laptop problem

[drunken monkey]

ok... not my problem but a friend of mine is in a bit of a bind.

he's got a laptop that has been used for mass downloading of films and stuff to the point that it seems like they've gone beyond the limit that you should to enable it to boot.

he now gets a message saying that the OS is missing and for soem reason, he can't boot from a boot-able disk either.

what he really wants to do, is to retrieve what's on the HD, possibly delete some of it and get it running again.
is there anything he can do to force it to boot or any other way to get to the stuff on the HD?

cheers.

[400sbc_guy]

most laptop like a dell has norton ghost.u can restore os thru this but u will loose info downloaded.it will be like new.if no norton ghost then u will need a factory sys restore disk made by the company of the computer or aftermarket win disk to install os back. but the only way i know to get files off before reinstalling eveything is to remove the harddrive.buy a hd adapter to connect it to home pc as a slave hd. boot the pc into windows and the hd will be listed in my computer as a drive letter. copy any files u want to keep to the home pc to burn to cd dvd or dl-dvd. then remove hd reinstall hd in laptop and restore os system like i listed. and use the disk u burn to put files back on laptop

[l_eclipse_l]

Disregard the comments of 400sbc_guy.

Try this:

http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html

Follow the instructions and burn the disc. It is an OS "live" environment, so basically its like running an operating system from disc that interacts with your hardware and you will be able to retrieve files and copy them to a USB flash or external hard drive. If that doesn't work, then he could buy an adapter to hook the laptop drive up to a desktop machine, but burning the disc is much cheaper.

I will add that I have never actually tried this disc or played around with it yet, but it came highly recommended to me so I feel confident enough to tell you about it.

[400sbc_guy]

ive done my way many many time . i repair/ build pc and laptop networks ect. u can try the program ive never used either. may work may make worse but my way i know works. up 2 u . a sure way or a chance

[l_eclipse_l]

Originally Posted by 400sbc_guy

ive done my way many many time . i repair/ build pc and laptop networks ect. u can try the program ive never used either. may work may make worse but my way i know works. up 2 u . a sure way or a chance

Ok Mr. Repair man. Norton Ghost does NOT come preinstalled on ANY PC be it a laptop or desktop to my knowledge, and I have worked on many from the time we unboxed them. Norton Ghost will cost you some money if you want it. If you can provide proof that Dell or whoever has done this, feel free.

Also, if a manufacturer like Dell provides a restore disc, it is not to recover content. It is to reinstall it to factory settings. This also formats the drive in many cases, hence losing anything on the drive unless you want to spend serious money trying to recover it.

I can pretty much say that if he makes the Live disc, he will be able to transfer any files off that drive as long as it is not physically junked. But what do I know, I'm not suggesting he try something not on his machine or format his drive.

[400sbc_guy]

every dell inspirion 1300 and new has norton ghost on all.and as for restore ur right it will reformat drive that is why is said get a adapter and connect it to pc to copy any files u want to keep to pc to burn to disk so after reinstall u can return files.and ur right u dont know u said I will add that I have never actually tried this disc or played around with it.and neither have i!!! he can try to run disk and if it works good but i dont trust it. it may make things worse. but a $10 dollar adapter and a pc i know works.unlike u im not tell him to use a method i havent used. and even if the download disc works he will have to remove the file and jumpdrives dont hold no space. and do u know if his laptop has burner.and he will still need reinstall of windows it is only a sort of boot disc...........a $10 adapter and a pc i know works........and ill learned u something about norton ghost (all new dell) f10 or f11 at blue screen and it will pop up

[Oz]

drunken_munkey, boot from an XP CD, and continue as if you're going to reinstall. It will detect the existing corrupt installation and give you the option to repair (NOT the recovery console), choose this and run through a repair install as first step troubleshooting.

[drunken monkey]

in cases like this, i tend to trust those who have a proper grasp of the english language.
I'll tell him to try and boot from an xp disk first anyway.

thing is i'm also a bit sketchy about what's actually wrong with the laptop.
from what I gather, any pc requires a certain amount of free HD space to run properly.
is it possible that the excessive downloading has eaten into the laptop's comfort operating zone or is it that the o/s really is just screwed?
anyway, back in 12 hours.

[sickcallawayc12]

No computer will run well when the HD is really really loaded with media (especially laptops), i can say that from experience with both laptop and desktop. Never caused the OS to fail or anything though, just ridiculously slow.

[400sbc_guy]

sickcallawayc12 is right computers will run with a maxed out hd just very very slow....but what do i know i dont even know english so good luck monkey boy .u can help someone that dont really want help!!!!!

[redbirtt]

i have a bit unrelated question -- there is a cheap dell 1.8 hz 256 mb laptop i wanna buy from a friend of a friend but it is missign the hard drive. it it possbile to buy one and set up myself? i have never done that

[ericn1300]

Originally Posted by redbirtt

i have a bit unrelated question -- there is a cheap dell 1.8 hz 256 mb laptop i wanna buy from a friend of a friend but it is missign the hard drive. it it possbile to buy one and set up myself? i have never done that

yes you can do that but you'd have buy a hard drive and the O/S install CD. might cost you more than the laptop is worth.

[Oz]

Originally Posted by redbirtt

i have a bit unrelated question -- there is a cheap dell 1.8 hz 256 mb laptop i wanna buy from a friend of a friend but it is missign the hard drive. it it possbile to buy one and set up myself? i have never done that

Yes, it's usually very easy to swap a laptop hard drive. If the computer comes with an OEM XP sticker on the bottom, all you need is the OEM CD to reinstall and you can use that key.

[drunken monkey]

and another almost related question - does an oem license allow the end user to use the O/S on multiple machines.

[l_eclipse_l]

Originally Posted by drunken monkey

and another almost related question - does an oem license allow the end user to use the O/S on multiple machines.

Nope. One license per machine is how it works if you want to stay legal.