Posted July 15, 201113 yr Hi, I am trying to start my friend's laptop but it doesn't want to boot up. When I start it normally it says "windows is loading files", but just stays there and never loads up. I tried starting in in Safe Mode and it say's "no bootable device, insert boot disk and press any key". I do not have a boot disk for this lap top. What are my options? Any help is apprciated. Thanks.
July 16, 201113 yr Check out: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/win7-windows-7-mbr,10036.html You can download a recovery disc image from a link in that article.
July 16, 201113 yr Author Check out: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/win7-windows-7-mbr,10036.html You can download a recovery disc image from a link in that article. I will take a look at it today. Thanks for the info.
July 16, 201113 yr Author Check out: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/win7-windows-7-mbr,10036.html You can download a recovery disc image from a link in that article. Will doing any of those suggestins on the link affect the working files?
July 17, 201113 yr It shouldn't. On the other hand, it's never a bad idea to back up data. The recovery disc linked in that article can be used to make a system backup, you just need somewhere to copy it to - an external HD or maybe another computer. You could use a rescue CD for that, like The Ultimate Boot CD. That has a whole range of malware removal, diagnostic, repair, and backup tools on a bootable disc. It's Linux-based, like most such tools. Several AV makers have free rescue discs available for download, as well. You can also build a Windows rescue disc using Bart's PE Builder or UBCD for Windows (I have that, it's a BartPE with a nice collection of tools). For those, you need a Win XP installation disc to build from; and it takes more time and effort. I think everybody should have some kind of rescue disc on hand, they're a huge help when your computer won't boot.
July 17, 201113 yr Author The Laptop belongs to my coworkers daughter who says she lost the recovery cd's. Thanks for the detailed reply. Hopefully I can get the unit working.
July 23, 201113 yr Author Can I install UBuntu to access my working files? Also, the Laptop is HP, but I was wondering if there is a way to do a repair on it with my Dell Windows 7 Reinstallation CD?
July 23, 201113 yr Yes, you can install Ubuntu to access your files. Linux reads NTFS, FAT16, FAT32 and pretty much every file system under the sun. Actually, you don't even need to install Ubuntu to access your files, you can just boot the Ubuntu CD into a live environment from where you can access your files. Ubuntu is great!
July 23, 201113 yr Author Is there a way to create a boot up disk from my windows 7 cd that is from another computer?
July 23, 201113 yr Author I ran a test on the hard drive and it gave me a message that it Failed. Also said "hard Disk 1 FULL (305), which i googled and that said the same thing. I couldn't access the working files through Usuntu. One Other thing: I can't see to turn off the laptop. I tried holding the start button down for 15 seconds, also tried control alt / delete. Nothing seems to work. Any ideas on how to turn it off?
July 24, 201113 yr By "start button" do you mean the button (bottom-left) in Windows or the actual power on/off button on the laptop? If Windows has crashed, the only way left is to hold down the physical power on/off button on the laptop. They are usually configured to turn everything off if held down long enough (from 4-10 seconds, up to 20 seconds in an extreme case, but possibly configured in the BIOS to shut-down immediately) but also configurable on some laptops to go to standby or hibernate instead. What Operating System is the laptop running? XP or 7? A full (retail) Windows 7 DVD (not a recovery disk) can act as its own boot CD, but can be bettered with WinBuilder or similar. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WinBuilder .
July 24, 201113 yr Author Did it boot successfully from the Ubuntu disc? Yes it did, but I wasn't sure how to access the working files. I did access the internet but I couldn't download any software.
July 24, 201113 yr Author By "start button" do you mean the button (bottom-left) in Windows or the actual power on/off button on the laptop? If Windows has crashed, the only way left is to hold down the physical power on/off button on the laptop. They are usually configured to turn everything off if held down long enough (from 4-10 seconds, up to 20 seconds in an extreme case, but possibly configured in the BIOS to shut-down immediately) but also configurable on some laptops to go to standby or hibernate instead. What Operating System is the laptop running? XP or 7? A full (retail) Windows 7 DVD (not a recovery disk) can act as its own boot CD, but can be bettered with WinBuilder or similar. See http://en.wikipedia....wiki/WinBuilder . I have the windows 7 re-installation dvd from my Dell PC. Could I use that? PS: I am not receiving email notifications on replies to my topic. I have it set to automatically receive them.
July 24, 201113 yr Administrator PS: I am not receiving email notifications on replies to my topic. I have it set to automatically receive them. Try unfollowing this topic at the top right, then follow it again and set it to something like Instantly or Only when not online.
July 24, 201113 yr I have the windows 7 re-installation dvd from my Dell PC. Could I use that? I'm not sure I'm afraid, since I don't have a Dell Win 7 DVD to test. Based on Dell's XP CDs, however, the answer might be no, unless Dell have improved since then. Dell XP install media have (or had) a nasty habit of wiping your hard drive and then reinstalling Dell's custom setup. They weren't the only ones. I have hp/Compaq install CDs for XP which do the same. Maybe someone else knows?
July 24, 201113 yr Author I have the windows 7 re-installation dvd from my Dell PC. Could I use that? Maybe someone else knows? Thanks
July 25, 201113 yr I found a site with instructions for recovering Windows files using an Ubuntu CD: Use Ubuntu Live CD to Backup Files from Your Dead Windows Computer - How-To Geek I haven't used Ubuntu - with Knoppix or Puppy, which I do have, you just click the hda1 icon on the desktop. Just about any Linux distro could be used for this, I only suggested The Ultimate Boot CD because it's specialized for this kind of work.
September 27, 201113 yr I'm surprised that no one's suggested trying to boot in "Safe Mode". The menu that lead to the "Safe Mode" options also has some recovery option - several of them have worked for me.
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.