[Solved] System Freezes before I'm Welcomed to XP

[llanfallteg16]

Hi All,

 

Dell Dimension 4700, XP Home, SP3, 2Gb Ram, 500Mb Video board.

 

During the removal of an old copy of Microsoft Office (4.3), yes, that old, the system 'froze up'

Swith off and re boot but stalls at the screen before the welcome.

No egg timer running.

 

The last items being removed were Publisher and fonts as far as I can remember.

Don't like Publisher but odd people send me work in this format, always causes prpblems!

 

Have original discs for Diag and OS.

 

 

Any ideas appreciated.

 

Lots to do today as usual.

 

Regards

 

J

[Bluesplayer.]

Hi, try.

Boot from the Xp install Cd. - when prompted press [R]

Choose Windows installation [typically by pressing [1]

When prompted for password.

Press Enter.

Type chkdsk /r

[note space after chkdsk]

 

When fininshed.

Type Exit

And press Enter.

 

If it does not boot from the Hard Drive - repeat the above and type

chkdsk /f

The Bios needs to be set to boot [start] from the Cd - it may already be set to do so.

[llanfallteg16]

Freezing at start-up HDD block error,Dell No7.

 

Hi,Situation now far worse!

 

I've run all the diagnostics and the HDD is the problem. I can read/write to all the disc except for one block [3217945].

The problem here is a data error, media or write protect. Dell No.7 error!

Everything else checks out. Is it possible to put the drive in a caddy to recover the data? I do a regular back-ups

of all essential stuff, and use portable drives to transfer most of my files.

The drive was very 'tidy' and recently defragmented, all the blocks at one end.

Is there any way to isolate a damaged block or is the best move to get another HDD and start again.

 

Thanks for your reply

Regards

J

[Bluesplayer.]

Hi, not looking good.

Ways to save your data - good luck, keep us updated.

 

How to use Linux live Cd to backup files from a dead Pc

 

Ways To Recover Your Data

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic111937.html

[llanfallteg16]

Hi Thanks for the information and the links.

 

I've 'bit the bullet' and ordered a new WD 500Gb HDD from Amazon. The only way out I think.

Might be able to loan a HDD caddy, should make it easier to access the files.

Shame really, I spent several weeks getting this set-up ready, new RAM, new video board and

now a new HDD. All good experience though. I'll start a new thread about partitions and formatting

as I haven't done any of that since W98SE, seems years ago now!

Regards

 

J

[Plastic Nev]

Hi, once you get the new drive, if you want to add or move partitions you can try Easeus partition manager, I have used this one with good success, download the free version from here-

 

http://www.partition-tool.com/download.htm

[llanfallteg16]

Hi Nev,

 

Thanks for that one.

I was wondering how many partitions to have and what sort of size to split up a 500Gb drive.

Perhaps one for the operating system and applications, the others for data and images.

Something spare for future additions as well. Might even try Windows 8, but I suppose my

hardware might not be compatable with these new operating systems. Old Dell Dimension 4700.

Still on XP Home.

Any suggestions.

 

J

[Plastic Nev]

The partition side of things is entirely up to you as to how many and for what purposes, though some folk will create and use one for backup in case of a corruption of Windows requiring a reinstall, though personally I always recommend external drives for backups.

As for what the machine can work with in operating systems, Microsoft have some info available for Windows 7 as for minimum specs, so if it doesn't match those, forget Windows 8, have a look here-

 

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/system-requirements

 

Nev.

[llanfallteg16]

Hi Nev,

 

Thanks for your help, I'll leave it as one partition, as I do most of my back-ups on portable drives as well.

The new HDD is thought to arrive on Wednesday, so 'off we go again' on another mision into the unknown!

I had a thought I could put the old drive in as a slave along with the new one I suppose, although I will

need cables, perhaps a splitter. Most of my connection collection is for old drives, don't really know about SATA stuff.

Sadly the man with the HDD caddy has not turned up so far today, just have to wait and watch the rain!

Thanks again

J

[johhny-marshal]

There might be some internal problem or like any installation file is missing or corrupted. Try repairing the Windows if doesn't work, try re booting the Windows.

