how to make non rebooting windows 2000 laptop reboot

[shashgo]

The laptop suddenly went dead, meaning I cant get it to reboot anymore.  When I power it on, it just sits there with a blinking cursor.  And there are quite a few important files on the laptop.  So how can I get it to work properly and reboot like it should

[shashgo]

I read on  the HP site (oh btw the computer is a hp pavilion laptop) that the RAM might need to be reseated.  And if that doesnt work, then use the OS to repair the problem.  Problem is I dont know how to set the BOOT sequence to have the CD Drive as the first option.  I went in to the BIOS and under the BOOT options,  I  see

QuickBoot                                 > ENABLE/DISABLE
F10 and F12 delay                       

MultiBoot                                     Disable
  Express Boot Popup Delay         

Boot Order:
Notebook Optical Device              First
Notebook Hard Drive                    Second


Im guessing Notebook optical device is the CD Drive, and it is already set to the first boot device.  Yet when I power the computer off and back on, the computer doesnt boot from the CD  drive.  How do I set the boot device to the CD Drive

[patio]

Did you select F10 after changing it which in the BIOS "saves changes and exits " ? ?
What CD are you trying to boot to ? ?

[shashgo]

Yes I did the F10 to save the BIOS settings.  Actually I got it to work.  But the thing is there is no repair option.  I insert the WinXP OS (the laptop has WinXP on it not Win2000), then I do the F8 to accept the EULA, then I should see the option to repair (meaning there should be an option where I can press r).  why isnt there one?

The HP website also says that I might nead to reseat the RAM, is it really true that if the RAM is not seated properly, the system just keeps booting to the Advanced option screen over and over again?

[patio]

You have nothing to lose by re-seating the RAM so go ahead and do so...
Make sure all power sources aredisconnected and you are grounded.

Instructions for a Repair Install of XP

You need an official XP CD for this to work.
Read through it to become familiar with the procedure and also print out a copy for reference before you start...
Best of Luck and let us know...

[shashgo]

Actually I fixed the problem.  I did the reseating of the RAM but that didnt work.  I tried to backup the data, but I got the error 'this disk is unmountable'.  Then I did a chk of the disk and I found out the mbr was unreadable.  so I rewrote the mbr. and that fixed it.