Re: Windows XP meltdown
Laptops and desktops both have a watch type battery to maintain the BIOS memory to prevent the sort of problems you are having... sounds like it may have died, not the main juice supply! A trip to Maplin or a review of teh user docs that came with the laptop will probably point you in the right direction!
The boot.ini file issue sounds like the hibernation messed up the boot sector of the drive (boot.ini is one of four files that NT/Win2k/Xp uses to start a boot, the others being io.sys and ntldr.sys and ntloader.com). Boot.ini can be very basic, or very complex depending on which/how many OSes you have installed i.e. multibooting Win98,2k etc, but basically acts as the signpost to the other files for the BIOS (Simple explanation).
Best solution?
1) boot the machine and before all the windows stuff appears, enter the machine BIOS. Then set your default boot device to CD.
2) Insert the Windows XP upgrade CD
3) Let Windows XP start install - as it is an upgrade version (going by your post) it shoudl ask you to place aqualifying media in the drive. Therefore let it "see" you WinMe CD. It will then ask for XP again...
4) During the XP install you can then format you drive.....
5) You should end up with a clean install of XP :-)
Please note you need to back up your stuff before this...
If XP wont let you install, then use WinMe instead (The options at the start should let you get a command prompt)
You can then format the drive "format /s"
Then install WinMe, folowed by XP upgrade.....
If you need more help, please PM
Regards,
Shuttlebus