[llanfallteg16]

Hi, JM,

Done all that and the problem is with a damaged or corrupted sector on the HDD. During the HDD test run you can isolate sectors that have been deemed corrupt or data unreadable. I had one sector [3217945] only, with a problem. I ran the test and the HDD checks out in every other way. New HDD arrives today, so have plenty to do to get that up to date.

 

Regards

 

J

[llanfallteg16]

Hi All,

 

New HDD arrived from Amazon. WD Caviar Blue 500GB, about GB 55.00. Unplugged the old HDD and inserted the new. Reformat NTFS and inserted the XP set-up disc. Fantastic; Magic, no problems at all. I didn't even have to put in the Microsoft codes. Up and running, just a lot of applications and updates to install. Can't see why I was so concerned!

Regards

 

J

[Plastic Nev]

Hi and glad it all went smoothly, if you do fancy putting in some partitions now, you can do so with that partition tool I mentioned earlier.

 

Next thing being what to do with the old drive?

if you have or can get an adapter to connect it to a USB port, you may be able to access any data that you may need that got missed in backups.

Be aware though that with bad sectors on it, some data may be unretrievable.

 

If happy with everything and all data retrieved, to protect your own privacy, destroy the drive. Drill through it, smash it with a big hammer, or similar destructive treatment.

Being partly damaged with bad sectors, I wouldn't want to risk using it as an external drive for backups or plain storage.

 

Nev.

[llanfallteg16]

Hi Nev,

The man with the HDD caddy didn't turn up, so I've ordered a simple one from Amazon.

I don't think I have much to recover but it will still be an interesting exercise to have a look.

I do have Photoshop CS2,CS4 and CS5 loaded on the drive and will have to sort out the licence transfers somehow.

I presume Adobe have a system to cover knackered HDD's containing their very expensive software.

No plans to re-use the drive, I'll just junk it.

Regards

 

J

[Plastic Nev]

Hi, providing you have the original install disks and a copy of the activation code you should be OK, and not actually need to get in touch with Adobe.

 

Nev.

[llanfallteg16]

Hi Nev,

HDD housing arrived, not too bad seeing it was only a tenner. Complete with its own power supply as well and in a smart alloy case.

Bad news is nothing at all on the drive, and asking to format before use. Must have done something wrong when I was trying to access the data. Looks like its been totally wiped and ready for formatting. When I remove the HDD jumper it shows two drives, E: and F: Both ready for formatting.

Sad tale of woe!

Thanks for your interest.

Regards

 

J

[Plastic Nev]

Hi, Bluesplayer, (Good man) provided a link here-

 

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic111937.html

 

I suggest having a look at that, especially items 6 and 7, a data recovery tool just might find what is recoverable from the drive in the caddy.

 

Nev.

[llanfallteg16]

Problem Solved, access to files now possible.

 

Hi All,

 

Tried several applications for file recovery. The slave drive was not being recognised.

 

Back to partitions and EaseUS partition master, free download!

I deleted all the partitions on the HDD. I had wrongly created one for a new boot sector.

I then checked to see if I could recover any partitions and to my surprise,

two of the original partitions appeared for recovery, boot and one other.

One was FAT32 the other larger one was NTFS.

I recovered the larger partition and the missing folders appeared like magic!

Copied over a few missing files and folders. All is well and no further problems.

 

Thanks for your help and suggestions, its been a good exercise!

 

Don't mess things up before you have access to a HDD caddy!

 

Regards

 

J

[Plastic Nev]

A case of yippee and well done. Glad all is sorted now and everything retrieved as well. Good little tool to have is that partition manager as you now know.

Thanks for the feedback and always glad to help.

 

Nev.

[llanfallteg16]

Hi Nev,

 

I sorted out the Adobe Photoshop deactivation as well. Adobe has a 'live chat' line from a call center somewhere in Asia. I had the two applications that were on the old HDD deactivated. Now I can use them on another two computers.

A reasonably productive day I think.

 

Regards

 

J