vista update problem!

Got a Dell laptop which runs Vista. Windows update box popped up saying update available, so ran update. Part of the way through it froze, so I had to turn the PC off. All I get now is a grey screen with a cursor, if I hold down F8 is says "windows resuming" and then goes to the flashing cursor in top left hand cursor. I can get F2 & F12 to work, but that is all. I don't have any recovery discs, but might install Windows 7 if this will fix it.
HELP!

If you want to keep Vista then try and get into Safe Mode and do a system restore to a point before the update.

Personally, I think Vista is a gash operating system so if you have the chance to put W7 on there then get it done. Also consider XP as that will aslo improve the laptop performance.

Sounds like its not booting from the hard drive first.Pressing f12 on a dell allows you to check and change the boot order.Like SA17 says try and get it into safe mode.Other than that Ebay has loads of repair disks-cheap as chips too.

Same happened to me. Couldn't even get into safe mode. Had to wipe the computer and installed windows 7 job done.

Windows Vista is probably the worst and most unreliable OS microsoft have made! Get a copy of Windows 7 and shove the disc in!

I would imagine any vista update would be a problem as the post-update OS would still be Vista which is f*cking gash.

Thanks for all the replies guys, much appreciated. If I get in to F12 what do I do?, I can't get it into even safe mode at present.
My other laptop (which is my Mrs' one which I'm using now) is XP. Could I copy something off this one to get the dead Vista laptop going?

If I need to get XP or Windows 7 disks, where is the cheapest place? cheers guys.

Use ubuntu.

Use ubuntu.

Ubunutu is great only if you know how to use it.

Generally i'd go to a repair shop, some offer to install XP for free as now it;s pretty much a dead OS

Use ubuntu.

Ubunutu is great only if you know how to use it.

Generally i'd go to a repair shop, some offer to install XP for free as now it;s pretty much a dead OS

It's quite easy to use if you only use programmes from the Ubuntu Marketplace. It is quick and made my netbook boot in 30 seconds.

Use ubuntu.

Ubunutu is great only if you know how to use it.

Generally i'd go to a repair shop, some offer to install XP for free as now it;s pretty much a dead OS

It's quite easy to use if you only use programmes from the Ubuntu Marketplace. It is quick and made my netbook boot in 30 seconds.

I dual boot XP and ubuntu only use XP for my games.

Use ubuntu.

Ubunutu is great only if you know how to use it.

Generally i'd go to a repair shop, some offer to install XP for free as now it;s pretty much a dead OS

It's quite easy to use if you only use programmes from the Ubuntu Marketplace. It is quick and made my netbook boot in 30 seconds.

I dual boot XP and ubuntu only use XP for my games.

Why not use wine. http://appdb.winehq.org/

As the pc starts keep tapping F8. You might miss it once or twice so just restart until tapping F8 gets you the start menu where safe mode is an option. If you miss it, simply hold down your power button for 5 seconds to shut down, then press it again to start it again.

Once in safe mode, you can restore to an earlier time. Go to: Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools>System Restore.
The update would have created a restore point before starting the update.

In future when your pc is doing a update, just leave it do it's stuff no matter how long it seems to be taking. I make my living off the back of impatient people.