Hi everyone
I have a gateway m520 laptop when i try to boot up it goes through the process as normal I can see everything but when it finishes all i can see is the mouse pointer.the rest of the screen is totally black I have tryed safe mode same thing can anyone help please

I can't see how it could be the CPU

If you can't get to Safe mode either, or last known good configuration?
Try VGA mode only, and if you get in, uninstall your Video drivers from Device Manager (Start->Run-> Devmgmt.msc)

Thanks for the help but The screen is totally black so i can't run start or anything else
it will start in safe mode but all i can see is safe mode in each corner
thanks

Oh Explorer.exe is not starting

If you cannot start in any mode whatsoever, you might have a Virus or Malware infection (usual case of Explorer.exe not starting) then you probably need to scan it for Viruses.

Here's an excellent tool that will help you do that: The Ultimate BootCD
(You can even use this free BootCD to back up any data you have to a USB flash drive)

Let us know how it all goes

Thanks for that but there is nothing on the laptop worth saving so do you think i would be better to just format the system.

No

You are best to remove the Partition, here are the exact steps for that:

Microsoft's Windows XP Professional Repair Install step by step (* Including Delete Partition)
http://www.windowsxpprofessional.windowsreinstall.com/sp2sp3installxpcdoldhdd/indexfullpage.htm

Microsoft's Windows XP Home Repair Install step by step (* Including Delete Partition)
http://www.windowsxphome.windowsreinstall.com/sp2sp3installxpcdoldhdd/indexfullpage.htm

* Warning deleting the Partition will remove all User data and Windows system files



And here are your drivers which you will need later on: http://support.gateway.com/s/Mobile/Gateway/M520/3501916nv.shtml

Thats great thanks a lot
I will let you know if it works

mines in the same state loads than is all black.. with cursor press shift 5 times the pop up comes up about sticky key but nothing stilll im thinking it has something to do with display drivers cuz all has checked okay on the memory and hard drive i have a vista recovery disk i made from neosmart i need to know if i can delete the drivers for display somehow?

Thanks very much to kimsland I had to re install windows and the driver info was great all working again

again thanks

Thanks for the update :grinthumb