markymarc2000 Posted October 10, 2012 Posted October 10, 2012 Needless to say I need help. I have a Compaq Presario CQ71. It's not my main computer but has a lot of files so is important. It was running ok last night with internet on when blue screen flashed up that it had crashed. Then it died. Left it a few minutes, rebooted, left it again, all that came up is the black screen and a white cursor. I used my second computer to Google and there seems to be loads of 'try this' or 'try that' but nothing seems to work. My system is a factory fitted Vista so I have no reboot discs etc. I have tried going through the start up menu to check memory hard drive but in the end it's still the same. I've had the blue screen and other issues and have managed to get out of them but this has stumped me - I'm in the middle of Snowdonia so there's no PC doctor here, really don't want to go there anyway - PLEASE CAN ANYBODY HELP ME! Quote
KenB Posted October 10, 2012 Posted October 10, 2012 Hi and welcome to ExTS Can you post the STOP Error Code (0x0000000*) etc next time it appears please ? Can you boot up in Safe Mode? Switch on and constantly tap F8 about once per second. Quote There is an email going around offering processed pork - gelatin - and salt in a can ......this is simply SPAM !! MiniToolBoxNetwork TestWireless Test
markymarc2000 Posted October 10, 2012 Author Posted October 10, 2012 Hi Ken Thank you for your reply! I can't get an error code - I reboot, the compaq logo comes on, then instead of the windows login after about 3 minutes the screen goes black and a large white cursor appears in the middle. This can be moved with my mouse but that's it. I've tried F8 and pressed safe mode but it still goes black with the cursor. If I press Set up menu at the very beginning it allows me to check the Memory and passes, then the hard drive when it seems to get stuck so I guess it could be there that the problem lies. I can probably restore to factory settings but would rather not if it can be avoided! Any help would be great, Marc Quote
KenB Posted October 10, 2012 Posted October 10, 2012 Hi I assume that you have tried "Last Known Good Configuration" from the F8 route ? When you get to these options - is "Repair this Computer" one of them? (if you have a Recovery Partition it should be) If it is - give it a go. Quote There is an email going around offering processed pork - gelatin - and salt in a can ......this is simply SPAM !! MiniToolBoxNetwork TestWireless Test
markymarc2000 Posted October 10, 2012 Author Posted October 10, 2012 Thanks Ken, I'll give it a go tomorrow (I'm at work now so it'll be tomorrow) Will keep you posted and thanks of course! Quote
Vr5fx Posted October 10, 2012 Posted October 10, 2012 Welcome to the forum. It possibly sounds like an issue with the Hard Drive. Get yourself one of these (or something similar) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-5-SATA-to-USB-External-Laptop-Xbox-HDD-HD-Hard-Disk-Drive-Caddy-Case-Enclosure-/380479680289?pt=UK_Collectables_HardDriveEnclosures_RL&hash=item58965b2f21 If you put your laptop Hard Drive into the caddy and connect it to your other computer, you can get as much data off as possible, or only what you need (If the HDD is failing some files may be corrupt) Once your data is backed up, put the HDD back into the laptop and a system restore can be attempted. I think (if I remember correctly) F10 on the bios splash is the recovery partition. Quote AMD FX 6100 @ 3.9Ghz / Asus M5A99X EVO 990X / G-Skill 8GB DDR3 1600Mhz RipjawsX / Zotac GeForce GTX 660 Ti / Corsair TX 750W V2 PSU / Antec Kuhler 620 / Win7 64 / NZXT Tempest 410 Elite / NZXT 6 channel fan controller / Kingston 240GB HyperX 3K SSD / 1TB HDD Intel Pentium G2020 2.90GHz / Gigabyte GA-Z77N-WIFI / Kingston 4GB DDR3 1600MHz HyperX Genesis / Corsair 430W CXM / Fractal Design Node 304 Mini ITX Case / 2TB WD Greenhttp://steamsignature.com/status/default/76561197986113115.png
KenB Posted October 11, 2012 Posted October 11, 2012 Vr5fx is correct - you need to get anything off the hard drive that is needed whilst you can. Make this a priority. Quote There is an email going around offering processed pork - gelatin - and salt in a can ......this is simply SPAM !! MiniToolBoxNetwork TestWireless Test
