I need some help here.
I left my laptop on all day when i was out. Came back tonight to get on it and poof, there was a black screen but the computer was on.
I could not get it to do anything so I just took the battery out.
I rebooted it , then it came back on, i had a screen but the start up menu never came on and the time section never came on. i waited and waiting but nothing happend after that.

So again i took the battery out, rebooted it and it started normal again, then all of a sudden my screen went all white for a minute then came back but the picture started ot fade away and turned purplish and you could barely see anything, and there was also no start up menu there or the date again.

So i booted it again, then i noticed that it was saying Invalid boot.ini when it was booting up. It is booted up again there now and the start menu is there and the time is there but it won't let me click on anything and nothing will start up.

Is there anyway you can help me at all??
Thanks in advance
Cobie

You could try a System Restore or boot into Safe Mode options and try Last Known Good Configuration.

If those fail here is another approach:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/330184

how do i do a system restore??

If its in the start menu or anything on the computer at all, i can't get to it, nothing works on it, it won't let me click and open anything
You are talking to a dummy when it comes to this stuff.

Oh i booted into safe mode and did last known but it only did the same thing with no start menu and no time.

You can try Safe Mode itself and then it will ask if you want to System Restore.

If that doesn't work follow the instructions on the MS page.

ok so i did everything with teh boot.ini with the xp cd. Nothing changed, my laptop is still doing that same thing, no start menu and not time and then the screen still goes white then the picture comes back on then fades out and then i get colors like you see in a small oil spill. and after a period of time the screen goes black.

I am trying to do system restore and i booted in safe mode but it has been on windows is starting up for a long time to just get to the screen.
Not sure what else to do here now, any idea???

It is looking more and more to me as a hardware failure.

That screen behavior would be indicative of a failing LCD screen.

About my only other idea would be to try to reinstall (or factory reset) your XP. Do you have recovery disks? Who is the laptop manufacturer?

It is a Compaq presario, and i have an XP disk, i guess it is a recovery disk.
I am still at Windows is starting up , trying to boot in safe mode, i am in safe mode and still waiting to see if i can do a system recovery.

So because the screen is going, that affects teh start menu bar???
b/c the screen is fine looking i nt the microsoft windows is loading up screen, its not going white or doing any of those oily colors.

You could try reloading the graphics drivers in Safe Mode.

HP will have them all on site with the specific model info:

http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/support.html

But none of this will change the Boot.ini error if you still get that.

Most likely you can run a non-destructive (or Repair) install off of that CD but you should check the HP web site for specific instructions as per your exact model.

as for safe mode, i am still trying to get into the normal screen under safe mode. i went into it and i chose safe mode and windows xp home edition and it is loading and is still loading after a half hr.

should i just shut down and start again

Yes. If it doesn't load with in a few minutes it is stuck.