7 year old alienware

7 year old alienware help me

#1 emd023

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Posted 11 February 2010 - 02:30 PM

Im trying to reformat my old alienware but as soon as i press delete partition i get a blue screen. "Windows has detected a problem and has shutdown to prevent damage to your computer."

what do i do lol?

This post has been edited by emd023: 11 February 2010 - 05:56 PM

#2 Broni

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Posted 11 February 2010 - 07:01 PM

Are you trying to delete partition from within Windows?
That won't work.
You have to boot from Windows CD.

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#3 emd023

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Posted 11 February 2010 - 07:05 PM

i did boot from windows cd. when i try to delete the partition to reformat the blue screen appears.

also, when it asks me to choose which partition to delete there are no options. maybe this is the problem?

This post has been edited by emd023: 11 February 2010 - 07:10 PM

#4 hamluis

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Posted 11 February 2010 - 07:10 PM

If that's true...I would guess that says something negative about your hard drive, IMO.

Tell us the exact point at which the BSOD occurs...and the steps you take to get to that point.

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#5 Broni

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Posted 11 February 2010 - 07:13 PM

It must be some different wording, because when you boot from the CD, Windows surely are not working, so you can't be receiving any error message from Windows.

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#6 emd023

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Posted 11 February 2010 - 10:15 PM

first, i went to my bios and made sure cdrom was first to boot. then, i restarted again. it asks me to press any key to boot from cd rom. then it goes to the blue windows install screen. i click enter to install then click f8 to agree to the terms. the next screen askes me to install partition or delete partition. they arrow keys let me scroll thru the different partitions (which are missing). any key i press on this screen gives me the "windows has shut down to prevent damage to your computer."

#7 Broni

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Posted 11 February 2010 - 10:42 PM

Quote

arrow keys let me scroll thru the different partitions (which are missing)

Explain, please. What is missing?

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#8 emd023

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Posted 11 February 2010 - 10:51 PM

heres what the screen looks like:

The following list shows the existing partitions and unpartitioned space on this computer.

Use the UP and DOWN ARROW keys to select an item in the list.

To set up Windows XP on the selected item, press ENTER.

To create a partition, press C.

To delete a partition, press D.

Unknown Disk <There is no disk in this drive.>
Unknown Disk <There is no disk in this drive.>
Unknown Disk <There is no disk in this drive.>
Unknown Disk <There is no disk in this drive.>

any key i press gives me the blue screen. im guessing the partitions should be showin up where it says Unknown Disk.

#9 Broni

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Posted 11 February 2010 - 10:54 PM

Well, it looks like your hard drive may be gone.
What was the original reason to reinstall?

Run hard drive diagnostics: http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287
Make sure, you select tool, which is appropriate for the brand of your hard drive.
Depending on the program, it'll create bootable floppy, or bootable CD.
If downloaded file is of .iso type, use ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/ to burn .iso file to a CD (select "Write image file to disc" option), and make the CD bootable.

NOTE. If your hard drive is made by Toshiba, unfortunately, you're out of luck, because Toshiba doesn't provide any diagnostic tool.

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#10 emd023

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Posted 11 February 2010 - 10:58 PM

im reinstalling because my pc is 7 years old and its slow.

maybe it has something to do with my boot order?

here is what my boot order looks like:

1- IDEO_M: QSI CD-RW/DVD-ROM SBW242B
2- USB FDC
3- PCI SCSI
4- IDEO_S
5- PCI LAN

Excluded from boot order:
USB HDD
USB CDROM

This post has been edited by emd023: 11 February 2010 - 10:59 PM