A friend has asked me to look at his toshiba satalite pro laptop. All I can tell you about it is that it has xp installed and a celeron processor. When i switch it on it shows a Toshiba bootup pic then has a black screen with the following...

Windows count not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
system32\DRIVERS\isapnp.sys
You can attempt to repair this file by starting Windows Setup using the original Setup CD-ROM.
Select 'r' at the first screen to start repair.

I did this but it only loads so far

The I got the message

Windows count not start because of an error in the software.
Please report this problem as
load needed Dlls for kernel.

i tried another xp disk and it got part way through loading things on the first blue window setup screen when it just stopped working with the error

file setupdd.sys could not be loaded
The error code is 4
Setup cannot continue. press any key to exit

can anyone shed light on what the problem might be.

thanks

Try reseating all memory modules in their slots.

Try removing one or more of the memory modules that are installed in your computer. Leave one module installed in the dimm slot. Test it one at a time.

Maybe you have a bad or defective memory module installed in the computer.

try one more disk if at all possible.

after that, I would back up all of my data by using a live CD or something of that sort and do a clean install on it. It wouldn't hurt to do soemthing like that regularly.