i guess this is the right place to put this. i don't know. but. i have a dell laptop from a few years ago [inspiron e1505]. and it's been running smoothly until a few days ago when i guess a virus got in. and random internet browsers would pop up with different and weird websites in them. so i downloaded the free ad-aware software and ran it a few times, and once it required that i restart my computer, so i did that and when it started back up the screen went black. [this is where i can't explain well because i'm technologically challenged].
it turns on and i can see the screen when it's starting up. like the big DELL. and the windows symbol where it has the bar at the bottom with bars running through it like it's starting up and all, but before it gets to the startup screen it goes black like it's turned off and then it just goes back to being black but it's backlit. and an error shows up that says
"the instruction ad '0x004010b4' referenced memory at '0x00000000'. the memory could not be 'written'. click on OK to terminate the progam. cluck on CANCEL to debug the program" and no matter which one i click it still goes black but backlit.
the only response i can get out of it is from pressing shift 5+ times and it makes a kind of. shrill/squeak sound.
and i realize i could just take it in to get fixed, but i'd just like to know if there's a way i could fix it myself incase it happens again. help?
thanks
Power up the PC and immediately keep tapping the F8 key at a rate of about once every second. It should pause at a black screen/white text, with the heading "Advanced Startup Options".
Use the up/down arrow keys to select "last known good configuration" and press [Enter] key. Hopefully, Windows will start.
If it doesn't, repeat the process to bring up the same menu but this time choose "Safe Mode". Safe Mode is only meant for troubleshooting and removing bad software that prevents Windows from starting normally. It will look a bit strange, everything will be too big on the desktop, but this is because safe mode does not load any third-party device drivers (in case one of them is bad and needs removing). If Windows starts in safe mode you can proceed to remove and clean up any bad stuff until it's able to start normally. Try to remember what it was you last installed just before the black screen and error message problem. Start by removing or uninstalling that.
After removing/uninstalling something you think may be the cause, try rebooting to see if Windows will start normally.
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