Nothing will open (programs, files, etc..)

gregrocker said:

Lucid Puppy way to recover files from a non-bootable computer

whs said:

That's why you got the DVDs. They hold 4.7GB per disc. I would copy the data to a blank DVD or two. That will screw nothing up. Once Puppy is loaded, you can eject the Puppy DVD.

So I can still run lucid puppy if I take out the disc I burned it to?

Your first post says you were in Safe Mode. Can you get back into it now to drag your files to DVD drive on the left-hand explorer bar in each Explorer window? If so that's gonna be faster than trying to do it with a boot disk.

gregrocker said:

Your first post says you were in Safe Mode. Can you get back into it now to drag your files to DVD drive on the left-hand explorer bar in each Explorer window? If so that's gonna be faster than trying to do it with a boot disk.

I can get into safemode. I use chrome though so I don't understand how to do that..

whs said:

Greg's idea is good if you can halfway operate in safe mode. Has nothing to do with Chrome. Can you run the normal explorer and open your files.

If yes, just drag them to the DVD. Or right click > Copy and then Paste onto the DVD.

Do I have to drag them to the disc with lucid puppy or is that basically irrelevant now? Like should I just use blank discs?

You can also try tapping the F8 key to get into Repair My Computer, Choose Dell Factory Recovery and see if the Dell DataSafe Options allow you to back up your files first. It should present a menu of files to choose.

Here are the steps from the Dell site for the Inspiron:

To restore your computer to the original factory installation, follow these steps:
1. Turn on the computer, after the Dell logo press F8 key repeatedly until the
Advanced Boot Options menu (Advanced Startup Options). 2. In Advanced Boot Options, highlight Repair Your Computer and press Enter. 3. Click Next and logon to the administrator account in the computer. 4. Click Dell Factory Image Recovery and DataSafe Options; Follow the directions provided.

Source: Dell Windows 7 PC Restore