Laptop with windows XP won't start up. Need help for fix/save.

July 24, 2008

Hello:

First, the batery indicator light and the two adjacent lights (one for

power, the other, the processor) were flashing on and off.

Then, my computer cut off while I was using it. The screen didn't go black;

rather, I heard a whistle noise of sorts, whereupon a blue screen came up (a

screen that looked something like the screen you see when you start Windows

in safe mode, but not exactly that screen). I think I just shut down at that

point by holding the power button down. Next, I tried to turn the computer

on without its being plugged in. Absolutely no power from the battery. So I

removed the battery. Then I started it again, plugged in of course. This

time it worked for a while. I put it in hibernate mode, which I frequently

do. Yet, the next time I started it, I got a black screen with a message

like "HDD error."

Now, still unable to get Windows, I'm getting the following message: "No

bootable devices, strike F1 to retry boot. When I do this, it says "No boot

sector on internal hard drive."

Obviously, I'd like to know what I can do in order to reslove this problem.

At a minimum, I'd like to be able to transfer the files in the MyPictures

and the MyDocuments folders to another device.

I'll quote some tips I got from an article by Bill Husted. I do have the

Windows installation CD. Do you think his tips would work for me?

"Here's what happened: I was happily killing hydras as I played my favorite

computer game. Next thing you know, I was staring at the dreaded blue screen

of death — a suitable name for any video game disaster. But this was no

game. It was a warning from Windows of a dangerous error that brought my PC

to a dead stop.

At first I didn't worry. Stuff happens, even stuff this drastic. Even the

text of the error message notes that by saying to just restart the PC if the

error isn't one that is frequently encountered. It wasn't a frequent

problem, so I did restart. Or tried to. The blue screen of death greeted me

again.

Now, here's what you should do if that happens to you. In most cases, it'll

fix the problem:

Use the Windows installation CD to restart the computer. You'll eventually

get to a screen that offers the opportunity to press the "r" key to get to

the Windows Recovery console. Once there, you can type this command:

chkdsk/p

I've used this technique before with great success. Errors on the hard disk

are located and fixed and you're up and running again.

Not this time.

The new error message, paraphrased, was that I had one or more unrecoverable

errors on my hard disk. I had an unmountable boot disk. That sounds like a

medical condition, but it just means Windows can't use the hard disk to

start the machine."

Thank you for your assistance.

John

July 24, 2008

Re: Laptop with windows XP won't start up. Need help for fix/save.

"John Davis" <noman@nowoman.invalid> wrote in message

news:e%23WLgvc7IHA.1192@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

>

> Hello:

>

> First, the batery indicator light and the two adjacent lights (one for

> power, the other, the processor) were flashing on and off.

>

> Then, my computer cut off while I was using it. The screen didn't go

> black; rather, I heard a whistle noise of sorts, whereupon a blue screen

> came up (a screen that looked something like the screen you see when you

> start Windows in safe mode, but not exactly that screen). I think I just

> shut down at that point by holding the power button down. Next, I tried to

> turn the computer on without its being plugged in. Absolutely no power

> from the battery. So I removed the battery. Then I started it again,

> plugged in of course. This time it worked for a while. I put it in

> hibernate mode, which I frequently do. Yet, the next time I started it, I

> got a black screen with a message like "HDD error."

>

> Now, still unable to get Windows, I'm getting the following message: "No

> bootable devices, strike F1 to retry boot. When I do this, it says "No

> boot sector on internal hard drive."

>

> Obviously, I'd like to know what I can do in order to reslove this

> problem. At a minimum, I'd like to be able to transfer the files in the

> MyPictures and the MyDocuments folders to another device.

>

> I'll quote some tips I got from an article by Bill Husted. I do have the

> Windows installation CD. Do you think his tips would work for me?

>

> "Here's what happened: I was happily killing hydras as I played my

> favorite computer game. Next thing you know, I was staring at the dreaded

> blue screen of death - a suitable name for any video game disaster. But

> this was no game. It was a warning from Windows of a dangerous error that

> brought my PC to a dead stop.

> At first I didn't worry. Stuff happens, even stuff this drastic. Even the

> text of the error message notes that by saying to just restart the PC if

> the error isn't one that is frequently encountered. It wasn't a frequent

> problem, so I did restart. Or tried to. The blue screen of death greeted

> me again.

>

> Now, here's what you should do if that happens to you. In most cases,

> it'll fix the problem:

>

> Use the Windows installation CD to restart the computer. You'll eventually

> get to a screen that offers the opportunity to press the "r" key to get to

> the Windows Recovery console. Once there, you can type this command:

> chkdsk/p

>

> I've used this technique before with great success. Errors on the hard

> disk are located and fixed and you're up and running again.

>

> Not this time.

>

> The new error message, paraphrased, was that I had one or more

> unrecoverable errors on my hard disk. I had an unmountable boot disk. That

> sounds like a medical condition, but it just means Windows can't use the

> hard disk to start the machine."

>

> Thank you for your assistance.

>

> John

>

It sounds as if your hard disk has bitten the dust. If so then your only

chance of recovering your files is from your backup. If you haven't

got any backups then this disaster may be the tuition fee you have to

pay for learning that all important files must reside on at least two

independent media.

To see if your hard disk is still useable, remove it from the laptop and

install it in an external 2.5" USB case. You can now connect this case

to any Windows XP PC to check your files. Later on you can use the

same case plus a 2.5" hard disk as your backup device. You'll be

surprised how little it costs and how effective it is.

Removing a hard disk from a laptop is child's play with some

laptops and fiendishly difficult with others. Ask your friendly

computer dealer if you get stuck.

July 24, 2008