savwar Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 My acer Windows 7 laptop was behaving weirdly for 2 days. a few days ago i got the "windows detected a hard disk problem" message. I ran malwarebytes and was going to run disk chk but it froze and since it hasn't booted properly. I have a Windows boot dvd which helps me get to the safe mode screen, but it won't let me go any further than just as the windows symbol is about to open. My HD is partitioned, and i'd love to get the data of the D, as the C is just windows and programs.Tried a system repair disk, Tried burning a new boot disk. i can only get as far as here:the logo doesn't appear fully... There is no Repair Option on my boot screen when i hit f2. can't get to safe mode either, it stops at this point... Any ideas what it could be or where i can look for an answer. I hope at least that i can get an external case for the hd and get the data off it. if i have to get a new HD i'll probably get an SSD Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Symatic Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 thats what i'd try man - mounting the disk in another way (external, or in different slot?) then yeah try and copy stuff off the drive. you could get a spare drive, install windows, boot into that, maybe then get stuff off the old drive? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 Have you tried the "Last Known Good Configuration" option? It probably won't work, but it's definitely worth a punt first. If the data on the hard drive is of vital importance, then I would take the hard drive out and hook it up to another computer and see if you can read the D partition to get the data off it. Chances are the hard drive may be on its last legs, so that would give you the best chance of getting the data off it. If you can't do the above, the next thing I would try is the "Safe Mode With Command Prompt" option. If you can get into that mode, then run this command on the C partition: - chkdsk /r Have you tried booting from a Windows 7 DVD? Make sure that it's set to boot from the DVD drive first in the BIOS, then try it. Choose your installation options (language etc.) and on the screen where you would normally install Windows there is an option to repair your computer. From there you can try a System Restore or try booting into Safe Mode to run chkdsk. The next option to try would be a repair install via booting from the Windows DVD. The final option would be to do a fresh install of Windows, assuming that none of your important data is stored on the C partition (as you said your drive is partitioned and data is on D). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frost Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 Had a google around... If you can get in to the BIOS when booting, go through the following: Disable USB keyboard and USB mouse in BIOSDisable LAN in BIOSDisable FDD in BIOSEject the Win7 DVD after it freezes, and reinsertWait 30+ minutes for the system to finally continue If not, maybe a bad disk burn and it's getting a checksum error. Download a dodgy copy on to a USB and boot from that. You could try Kaspersky Rescue Disk, I've had good experiences with it. Good ruck. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savwar Posted September 1, 2014 Author Share Posted September 1, 2014 Have you tried the "Last Known Good Configuration" option? It probably won't work, but it's definitely worth a punt first. If you can't do the above, the next thing I would try is the "Safe Mode With Command Prompt" option. If you can get into that mode, then run this command on the C partition: - chkdsk /r Have you tried booting from a Windows 7 DVD? Make sure that it's set to boot from the DVD drive first in the BIOS, then try it. Choose your installation options (language etc.) and on the screen where you would normally install Windows there is an option to repair your computer. From there you can try a System Restore or try booting into Safe Mode to run chkdsk. The next option to try would be a repair install via booting from the Windows DVD. The final option would be to do a fresh install of Windows, assuming that none of your important data is stored on the C partition (as you said your drive is partitioned and data is on D). yeah i think i've tried the last know good config. trying safe mode with cmd prompt just gets be stuck on the starting windows screen can't get any repair install menu... like when i boot from a windows disc, it gets as far as the starting windows screen that i have pictured and no further.If i could fresh install on C: i would do that. all my data is on D. i have changed to boot from disc in the BIOS, is there anything else i could be not doing in order to get a fresh install going? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 If the boot order in the BIOS is set to the optical drive first, then you should be able to boot from the DVD and get to the install/repair options assuming that the DVD drive is functioning correctly and the DVD itself is readable. Does the message pop up that says "Press any key to boot from the DVD" (can't remember exactly what it says, but it's something like that)? When you press a key, does it sound like the DVD is spinning in the drive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savwar Posted September 1, 2014 Author Share Posted September 1, 2014 If the boot order in the BIOS is set to the optical drive first, then you should be able to boot from the DVD and get to the install/repair options assuming that the DVD drive is functioning correctly and the DVD itself is readable. Does the message pop up that says "Press any key to boot from the DVD" (can't remember exactly what it says, but it's something like that)? When you press a key, does it sound like the DVD is spinning in the drive? i'm at work now, but yeah i did thatyeah i changed th order to dvd first, and hear the drive going, but doesn't get further than the starting windows screen.i'll check again tonight... thanks for the input guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frost Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 Have you tried changing the boot order via, I think, F12 on startup as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savwar Posted September 2, 2014 Author Share Posted September 2, 2014 i didn't have time last night to try anything. will tonightF2 brings me to setup and i can move the dvd to first, but again, it doesn't load further than the windows starting pic above... i previously used the disc i have to reinstall a few months ago, and i burned another one to try and no luck with it either... i'll go at it tonight and see what i can do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savwar Posted September 4, 2014 Author Share Posted September 4, 2014 fuck still nothing... when trying to boot from a usb i get just an underscore in the top left and nothing else. thanks a mill for all help. not sure where i'll go from here.i've been stupidly busy the last week so i haven't had a huge time to get to grips with it. i'll research the net again and try again this weekend.pain in the arse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted September 4, 2014 Share Posted September 4, 2014 I can't think of anything else to try, aside from taking the hard drive out and seeing if it works OK when it's hooked up to another machine. Get one of those SATA to USB cables and give that a go. At least then you can get your data off it if it's still working. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub-Se7en Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 remove the hard disk, boot from windows disk, see if you can get all the way to the setup screen. If you can, then it's almost certainly the hard drive preventing booting up, in which case a replacement is in order and then you hopefully can use an enclosure to recover the data from the other drive. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savwar Posted September 12, 2014 Author Share Posted September 12, 2014 remove the hard disk, boot from windows disk, see if you can get all the way to the setup screen. If you can, then it's almost certainly the hard drive preventing booting up, in which case a replacement is in order and then you hopefully can use an enclosure to recover the data from the other drive. ok. this worked! it gets to the setup screen. I just bought a hard drive enclosure today so hopefully i'll be able to get the data off this evening.New SSD is on the way! Thanks a mill to you all. Dub, frost, symatic & Steve (as always) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frost Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 Nice one Sav, you can't beat an SSD. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savwar Posted September 12, 2014 Author Share Posted September 12, 2014 You underestimate my fuckupability...I also have to clean and lube my macs fans as not only has the battery just died it sounds like its lifting off into orbit, and broke my kindle too.... This ssd better improve my life Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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