markymarc2000 Posted October 11, 2012 Author Posted October 11, 2012 Hello Vr5fx, and thank you for replying. I've ordered the little caddy from Ebay, should be here by weekend - as soon as I get it I'll give it a go, it makes sense. Will keep you informed. Quote
markymarc2000 Posted October 20, 2012 Author Posted October 20, 2012 Hello Vr5fx Well the caddy arrived and did as you said - connected to my desktop and waited. The HDD makes a very quiet whirring noise and when the file box pops up it's titled Recovery Disc F but nothing else. After a while another dialogue box appears saying its 'inaccessible error performing inpage operation' and needs to be formatted which it warns will delete all data. Have not proceeded further. Any ideas? There is also a Local disc G but theat does nothing. Is all lost? Any help of course greatly appreciated! Quote
rotmegsie Posted October 21, 2012 Posted October 21, 2012 I used to be plagued with crashes and blank screens , some of which were hard to break out of, until I read about a three finger escape . Ctrl. Alt. and Delete all pressed together. It worked most times. Quote
KenB Posted October 22, 2012 Posted October 22, 2012 [h=1]markymarc2000[/h] If you cannot access it using the caddy it looks as if there may be a problem with the drive surface too. Try this: On the desktop with the caddy connected to the USB port do the following: Start > type in ...........cmd.......(do not hit Enter yet) Right click on the cmd.exe that shows top left of screen > Run as Administrator [ if using XP Start > Run ......cmd ......ENTER ] At the prompt type in ..... chkdsk G:/f ................There is a space after chkdskYou could also try chkdsk G:/r f attempts to fix bad sectors r attempts to recover bad sectors Does G: show up in (My) Computer ? Quote There is an email going around offering processed pork - gelatin - and salt in a can ......this is simply SPAM !! MiniToolBoxNetwork TestWireless Test
markymarc2000 Posted October 26, 2012 Author Posted October 26, 2012 Thanks, I'll give it a go, Marc Quote
KenB Posted October 26, 2012 Posted October 26, 2012 Hi Marc I should have said ...... chkdsk G: ............the G: refers to the letter that is attached to the external drive. I am assuming that the "G" showing in Computer is in fact the external drive. You would need to check in "Computer" first. Quote There is an email going around offering processed pork - gelatin - and salt in a can ......this is simply SPAM !! MiniToolBoxNetwork TestWireless Test
markymarc2000 Posted November 11, 2012 Author Posted November 11, 2012 Hi Marc I should have said ...... chkdsk G: ............the G: refers to the letter that is attached to the external drive. I am assuming that the "G" showing in Computer is in fact the external drive. You would need to check in "Computer" first. Hi I tried the chk scan, one box appears telling me I need to format the disc. When the cmd dialogue box appears it tells me the file is NTFS. On my computer it shows as Recovery G. It won't go any further as the volume is being used in another program. Still nothing, any more suggestions would be great, I'm not losing hope yet! Thanks, Marc Quote
KenB Posted November 12, 2012 Posted November 12, 2012 Hi, Recovery G This sounds like the recovery partition - do not touch this. I wrote this earlier .... I am assuming that the "G" showing in Computer is in fact the external drive. Plug the external drive in. Then Start > type in ......diskmgmt.msc ......Enter Your external drive will show up here. You should see G: and one or two extra letters. If the letters are G: / H: / J: try the one next to G: that is usually where the Operating System etc is located. Quote There is an email going around offering processed pork - gelatin - and salt in a can ......this is simply SPAM !! MiniToolBoxNetwork TestWireless Test
markymarc2000 Posted November 17, 2012 Author Posted November 17, 2012 Hi Ken B Looking better, I did as you said and the box showed 5 options F, HP Recovery, OS©, Recovery (G) and SYSTEM. They all come up as 'Healthy' and all show the calculated free space, capacity etc. Also mentions partitions etc so something is going on - hopefully the right things! Can you advise on the next step, to me it looks like the System is the one to work on? Many thanks Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.