Pc Help?!

[MattDRX]

Anyone on here good with PCs?

Trying to get mine to load for weeks now,

In short it will not boot, it goes to windows error recovery, start up repair does not work, it just launches a blue screen with the mouse arrow, using F8 on start up, repair your computer doesn't work, it does the same as above and every option below, safe mode, safe mode with networking, all go back to this windows error recovery and then it goes round and round in circles.

In short I clearly need to uninstall windows but how on earth do you do this when it simply does not boot up via any means and without a disc? It's 4 years old and win7, if can't be helped it's going to get run over by the ST but there are over a decades worth of photos on the HDD that I desperately want to keep, anyway of getting these off? Don't care for the laptop just the files on there.

[MartynS]

If it's broken enough that safe mode doesn't work you probably can't do much without a windows disk. Can you get to somewhere that allows you to do a system restore? If you can that's the first thing to try, if not how about a command prompt? If you can get one of these try running system file checker (SFC /SCANNOW) which attempts to repair damaged files, but this may need the windows disk (can't remember if it does or not). If none of these work can you get hold of a windows disk from someone else to do the above?

Regarding the photos, if you can't get the laptop booting then, depending on how it's built, you may be able to remove the hard drive and connect it to another computer and copy the files off that way. Sometimes the hard drive is accessible easily under one of the flaps on the bottom (just remove a couple of screws and it can be slid out) but other times it's deep inside and means the whole thing may need stripping down to get to it. As far as connecting it to another computer goes you can either plug it in internally using a sata port or stick it in a caddy which turns it into a usb drive.

Running it over with the ST does sound a lot easier admittedly (might damage the hard drive though) .

[Hyrule]

Easiest option would be to take the hard drive out as Martyn said and pop it in another computer. Copy all the files and folders you want, as the first thing you do.

Then you can go about trying to rebuild the laptop. If you can get hold of a copy of Win7, even burning an ISO image to disc, should hopefully allow to boot and re-install windows.

http://www.techverse.net/download-windows-7-iso-x86-x64-microsofts-official-servers/

[Stoney871]

Sounds like a boot sector or registry fault.

Mount the drive into an external 2.5 case and copy off all important files.

You can get a recovery programme like Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery that will diagnose any problems on the drive.

[MattDRX]

Thanks guys, had it at work look at it and need a disk we have win8 at work and won't have it at all. Want a gaming pc anyway so good excuse

[SandyCat]

Obviously I can't be sure but sounds like hard drive failure. It's common in laptops because they are in an enclosed space and people tend to block the vents so they get very hot which kills them a lot quicker than in a desktop.

For your next computer go for SSD. They are loads quicker, quieter and don't need cooling. As for your old drive for a fee a data recovery firm should be able to access the photos.

Always back up photos to cloud or an external drive.

[jeebowhite]

blue screens can be anything from memory violations on startup, through to HDD failure. Most of the time, Windows on startup tries to access a memory allocation on the hard drive, loads the wrong module crashes and burns straight away. Once you have the data off it, you can just reinstall windows over the top.

If your laptop is an OEM windows install, you can legally download the media to reinstall it, and use your license key to put on it, this will allow you to at least get windows back up and running. I would also suggest you look at "spinrite v6" you can purchase it, or you can "purchase it" through torrents. Its a fantastic piece of kit when it comes to HDD failures and allows you to work out what state your HDD is really in. If you find that you have a faulty HDD, you can also run a piece of software called Partition Bad Disk - again you can either purchase it, or "purchase it" - whichever is your choosing :p but it scans for bad sectors and allows you to build the best partitions around it. I did this on a HDD recently, took out 60GB of bad access space, but because you dont use that bad sector of the drive, it allows the drive to be used for longer and with less risk of everything just killing itself on you.

[SandyCat]

As he can't access the computer to install or repair anything I can't see how he could.

[Hyrule]

Windows 8, stop right there :D

[jeebowhite]

I would do it all outside of the PC< using a hard drive caddy :D

[Stoney871]

You can get sata cradles very cheaply or an usb powered drive enclosure.

[jeebowhite]

Yeah I picked up an ide sata docking station with 2 USB and all memory cards for 13 quid over a year ago best money spent!

[MattDRX]

HDD is dead, had tests run on it all today and comes back "HDD Failed", tried SATA cable to USB and it will not read anything at all, so it's most likely damaged physically, can still get it off to an extent as Police can get info off of HDD's that have been burnt etc just need to find someone who can do it and probably get stung.

[jeebowhite]

to be honest, the amount your looking to pay is hundreds of pounds.

They will have to strip the HDD apart, and rebuild it in a lab on a synthetic hard drive, its definately not cheap, and unless you have data worth thousands of pounds on there its hard to do but easier to write off the hard drive.

If it spins up, you should be able to put it into some form of a caddy.

Alternatively, depending on the fault I have repaired my own hard drives before. On one drive, the circuit board was well and truely dead (blew up). I bought a new circuit board for about £30 from a company online, attached the new circuit board and it worked first time. Backed the data up and used it for a good 18months before it failed again.

[SandyCat]

Like I said earlier Matt go for an SSD next time as they are not affected by the heat etc and they are much faster anyway.