Operating System Not Found

[markerpower]

My laptop is a Compaq Presario 2500 that runs Windows XP SP1 Home Edition. One night when I turned my laptop on, it wouldn't load the user accounts that are on the laptop. The laptop freezes when I click on one of the names. Sometimes it restarts. So I was trying to remember on how to boot on Safe Mode, I pressed F12 instead of F8 and the laptop said the OS was not found. What are possible solutions to this?

 

[markerpower]

Ok I did the fixmbr thing, where I insert the XP CD and type in fixmbr. It went through sucessfully and my laptop does not say "OS not found" anymore, but my accounts still do not load. They just show the desktop, but not the desktop items and the bar at the bottom. Also when I got to F12, I get "Media test failure, check cable."

 

[RealBlackStuff]

You need F8 to boot into safe-mode.
F12 is probably a laptop-specific function (no idea what, though).

 

[markerpower]

That doesn't answer anything that I've been asking. I know the difference between F8 and F12.