Windows xp won't boot

[MANEMAN]

Ben Said: - once ive backed up all my data, ive still got no way of doing a re install

Yes you have............. By following Bludgards earlier post:

QUOTE by Bludgard:

"Restart your ACER.

At the ACER logo:

Press the "Alt" and "F10" keys at the same time to bring up the recovery menu. Press "Enter."

This process will restore your system to factory conditions.Hopefully."

.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.

You've still got a recovery partition.

Time to start "Getting your ducks in a row", "Thinking outside of the box", using "Blue Sky Thinking" and all of that sort of stuff Ben.

Have a strategy. Stick to it. Dont get sidetracked. learn to think backwards and laterally. Dont Panic !

You backup your data. You do a system recovery on the original disk. You transfer the backed up data onto the nice new operating system. You've cracked it. :)

(Unless your original HDD is beyond repair of course. - Prophet of doom stuff just had to come in somewhere. :( )

This thread is developing nicely into some educational and learning pathways for the forum.

John. (Off to enjoy some leisure time.)

[Bentwenty2011]

if my HD has got any permanent damage what is the liklyhood of me being able to extract data from it,

btw, when i start it in safe mode, it flashes up a long list of checks on a black screen, and the check which it always gets stuck on (before shutting down) looks like this:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\mup.sys

i dont know if this is significant in any way

[Bentwenty2011]

if my HD has got any permanent damage what is the liklyhood of me being able to extract data from it,

btw, when i start it in safe mode, it flashes up a long list of checks on a black screen, and the check which it always gets stuck on (before shutting down) looks like this:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\mup.sys

i dont know if this is significant in any way

I belive ive fixed it!!!, in the ALT and F10 menue acer has got a program which give you 2 options, either to restore and delete all data, or restore while saving all data to a seperate partition on my disk, this option, which im in the process of doing right now deletes all program files, so i will need to re install all my programs, but that isnt a major problem.

this info might be worth adding to your usefull guides (if it works, which it should)

[Bentwenty2011]

That didn't work :( it's back to it's old sequence, as I've got now way of backing up my 100+ Gb of data I'm gonna do and get a pc specialist to fix it for me tomorrow, atleast that way I can garentee it will get fixed properly

[MANEMAN]

I'm gonna do and get a pc specialist to fix it for me tomorrow, atleast that way I can garentee it will get fixed properly

A little bit disappointed that is the way that you have chosen to go Ben, -

- but it is the way I suggested, and have done so many times before I suppose.

I thought I had provoked a bit of fighting spirit in you when you found the time amongst all of your problems, to add - "The Sky", - "For me it's Home"

Ben: - "as I've got now way of backing up my 100+ Gb of data"

You were going to back it up on your Dad's computer.

Ben: - "if i wanted to back up my data i should be able to plug my notebook's HD into the motheboard"

I thought We had the data backup part pretty well covered ? -

- And then gone on to address the problem of how to get your original operating system up and running by means of the system recovery partition.

We were on the home run.

What went wrong ? We seemed pretty close to finalizing the whole thing within the normal hour or two.

John.

Pretty sure this one could have been diagnosed/up-and running real quick with the use of a Bootable USB stick with repair facilities.

"Test Disk", that bludgard mentioned is included in many of the compilation repair programs, and has MBR/Boot Sector repair features".

I gave Ben many clues, but unfortunately he didn't pick up on them.

[Bentwenty2011]

I got the cover off both my dads pc andy laptop and realised that I was gonna need an adapter for the hd :(

[bludgard]

I got the cover off both my dads pc andy laptop and realised that I was gonna need an adapter for the hd :(

Here is a possible workaround for you,Bent.

This actually works as I have just tried it myself.

What we are aiming for is to copy files/folders to an external hard drive,correct?We will attempt this with the small operating system-Lucid Puppy.

What you will need:

A USB flash drive or similar-I used a 1GB SD memory card.

Universal USB Installer,direct download link is HERE.

I would advise you to use your desktop as a workstation so that all components are kept within sight.

