Will not boot up

Hello,

My nephews laptop is not able to boot up and he needs to recover files if possible before he reinstalls the os if it comes to that.

Below is a description of his situation in his own words:


My computer has recently been unable to boot; it froze up, so I went into safe mode and ran some scans. It froze there, and then when I tried to boot again it froze while booting, so I went into system repair. In system repair, nothing happens. It doesn't freeze, I can still move the cursor, it just stays on an empty screen and nothing pops up. I ran diagnostics without booting and it's said that the error is in the hard drive. I get error code 305 and it says that the hard disk is full. I have a Compaq Presario CQ63-238DX Notebook, it's running Windows 7, and it's a home premium.

Essentially, I have two questions;
1. Do I need to replace my hard drive or is there a way to fix it? I have recovery disks.
2. What's the easiest way to save the documents, videos, etc. on my hard drive, if it's possible? I'm working on some projects and desperately need to keep the edits and scripts I have.

If it helps at all, prior to freezing up, I was trying to open Chrome. I always use Chrome as my browser and it always worked, but the last few times I tried to open it the computer froze, and then the whole startup issues happened.

I'm posting this on my uncle's account.

_____

We will be working on this with you from my pc so my work schedule will cause some delays at times. Also, when booting in safe mode it stops at the following:

Loaded: windows\system32\drivers\atipcie.sys

4

With this situation you will need two things ideally:
-A second machine with enough space (or an external hard drive attached to it with enough space)
-A SATA hard drive mount. You can get these for seven bucks off Newegg or if you have a Fry's or similar they should have something for around twelve or so. I wouldn't recommend going to a Best Buy or Staples or one of those stores since they sell full on enclosures and they can run forty dollars and up. Make sure it specifies SATA 2.5" for the hard drive.

With these things you can remove the hard drive and mount it to another machine that you can back up the data on. It is amazing what you can do with a SATA adapter cable, I keep one around to do quick and dirty data transfers all the time. With the data backed up try this first:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392

If that doesn't work you may want to reload it. You may also want to consider another (possibly bigger) hard drive. " I get error code 305 and it says that the hard disk is full." can mean there is a corruption on the disc that is returning that error message falsely. Or the drive is actually full.

Thank you for the reply. Upon running the start-up test I get the following after the short DST test fails: FAILURE ID: PH1WL3-56465R-XD003G-60S403

Reading up on this I find that it is an indication of a failed or failing hard drive.

With this situation you will need two things ideally:
-A second machine with enough space (or an external hard drive attached to it with enough space)

Have that.

-A SATA hard drive mount. You can get these for seven bucks off Newegg or if you have a Fry's or similar they should have something for around twelve or so. I wouldn't recommend going to a Best Buy or Staples or one of those stores since they sell full on enclosures and they can run forty dollars and up. Make sure it specifies SATA 2.5" for the hard drive.

Don't have that.

I will pass the word to my nephew and see what he wishes to do.

Are there any other options?

Something that can be burned to a disc and used to boot and recover data? Dreaming here I am sure but just checking.

Thanks again for the reply.

4

You can try SpinRite but it isn't cheap and may take a while (hours to days)

If the sata drive mount is the chosen method, does it come with any instructions for the process?

Usually not, since the usage can be pretty broad. But if you've used a flash drive it works on the same principle. You plug it in, it shows up as a second storage device (usually labeled as e: or F: or something) and you click on it and it displays files inside. For simplicity if I refer to the E: drive it is a placeholder for whatever letter the drive is assigned to. All your nephew's files should be in:

E:\Users\username

Thank you for the input.

I just watched a video on what spinrite does and read some of the testomonials. Pretty amazing really but who knows if it would work for this specifically.

You really need to check the hard drive and its capacity. If it is truly full it could cause some issues like this.

If I remember correctly that confused him, he is sure that is inaccurate but I don't think I can tell for sure with it in its current state.

Yeah you can't be 100% certain unless you mount it at this point.

Here is another alternative to try if you wish ... to recover copies of files &/or delete files from the hard drive.

If your computer is not able to boot into Windows or simply not able to access the internet, you can use a LIVE Linux operating system run from a bootable CD or flashdrive instead of Windows, to access the internet, to access files on the HDD(s) and do other tasks.

Using a working computer:

• If you wish to use a LIVE CD ...
  
  • Download the Linux version of your choice (usually an .ISO image file).
    
  • There are many options to use for a LIVE CD. I suggest that you try one of the following:
    
  • Puppy Linux (smallest download file size at 128 MB)
    
  • There are two versions currently available, namely Slacko and Lucid. Either will do the job nicely.
• Linux Mint 12 Lisa (versions for a CD, and larger versions that need to be burned to a DVD disk)

[*]Burn the .ISO image to CD: If you do not already have a suitable burning program for writing .ISO images to disc ...

• Download and install ImgBurn.
• Ensure that you UN-check the box agreeing to install the Ask toolbar during the installation.
• Place a new (blank) CD disc in the drive tray.
• Choose Write image file to disc.
  
  • Under Source, click on the Browse button: Navigate to and select the .ISO file that you wish to burn.
  • Place a check-mark in the box beside Verify.
• Click

[*]When the CD has been burned and verified as successful, it will be bootable.
[/list][*]OR ... if you wish to use a LIVE flashdrive ...

• Go to UNetbootin - Homepage and Downloads and at the top of the page, click on Download (for Windows) to download the application.
• Follow the instructions further down the page under the heading Installation & Screenshots.
• Run the application to download and install the Linux version of choice to your flashdrive.
  
• I suggest that you try one of the following:
  
• Puppy Linux (smallest download file size at 128 MB)
• Linux Mint 12 Lisa (download file size depends on version)

[/list][/list]
Boot the problematic machine from the LIVE CD or flashdrive.

• (You may have to configure the Boot Menu or BIOS Setup Menu to boot first from the optical/CD drive or the flashdrive, which ever you are using.)
• Choose to run the Linux operating system from the CD or flashdrive without making any changes to your computer.
  Do NOT install Linux on your hard drive.

• When the Linux operating system loads ...
  
• You will have internet access in the normal manner.
• You will be able to navigate to all the files on your HDD.
• You can backup your files by copying them to a flashdrive or an external hard drive.

You may find one of the following guides useful:
Recover files from Windows XP hard disk using Puppy Linux

Recover files from Windows Vista hard disk using Puppy Linux

Recover files from Windows 7 hard disk using Puppy Linux

The easiest way to copy files/folders in Puppy is to drag-and-drop from one window to another. To do this open a window showing what you want to copy. Open another window showing the location that you wish to copy to .... and move the windows so that you can conveniently see both at the same time.

Now, simply drag the items you wish to copy from one window into the other. Simple.

AustrAlien,

Thank you for the input, I am always willing to learn and when I get back I will read over your post and see if I can follow if he chooses to go that route.

Just curious, how long does something like this take?


4

How long does it take to download and burn the Puppy CD and boot to it?

• It would likely take me around 30 minutes ... most of which would be downloading time.
  It is really straight-forward and easy .... I understand that being "different" it does seem a little daunting at first sight, but trust me, it is nothing to shy away from and you will likely benefit greatly by the experience.

How long to back up recover files?

• It is as quick as ... probably considerably QUICKER ... than to do the same job using Windows and a USB adapter.

Awesome, thanks a bunch, I am downloading it as I type!