motor

10-23-2004, 02:08 PM

Basically i came back today and my laptop wouldn't start (Win XP) saying it couldn't read from the boot disk and that i should check the hardware..... anyway eventually after turning it off and on countless times i am now into windows and it seems to be running fine. I've googled the problem but couldn't find a straight answer... wel not one i understood

.... So kind and clever people of JW can you help me..... do you think as I suspect this is a hardware prob

PATo355 · 10-23-2004, 02:13 PM

Nope , maybe you had a blanck diskette in it and it tried to boot from the diskette , but im sure its not hardware problem

10-23-2004, 02:19 PM

Originally Posted by PATo355

Nope , maybe you had a blanck diskette in it and it tried to boot from the diskette , but im sure its not hardware problem

1st boot device is the HD that much i worked out... don't know why it would try and boot from the dvd-rw drive

thats the only other drive i have

deth · 10-23-2004, 02:51 PM

i dunno much, but y dont u go and backup your important info onto dvd...better safe than sorry right?

10-23-2004, 03:55 PM

Originally Posted by deth

i dunno much, but y dont u go and backup your important info onto dvd...better safe than sorry right?

hopefully some new dvds coming monday, until then i'm not gonna switch my comp off!!

DeMoN · 10-23-2004, 06:13 PM

start backing up man! If it were a desktop, the fix would be easy. As of now, its either your hard drive failing or your MOBO (mother board). Hopefully, you still have warranty. Its hard to know with these laptops. Ahh also, it could be the cable that hooks hard drive with MOBO. Dont hink its floppy or cd boot because if it couldnt boot from them, it would go to HD eventually. The boot sector on your HD might be fuked up.

If your comp stops working, PM me so i tell you how to try fix the boot sector. If you try now, it might fuk it up so just wait and see what happens.

10-23-2004, 06:19 PM

Originally Posted by DeMoN

start backing up man! If it were a desktop, the fix would be easy. As of now, its either your hard drive failing or your MOBO (mother board). Hopefully, you still have warranty. Its hard to know with these laptops. Ahh also, it could be the cable that hooks hard drive with MOBO. Dont hink its floppy or cd boot because if it couldnt boot from them, it would go to HD eventually. The boot sector on your HD might be fuked up.

If your comp stops working, PM me so i tell you how to try fix the boot sector. If you try now, it might fuk it up so just wait and see what happens.

That was what i was expecting sadly no warranty any more and the company i bought it off went bust anyway.... looks like i'm screwed

Is there any way to find out for sure is its the HD..... and does anyone know if its easy to find replacements/ fit....... from the looks of it mine just unsrews and pulls out.... and has a little connector that you transfer to the new drive....... i've been reading the manual LOL

Cheers for your help DeMon... even if it wasn't the news i was hoping for

deth · 10-23-2004, 06:52 PM

demon mentions a good point w/ the hd connector...i completely forgot that my laptop did the exact same thing...i cracked it open, unplugged it and replugged it and have had 4 trouble free months and counting

10-23-2004, 07:10 PM

Originally Posted by deth

demon mentions a good point w/ the hd connector...i completely forgot that my laptop did the exact same thing...i cracked it open, unplugged it and replugged it and have had 4 trouble free months and counting

Cheers Deth I'll give it a try after i've backed up everything.... hell i have nothing to lose really LOL

PaulGT2164 · 10-24-2004, 02:03 AM

you should do a scandisk or have a hard disk utility examine the drive, i would say the computer just had a brain fart, but i would definately back up your data

magnetic storage device as time goes on collect tiny fragments of metal and magnet stuff on the read/write heads and that can cause the disk to fail, listen for any strange loud clicking to see if thats the case

other than that i would make sure in the bios of the computer that the Prmary master is set on the actual drive and not "auto" i have seen several times where the coputer momentarily forgets it has a hard drive

also if it does it again listen and make sure that the hard drive is spinning up when it gives the error, if it is not then it could be a power problem lol

10-24-2004, 05:41 AM

Originally Posted by PaulGT2164

you should do a scandisk or have a hard disk utility examine the drive, i would say the computer just had a brain fart, but i would definately back up your data

magnetic storage device as time goes on collect tiny fragments of metal and magnet stuff on the read/write heads and that can cause the disk to fail, listen for any strange loud clicking to see if thats the case

other than that i would make sure in the bios of the computer that the Prmary master is set on the actual drive and not "auto" i have seen several times where the coputer momentarily forgets it has a hard drive

also if it does it again listen and make sure that the hard drive is spinning up when it gives the error, if it is not then it could be a power problem lol

cheers for the advice... waiting for some dvds before i do anything, happy to report i haven't heard any strange noises yet!!