If you look at the screen-shot below,I chose Lucid Puppy from the dropdown menu.I also chose to download Lucid Puppy .ISO from within the program.For simplicity,I suggest you do the same.After the .ISO is accessable,install it to the connected USB device and you will be able to boot the OS from said USB device if you have BIOS configured to do so.

Once you have Lyucid Puppy loaded to your desktop,you should see the diferrent disk drives on your machine in the bottom left hand corner.If you click on a disk,it will be mounted and opened-hopefully.Find the file/folder you want to save on said disk and drag it to the disk/partition you want to save it to (USB HDD).You will be prompted to move,copy,etc.Choose copy.It will then copy the file/folder to the external HDD.Continue this until you have all you need and then use the ACER recovery tool to restore your notebook.Copy the files/folders back to your new installation and you should be good to go.;)

I do hope the the hard drive is readable.

Here is the source link you may find helpful:http://www.pendrivelinux.com/put-lucid-puppy-on-usb-flash-drive-from-windows/

Let us know how you get on.

[MANEMAN]

We've voluntarily put a fair amount of time into this one Ben.

How are things going ?

It wasn't an overly complex problem so a quick turnaround was expected.

John.

[bludgard]

I hope that this lappy wasn't still under warranty.Opening it up would surely void it if it were.

And yes,lot's of time and stuff has gone into this thread.I hope once again that this has a happy ending....

[Bentwenty2011]

My laptop isn't under warrantee, it ran out about 6 months ago, I've had it open to repair a headphone jack. What oil trying to do ATM is boot windows ultimate boot cd on a 250 gb hd I've borrowed, I haven't got a lot of time ATM, but I'm sure I'll get it sorted

[MANEMAN]

What oil trying to do ATM is boot windows ultimate boot cd on a 250 gb hd I've borrowed, I haven't got a lot of time ATM, but I'm sure I'll get it sorted

What is it exactly that you plan to do with the Ultimate Boot CD Ben ?

Bludgard gave you a great big clue in his last post as to how you may construct a bootable USB drive/stick.

(Prior to me being able to have time to submit a guide)

This is going to be much more use to you, who without an optical drive in the future may be presented with similar problems.

The whole thing takes about 15 minutes to create including download time.

Even if you did not install Lucid Puppy, you could at least have installed "Parted Magic" on a flash drive which would have given you access to "Test Disk" and it's ability to repair the boot sector, and also use other parts of the distro to reclaim your data. (Parted Magic takes up only 151MB space, so can easily be mounted on a 250MB Drive.)

We seem to have swung now from a 1TB drive, to a PC specialist fixing it for you, and now back to a 250GB drive.

Why not just create the bootable USB drive that bludgard has pointed you too, and give that a shot first Ben ?

John.

[Bentwenty2011]

Yea I was just using the boot cd because it was already on the hd and my dad has had a lot of success with it, I'm currently on work experience at an airport, so I don't have a lot of time :( when I do I'll go through all the reccomemded options.

Thanks again formyour help

Ben

[Bentwenty2011]

Yea I was just using the boot cd because it was already on the hd and my dad has had a lot of success with it, I'm currently on work experience at an airport, so I don't have a lot of time :( when I do I'll go through all the reccomemded options.

Thanks again formyour help

Ben

im gonna try lucid puppy to back up my data, not entirel;y sure what im doing, but i thinck i should be fine :/

[Bentwenty2011]

for some reason i can boot form the hard drive, the file ive downloaded is wary-500.iso ( http://puppylinuxnews.org/releases/?category=releases/ , http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/quirky/wary-5.0/wary-500-readme.htm ) as bludgard recommended, i simply dragged and dropped this to the HD using my dads desktop. i then connected the HD to my laptop and immediately on startup pressed F12 to bring up the boot menu. the HD was on of three options:

(In order of appearance)

1. USB HDD: WD 2500BB External

2. IDE 0: WDC WD1600BEVT-22ZCT0

3. Network Boot: Ateros Boot Agent

I selected the top option and pressed enter, after a few seconds the black screen with the following options appeared as usual

safe mode

safe mode with networking

safe mode with command prompt

last known config.

start windows normaly

it then flashes up the blue screen and restarts :(

am i doing something wrong?

thanks

ben

[Bentwenty2011]

If you wish, i can post a video of all the process' ive tryed

[bludgard]

Dragging and dropping an .ISO rarely provides a bootable device.There are certain protocol to follow as in the post I made above for this Puppy bootable device.If the procedure can not be followed,I do not know what else to suggest.We are running in circles here and I for one am a bit too old to be running at all.

