PC wont load

[e_briggs]

My dad bought my mum a new laptop for Christmas that has linux operating system and to cut a long story short was talking to an advisor to fix a problem with the wireless connection on it. There is no CD drive in the laptop and the advisor told my dad (or that was how he took it to mean) to put the disc into another PC. (Which was my XP PC) He looked up and saw that the disc was downloading something. So he stopped it as quickly as he could by pressing esc which didnt work. He tried to get the disc out but it wouldn't open. So he shut the computer down by pressing the button. When he restarted it, it came up with L 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 for about 7 lines and then said error loading please insert system disk and press enter. Or something to that description. How can I fix this without loosing all my stuff on my PC? Help please!!! :S

[DirtyPolo]

Do you have your XP disk avaliable?

[Guest Wolfeymole]

What disk are we talking about?

 

An XP cd disk, a Linux cd disk or a hard disk?

 

Tell us exactly what this "advisor" said to your Dad.

[e_briggs]

PC won't load

 

My mum has a acer aspire one. She lost the ability to get access to internet.

My dad phoned acer for help. At first they gave him a command to use in the trrminal which did not work.

He went back on to acer and the assistant on the phone advise him to use the Acer recovery disc. My dad informed him that the acer one did not have a dvd port.

He was advised that he could download via the recovery dvd onto a usb stick.

It appears that he panicked when he saw the acer sign download on my Pc and switched the PC off.

When tried to log on again a load of 99.99 .99 messages came on and basically I cannot get into my pc.

I heard somewhere that you could trick the PC into thinking it is a few days before or am I wrong.

[BeeCeeBee]

Yes you can do a system restore but you can't do it if you can't boot the computer. Can you get into safe mode? To do that simply begin tapping F8 as soon as the first screen starts to come up. You should be given a number of choices. If so, first try "last good configuration." If that does not work for you try "safe mode."

 

Once you get into safe mode you will be able to try a system restore. First see if you can get into the computer.

[e_briggs]

Do you press and hold F8? I have tried that but it doesn't seem to work. Or do I have to keep pressing and releasing F8?

[BeeCeeBee]

Just keep tapping steadily. Sometimes it gets picky and you need to try again.

[Guest Wolfeymole]

In Safe Mode you will see this screen.

 

And as BeeCeeBee said choose Last Known Good Configuration.

[e_briggs]

I can't get safe mode to come up. I have tried it a few times to no avail. Eventually it just makes a sound when I tap it and then the 99 99 99 message comes and it says Boot disk failure insert system disk and press enter.

[Guest Wolfeymole]

Ok do you have an Acer Recovery cd of any kind supplied with that laptop?

 

We just need to ascertain a few things here.

[e_briggs]

I think so. But the laptop has been packaged up to be sent back for repairs. When the replacement arrives we will do I think

[Guest Wolfeymole]

You think?

 

I simply asked what you already have because if you have tried to copy the Linux recovery files to a USB stick and your computer is set to boot from the cdrom drive you may have a partial install of Linux on your XP box, hence the problems.

[e_briggs]

I haven't seen what the disk actually was called. My dad has said it was an Acer recovery disk. I think that it may have been a partial install. Can it be fixed?

[Guest Wolfeymole]

Back to what Dirty Polo said, do you have the XP disk for your system?

[e_briggs]

I think it came with it pre-installed. I don't remember installing it. I may be able to get hold of one however.

[e_briggs]

If I was to put the acer recovery disk back in and let it fully install will that not work?

[Guest Wolfeymole]

No because it appears to me that whatever happened has damaged the Windows master boot record files and they need to be repaired, if possible, first.

[DirtyPolo]

If I was to put the acer recovery disk back in and let it fully install will that not work?

 

If you did that, it would most probably install Linux to your PC, which would leave you without Windows.

 

Your best bet is to get hold of an XP installation CD and perform a MBR (Master Boot Record) fix.

 

If you cant get hold of an XP disc, you can download the file you need here.

Just download it, and burn it to a blank CD as an image, then follow these steps.

 

1. Boot with the XP installation CD.

 

2. When prompted, press R to repair a Windows XP installation.

 

 

3. If repairing a host with multiple operating systems, select the appropriate one (XP) from the menu. If you have only one operating system, enter 1 to select it.

 

 

4. Enter the administrator password if prompted.

 

 

5. To fix the MBR, use the following command: fixmbr

 

(This assumes that your installation is on the C:\ drive).

 

 

 

You will be presented with several scary warning lines the reading of which will make you want to say no. Microsoft is exceptionally vague regarding the conditions under which fixmbr can cause problems although they are clear about the consequences (losing all data on the hard drive), so use this at your own risk.

6. Type y and ENTER to fix the MBR.

 

 

7. When it's finished, type exit to leave the recovery console and reboot.

[e_briggs]

Will I lose all my data if I do this?

[DirtyPolo]

No as your MBR doesn't contain any of your information or files.

 

It is just a list, telling the PC how to bootup, basically.

[e_briggs]

I have put the disk in and it is still doing the same thing. If I press enter it just retypes the L 99 99 99 99 99 99

[DirtyPolo]

it sounds like you haven't burned the ISO file as an image to the CD correctly.

 

What did you use to do this?

[e_briggs]

A blank disc. I clicked on your link, said save. Then selected the disk to save it to and looked at the file type and it was either an iso file or All files. I went for Iso

[Guest Wolfeymole]

Having re-read this entire thread again I am of the firm belief that even a Windows Recovery ISO would be unable to repair the system as I think the windows master boot files have been over-written to such a degree that they are beyond repair.

 

Saying that however all is not lost but at this stage we would recommend taking your pc to a reputable pc repair shop, not PC World in my opinion, and get them to try and save your stuff.

 

They could then wipe the hard drive and reinstall Windows along with your pics, music etc.

 

You may have to obtain the XP OEM disks from the manufacture beforehand for that machine otherwise it would involve a brand new installation of XP.

 

This is assuming you never made any recovery disks when you first got your pc.

 

This whole sorry episode is, to my mind, very shoddy practice from Acer where no warning was given as to the consequences should the cd be inserted into another computer.

 

Lastly please do not think we are trying to wash our hands over this or insult your intelligence by not suggesting other methods to resolve this problem but the hard drive would have to be installed on another pc and a repair shop has the amenities to do this quickly and safely.

[e_briggs]

Ok. Are you aware of a reputable repair shop in the area of Chigwell? Or nearby? I have used a shop in Loughton before but wasn't totally happy with the result. Is there anyone that can recommend a repair shop nearby that has had previous experience and success with them? Thank you for all your help and advise.