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Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 6:54 am
by smh6921
My son's laptop crashed last night and it is not a pretty sight! Any advise on what to do when a 2 year old HP won't even load to find the operating system? Guessing it either got a virus or the hard drive crashed. Either way, I need to get it fixed ASAP before he drives me totally crazy.
Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 7:58 am
by Vince
What's the error it gives when you try to boot?
Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 8:01 am
by smh6921
It just tries to load then shuts itself right back down and restarts again. I haven't played with computers since DOS and have no idea where to start. When I tried to override it all it did was tell me it could not detect an operating system.
Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 8:10 am
by Leisher
First things first, and this may seem dumb, but make sure there are no CDs in the drive, flash drives plugged in, or anything in the floppy drive if you have one.
Otherwise, it sounds like it could be the hard drive. Is it still under warranty? If so, call HP and they'll walk you through some troubleshooting and then will send you a new hard drive (if that is what's wrong).
If not, are you local? With Gordon out of town, I could look at it for you.
If it is the hard drive, you'll need a new one and then you'll need to reinstall the OS. Do you still have all the disks that came with the laptop?
Edited By Leisher on 1228828514
Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 8:28 am
by smh6921
Checked the CD drive and nothing. Doubt the hard drive is still under warranty - got it the laptop in 2006. I found the start up CD's my ex made when we got the computer. Yeah, figures when Gordon goes out of town, all hell breaks loose! Yes, I'm local - Genoa.
Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 9:24 am
by TPRJones
Does it get to the part where it seems to be trying to load windows? Or does it restart earlier in the process, like just after the RAM check or while finding hard drives? Do you get to see the IRQ table flashing past?
The earlier in the booting process that it is failing, the more likely the problem is to be hardware instead of software.
Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 1:04 pm
by Leisher
Let me say again, your first step needs to be checking with HP. You might still be under warranty.
Although, HP doesn't seem to have the same Service Tag system that Dell has, which is unfortunate. You'll probably need to contact their support service to find out if you're still covered.
If you're not, let me know and if you'd like I'd be happy to look at it if you need it repaired ASAP and don't want to wait for Gordo.
Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 1:06 pm
by Vince
smh6921 wrote:Checked the CD drive and nothing. Doubt the hard drive is still under warranty - got it the laptop in 2006. I found the start up CD's my ex made when we got the computer. Yeah, figures when Gordon goes out of town, all hell breaks loose! Yes, I'm local - Genoa.
I'd see if it'd boot off the start up CD. Not always a 100% sure fire test, but if it'll boot off the CD that's usually a good sign.
Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 1:39 pm
by Malcolm
Rule of thumb I go by is if you get a OS loading screen & then it dies, look software first. Otherwise, look system/hardware/BIOS first.
But yeah, if that mofo is under warranty, abuse it. If it's some other problem besides the hard disk, then there's a decent chance your info is retrievable.
Edited By Malcolm on 1228848006
Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 6:44 am
by smh6921
No warranty - it only had a 1 year limited warranty.
When it starts up, does not get past the first screen before it shuts down and tries again. Keeps doing this until you just shut it off. My 15 year old son wanted a screw driver last night to try and take it apart himself and fix it. Seeing that he has never even seen the inside of a computer, I told him no.
Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 9:24 am
by Leisher
My 15 year old son wanted a screw driver last night to try and take it apart himself and fix it.
Tell him that it's not a car. If he is truly interested in computers, you should get some old ones and let him tear them apart.
As for your issue, try this:
Boot it up and start hitting F2 immediately. It should put you into Setup.
Sidenote - If it doesn't, ensure that you're hitting it at the right time. Upon boot up most PCs show a splash screen usually with the manufacturer's name. In the top right corner of that screen you'll see the command listed to enter Setup. Like I said, usually it's F2, but I've seen other keys used like "Del".
Ok, once you're in setup don't change any settings. However, feel free to take a look around until you find a listing that will look like:
Primary IDE Master
Primary IDE Slave
Secondary IDE Master
Secondary IDE Slave
If all four say [NONE] next to them, the hard drive is absolutely the problem.
If something is listed for Primary IDE Master, then you could try putting your OS disk into the CD drive and booting from that (let me know if some is listed and I'll type out the instructions on how to boot from CD). You might be able to do a "Repair" to fix whatever is wrong. That's a long shot though.
I work right next to Owens Community College, if you can make it to my area I can take a quick look at the laptop to ensure that it's the hard drive so you can get one on order.
Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 9:43 am
by smh6921
In the setup, it has a Primary Hard Disk Self Test. When I enter in that it says Test Status - No IDE Device. Guessing that means it's the hard drive. If you want to look at it, I can bring it to you. I get off work by 3:30 and I work in Toledo (Hill/Fearing) and can go to the Owens area anytime.
Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 10:38 am
by Leisher
If no IDE device is listed, that indicates your hard drive has failed.
Still, I'll take a peek at it for you. I can pop it open and make sure no cables are disconnected, etc. It shouldn't take more than 20 minutes.
Essentially, I'd just confirm for you that it's the hard drive.
I'll IM you my contact info so if you want to bring it by, you can. If not, you'd still probably be safe going onto HP.com and looking up your model # to see what kind of hard drive you need to order to replace your bad one.
After you get the replacement Gordo, me, or anyone should be able to use your system disks to rebuild your laptop.
Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 1:45 pm
by Malcolm
You could always pray it's one of the wires running to the hard disk instead of the item itself.
Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 1:50 pm
by smh6921
Thanks for the shimmering ray of light:)
Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 2:03 pm
by Leisher
You could always pray it's one of the wires running to the hard disk instead of the item itself.
It has been known to happen. I wouldn't hold my breath though.
Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2008 8:57 am
by Paul
1) It's probably a software issue.
2) Make an anitvirus boot CD and have that scan/remove any malware. Run it and see if that fixes the problem.
3) The fix for this type of stuff is often to reinstall Windows. A non-destructive recovery will save all your files and settings and programs.
4) HP's generally suck in that they don't give you a recovery CD. They choose to save a dollar by foregoing the recovery CDs and using you your precious hard drive space with a recovery partition.
5) Said recover partition often can't/won't do a non-destructive recovery.
6) You are most likely boned.
7) Sometimes running a thorough scandisk will work. To do that, borrow someone's XP CD, boot to that CD, choose "R" for recovery. At the command prompt type the following: chkdsk /r
If all else fails, you can do a destructive recover. But you will lose your data unless you back it up. The make adapters to plug laptop drives into IDE ports. If it's a SATA drive you won't even need an adapter; you just plug it into a computer.
If your accounts are password protected the Documents and Settins\Username stuff won't be accessible unless you take ownership of it or us a file recovery program. I use a program called FinalData to recover stuff off drives.
Good luck.
Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2008 12:00 pm
by Leisher
FYI, I have gotten my hands on the laptop and the hard drive is gone.
Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2008 12:39 pm
by TheCatt
SOMEONE STOLE IT?