laptop gets stuck on welcome page

[bobbynear]

I recently purchased a used computer...
DELL LATITUDE L400 LAPTOP* P3/256/ 700 MHz on ebay. (there is no cd drive) Since its arrival I have been unable to use it.
First off, the seller took more than two weeks to get it to me..so he upgraded it for free from windows 2000 to windows XP and from a 12 GB hard drive TO 30 GB..

When I turn it on, I get a screen that says Windows XP Home Edition. There is a small box in the middle of the screen with three dots that are moving across it. This lasts for about 15 seconds and then I get a blue screen that says welcome on it. Nothing happens after that. It does not move on to a desktop with any icons at all.

It has worked only once for me. It did go on and I was able to at least register my name, but since turning it off, it now continues to get stuck on the welcome page.

The seller has disappeared...he refuses to answer dozens of emails from me and he refused to honor his policy of no doa laptops.. He wrote only once and accused me of being a moron who does not know how to operate a computer. He also refuses to send me the Windows XP activation number...but right now I can't even get that far. If I do get it to go on again is there any harm in leaving it on standby permanently until this is resolved?

Any suggestions?

 

[robisbell]

sounds like a lemon, and possibly a defective laptop or hdd. to be honest other than running a diagnostic via Ultimate Boot CD of the memory, and HDD. I'd not put to much time into it, those things are usually $125 at most, heck you can buy new laptops for $229.

I would report him for selling you a OS illegally since he did not give you the COA or a XP cd I am going to gather. I would aslo hope you paid via paypal and file complaint and refund request immediately.