I have a 7 y/o Dell inspiron 9300 which froze for the first time. I had to restart. At the initial Dell start up screen the screen went black with the cursor flashing top left. I have tried to reboot from the o/s cd but after loading set-up files it only offers me the option of overwriting and deleting the partition with all my files and applications. I cannot get to the recovery console. I get to the c:\windows comd prompt but after that it says the command I type is invalid. I have tried ctrl f11 and f8 as advised by some forums, but the screen stays black with flashing cursor. I've removed the battery and run it of a/c power, no good. The computer is old and I want to replace it but I need to get all my files off it before I do. Anyone any more ideas?