Problem with Laptop

[rizla]

I'm currently stumped on a laptop problem, i don't really know what the issue is, but it's kind of like hard drive so i'm posting here.

 

OS - XP Home

Make - HP Pavillion DV6101eu

When and how - don't know this is a laptop i'm repairing for someone else.

Anything new - Nothing when problem started

Detaills -

 

I was given this laptop to repair. The problems had started when the computer ramdonly deleted all the personal files. Everything in "My Documents", just leaving the folder structure empty.

 

Then it stopped booting altogether, it would get stuck on the windows logo screen after it had POST'ed, the bar would move a little then get stuck and it just freezes there. This is when i got it.

 

First i found it would boot in safe mode no problem, so i went in like that, installed and ran "recuva" and recovered 23GB of files that had been lost. I was pleased with this as they all seemed intact, so i set about the "easy" task of re-installing and job done.

 

Now it all went downhill. First i tried the recovery partition to keep all the drivers which ran fine, but again after restarting it still got stuck at the same logo screen.

 

Then i tried a fresh install from a windows CD, formatted the drive, installed, and again got stuck at the logo screen.

 

I then removed the HD, put it in an enclosure and ran it on my PC to completely wipe it, including all the partitions. again installed xp fine, but on the first boot up it got stuck at the exact same point.

 

So out of ideas I thought it may by a faulty HD, so tried getting a brand new HD, installed XP and again it got stuck at the same bit.

 

I've tried changing the RAM about which makes no difference, neither does starting XP in the various different modes like VGA enabled, or boot logging. The only thing that works is safe mode, and in that it works extremely well, very fast with no problems.

 

There's nothing in the event log other than things not starting due to safe mode, the device manager is showing no components as failing, chkdsk has ran and found nothing and disk manager shows the disk as running healthy.

 

Sorry for the epic post, but normally I can sort things out fine and I'm out of ideas, can anyone help??

 

Thanks in advance :)

[maynardvdm]

Hi

 

I don't know if this will make a difference, but try installing updated motherboard chipset drivers.

 

My first thoughts were a failing motherboard, since you changed RAM and HDD already, but you say it works fine in safe mode.

[Tootech]

I wonder if it is the video chip thats faulty.

 

DV's are awful as far as reliability goes - have a look at this.

 

HP Limited Warranty Service Enhancement HP Pavilion dv6000 CTO Notebook PC - HP technical support (United Kingdom - English)

 

Also, its worth checking the memory with Memtest.

[rizla]

Hi, thanks for the replies :)

 

I don't know if this will make a difference, but try installing updated motherboard chipset drivers.

 

My first thoughts were a failing motherboard, since you changed RAM and HDD already, but you say it works fine in safe mode.

 

I've tried installing the video and chipset drivers to see if that makes any difference and still nothing.

 

If the safe mode didn't work i'd say the same about a failing mobo, but it works so well it's untrue! I'm very confused :(

 

I'm inclined to agree with Tootech, as i guess it's only video that's left to be at fault. I'll run memtest on it tonight.

[rizla]

Ok, have now ran memtest which was fine, and reset the CMOS, all with no results.

 

I have given in that it's a fault on the video card and not really fixable / worth fixing on an old laptop like that.

[Tootech]

I agree, it is difficult to diagnose.

 

I have a tower in for repair at the moment - blank screen problem. It will boot into Safe Mode just fine, but not in normal mode. Video drivers updated, no change, well there was a change, a rather nasty looking display output, but stilll ok in Safe Mode.

 

Swapped the video card for identical know good and its all ok now - same symptoms as your DV.

 

I did have a DV laptop in about a year ago with similar problems and it ended up being scrapped - sold on ebay for spares.

 

Its a shame, but thats laptops for you, almost throw away items now.

[Plastic Nev]

I agree about the laptop business, with everything centralised on the motherboard, graphics, sound etc. (though sound cards are available if the machine has the port) in most cases it would need a new motherboard to sort out the graphics problem, and is the machine worth it? Probably not.

[Jelly Bean]

I was given this laptop to repair. The problems had started when the computer ramdonly deleted all the personal files. Everything in "My Documents", just leaving the folder structure empty.

 

Now I am not saying the following is true for you but it has been known that an AV such as AVG will lock away infected files so the documnets section would appear empty due to an infection.

 

The files are possibly still there BUT the Antivirus program has possibly locked them away as in quaranteened.

 

Is this possible in this situation?