"IMORTANT NOTE: Ensure that your USB drive is fat16/fat32 formatted, otherwise Syslinux WILL fail and your drive WILL NOT Boot."

If you must,create a 1GB partition at the beginning of the hard drive for this operation.Format it as required.Follow the directions provided above.

I told you that I used an SD memory card.Once Puppy is loaded to the desktop,you will see all available drives/devices connected to your machine.Copy from the problematic HD and paste to the drive/device you prefer.

[Bentwenty2011]

Dragging and dropping an .ISO rarely provides a bootable device.There are certain protocol to follow as in the post I made above for this Puppy bootable device.If the procedure can not be followed,I do not know what else to suggest.We are running in circles here and I for one am a bit too old to be running at all.

"IMORTANT NOTE: Ensure that your USB drive is fat16/fat32 formatted, otherwise Syslinux WILL fail and your drive WILL NOT Boot."

If you must,create a 1GB partition at the beginning of the hard drive for this operation.Format it as required.Follow the directions provided above.

I told you that I used an SD memory card.Once Puppy is loaded to the desktop,you will see all available drives/devices connected to your machine.Copy from the problematic HD and paste to the drive/device you prefer.

i was trying to use a HD, im now doing a fat32 format on a 4Gb usb stick and then ill try that

[Bentwenty2011]

ive left it running, i got to go and get some sleep, i'll let ya know how it goes

[Boris]

I am very confused by whatever you were trying to do with that external HD !

Consequently it would appear that when you chose to boot from

1. USB HDD: WD 2500BB External

the Wary Puppy boot sector could not be found, so it was ignoring this and dropping down to

2. IDE 0: WDC WD1600BEVT-22ZCT0

and then trying to boot from the original Windows installation on that.

You need to install your Puppy to a Flash Drive

- see example (using Lucid Puppy) here - http://www.pendrivelinux.com/put-lucid-puppy-on-usb-flash-drive-from-windows/

then boot from that :)

[Bentwenty2011]

i gotta go to work now, but i thought id just ;let you know thaqt ive managed to boot into lucid puppy and am now backing up all my datra onto an external drive, thanks so much for all your help!!! :D :) :)

[bludgard]

Now I can sleep.

Thanks for keeping us posted.

If there are issues,start another thread.

One

[bludgard]

Now I can sleep.

Thanks for keeping us posted.

If there are issues,start another thread.

One

I wasn't trying to kill this thread.Really.

Bent,you could let us know when you get everything worked out....;)

You have any flight time?

Good night from S

[MANEMAN]

Ben Said: - I'm currently on work experience at an airport

Bludgard Said: - You have any flight time?

Anyone that can turn a simple five minute fix of a bad boot sector into a lengthy thread that starts to resemble "War and Peace"

Has just got to be in training for a management position surely.

Jeez ! Stay away from any airport that he is near Cap'n Bludgard ! :lol:

Hope it works out well for you Ben, and that you also appreciate our sense of humour. :)

John.

[Bentwenty2011]

Ben Said: - I'm currently on work experience at an airport

Bludgard Said: - You have any flight time?

Anyone that can turn a simple five minute fix of a bad boot sector into a lengthy thread that starts to resemble "War and Peace"

Has just got to be in training for a management position surely.

Jeez ! Stay away from any airport that he is near Cap'n Bludgard ! :lol:

Hope it works out well for you Ben, and that you also appreciate our sense of humour. :)

John.

lol, ive got i all sorted thanks to you guys, its all up and running on a fresh install and ive got all my data. you guys effecively saved my £60 (the quote i was given at the pc shop) and you were great to talk to,

thanks so much!

[Bentwenty2011]

oh, and btw i want to be a pilot not management, ive already got a few hours in a glider (cant afford power yet :( ) and i also build and fly large (6''+ span) rc aircraft