SOLVED Problems In Windows XP

[Pc Geek]

I know this is windows xp but i need some help. My mum has this old laptop that one day stopped working and it had some very important files on it. So today i decided to get it out and try to turn it on but it would beep alot then load xp and as it is loading it would just BSOD and restart. I does this in safe mode and not in safe mode. is a HDD failure pr a windows error? As my mum can't afford a new on if it can be repaired than that would be great the video if here:

 

[amaltom61]

Recover the files on the laptop hdd by plugging to another pc. Then reformat and install windows xp again or windows 7 if the system supports it.
How old is the hdd.

check the link for the video as it appears to be broken

 

[TrainableMan]

I fixed the youtube link.

Where did you see "HDD failure"? This means Hard-Drive Device failure. Hard drives can die (they can also crash but it does not appear to be the situation here). Basically portions of the HD are no longer holding the information properly and programs and potentially data are being lost. Loosing some sectors is not unusual and isn't always fatal to the drive, the drive simply marks the sectors unusable and stores the data on a different sector. But if the number of bad sectors keeps growing then the hard drive needs replaced. Since it will not boot, it appears some system files have been corrupted (were stored on a sector that wasn't marked bad but is bad now so the file cannot be read properly).

Do you have WinXP install or recovery discs? If so, then insert it into the CD- or DVD-ROM drive. If the disc is not the first boot device then you will need to go into BIOS and set it so it is first in the boot order. Then boot with the CD and look for repair or recovery options.

If you are able to boot with the disc then it's best to copy as much of her information off as possible, as quickly as possible. (It could just be a few sectors or it could be the HD is dying, so best not to take any chances and get the important data). At that point you can run scandisk in thorough mode and have it flag bad sectors. Report back the results.

 

[Pc Geek]

the HDD is a IDE format and is 20GB in size the problem is is that i dont have the disc and the memory is maxed out at 504MB so i can't put on windows 7. i think is is a 10 Year old HDD

 

[Pc Geek]

Thanks trainable man for fixing the link. When i said hard drive failure i ment i Thought if was a HDD failure. I dont have the disc but ill search around on Ebay to see if i can find one. its a 64BIT platform.

 

[amaltom61]

If it was a total hdd faliure,nothing will come past the BIOS message.And will show a message hdd not found or Operating system not found or something like that.Normaly ram cards come in 512 MB not 504 MB.The remaing 8 mb is used by other hardwares and junk in the pc.

It is very rare to find a 10 year old hdd in a working condition.(my 6 year old 40 GB samsung HDD died last week with everything in it)

 

[TrainableMan]

64bit XP? That's somewhat unusual. I know it exists but not many people have it.

There is another possibility for extracting the data. You could buy an external dock (must be one that supports 2.5" laptop drives), remove the HD from the old laptop (usually a few screws), and using your other laptop, read the data through the dock. Hopefully the HD hasn't been corrupted where the important data is stored. Here I can easily get a dock for under US$25 on eBay. (In fact I own a couple but none that accept 2.5" drives).

 

[Pc Geek]

I mean 32 bit. My mum recons she has the xp disk somewhere so if she hasnt will this HDD dock do as my HDD is an IDE connector. : http://www.maplin.co.uk/sata-combo-sata-ide-docking-station-387569

 

[TrainableMan]

Well that is to connect the HD to your computer via IDE as well. What you want is a dock that accepts 2.5" IDE drives but the connection to your other computer is USB. Plus that seems a bit pricey.

I was thinking something more like THIS.

Admittedly, this is a cheaply made plastic attachment so it won't last forever but for your needs it will likely do the job as cheaply as possible.

 

[Pc Geek]

thanks TrainableMan so if my mum cant find it then i'll buy that i'll let youn know when the next update is.

 

[Pc Geek]

Right, Ive found the xp disc but i can't get it to boot off that.

 

[TrainableMan]

If your laptop HD is SATA/PATA then you don't need the IDE portion of the dock but at most you save a few pence on a version without it.

But since you have the disk ... Is the BIOS set so the disk drive is the first boot device? It is important that it tries to boot from the disk and not from the hard drive so boot order is critical. Also are you sure it is the actual XP disk and not like a drivers disk or such?

 

[Pc Geek]

it says XP on the disc and the priority is set tp the Optical drive

 

[TrainableMan]

Is there any option (F1, F10, etc) as your PC boots to tell it to boot from cd?

Do you get an error message or does it just continue on and try using the HD?

Maybe you could post a video of that start up?

 

[Pc Geek]

it says it can find the media in the drive. would windows 2000 or 98 work as i know they work?

 

[TrainableMan]

It sounds like the CD is damaged. If you put the XP CD in your other computer (not boot from it, just look at it from windows explorer) can that one see it?

As for using a Win98 or Win2K disk, what I was hoping was that we could repair the damaged files on your mum's hard drive to get it to boot but you definitely can't do that from those other disks. The truth is, it's been so long since I've seen Win98 (and I never used Win2K at all) that I don't remember what you will see when you boot from those disks. You could pop one in and see if you can get the computer up but I don't know that you could get to any menu system that would be useful for reading the hard drive and coping off the files. You definitely don't want to let them install as this would try to overwrite or even format the drive and the data would be lost.

 

[Pc Geek]

Right i tried to re install it and i get to the installing bit but then it says the HDD is damaged or corrupted. so shot;d i get a new hdd because i think it has too many bad sectors.

 

[TrainableMan]

I don't want you to reinstall, I wanted you to repair (but only from the WinXP CD). Installs would likely overwrite and possibly format, especially from the other OS disks.

Yes, to get her PC working again it definitely sounds like you would need a new HD but for a machine that old it likely needs to be under 2GB so it will be pretty old and you would still need a working XP CD. Can probably be done but it's "throwing good money after bad" I believe, best to retire that PC, IMO.

But I would still like to get any data we can save.

 

[Pc Geek]

so should i send ot to my uncle to see if he can get off the files?

 

[Pc Geek]

when i try to repair it says it cant repair it fore sme reason. i tried this before the reinstall