaded screen where it continually cycles around..

Any more suggestions??
Thank you for your advise!

Yes the Dell OS disk. If you are unable to boot from the cd you should contact Dell support.

Ok.. Thanks for your help..

I had to go into the BIOS and change the boot sequence to boot from the CD first!!! Finally after a couple attempts of rebooting it took the boot from CD first and was able to do a System Restore to a previous point before the update.

I think I am up and running again..

Question: Is it best not to allow the auto updates? and how do you know which updates to install?? do I need to go back and try to install this update again?

Also, If someone could address the issue of the CPU hitting 100%? Any suggestions on what settings to change? What are the processes that have to be running?

your cpu hitting 100% occasionally is not a big deal unless it is constantly stuck there and preventing normal usage.

I am pro updates as they most often address security issues. Others believe do not fix what is not broken, so the final decision is your call. Like I posted previously I manually updated the drivers on my daughter's notebook and it has been running smoothly since with auto updates on.

MS released a bad update that has now been withdrawn, it effected some machines depending on their hardware setups.

Insert your recovery CD and hit either F8 or F12 (normally after bios post check your system will tell you which key you need to hit to enter 'bootup' options..) select your DVD / CD drive and hit enter.
Once Vista starts to boot from DVD / CD select your country region Keyboard Layout, then you will see an option for installing Windows Vista, at this point look to the links at the bottom of the information options box, here you will see a setting to repair, choose this option.

Then select system restore and select a restore point before the last update.

As the bad update has now been resolved, you should be able to re-install updates and continue.

Hope this helps.

I think the update problem is solved, I am going to update drivers this weekend and try to reinstall the updates, thanks!!

Yes, sometimes the CPU usage stays at 100% when running certian programs like: Media Center, IMVU chat client, Skype (sometimes kicks it up there), even when using Firefox it stays at 100% sometimes. If I copy my processes (when it's staying at 100%) here can you tell me which ones actually need to be running?

Thanks!

When listing your processes, could you select 'Processes from all users' before doing so. this will help identify any problems if any, however, if you now have SP1 installed it would be best to ensure that you have updated your system drivers before listing processes as a driver issue could be the cause of abnormal CPU usage.

In addition, could you also list the workstations / laptops basic spec and Vista base score please?

I have an HP with an amd processor and mine does the same thing--get to the option screen by pressing f8 and select last known good config--

I think mine started on an update from ms--I have backed everything up and am about to do a complete system restore--

if I can not get it working right it is back to xp for me

any one else have any suggestions