Windows 7 Laptop completely crashed - can't format!

[PhasLat]

Sorry if similar questions have been asked before but none have mirrored my problem.

I have a Compaq Presario CQ56 which had the awful Win 7 on it.
A few weeks ago it got a nasty virus and completely crashed in less than 2 seconds. The recovery system managed to get windows back but I lost everything.
Never did get to the bottom of the virus issue.
Last night it done it again and recovery failed.
I took it as a sign that I should install a more desirable old OS as I want to play mid 90's games while at work.
I'm out of touch with DOS and installing OS but tried and failed.
I have managed to get into dos with 98 disk and I deleted old partitions and created an extended partition. I activated partition and then planned a restart before format.
This is now the issue - the HD has no data usable after this process but needs a format. Itr wont boot or do anything and I cannot format with the usual A:\>format C: method - it just says bad command.
I now have only a work pc to type this & I cannot burn disks, just add files to a memory stick.
I have a win 98 cd (I want to install) and a win xp as a second option.

Any ideas how I can format my laptop and/or install win 98? (win xp if 98 wont wont work)

Any help apreciated.

Thanks

Kieron

 

[TriplexDread]

use windows xp

set boot drive to optical drive via your BIOS settings. restart with xp disk in

try that way

 

[PhasLat]

I have already tried booting from cd and xp to let it install windows but it failed with a page of info basically saying fault with disk.
I need to re-format first I think.

However, I shall try again anyway - thanks.

 

[TriplexDread]

Booting from XP should give the option to format anyway mate!

If you have an adapter take the 2.5 drive out of laptop and connect to ya PC and run a check on it and format from there?

What error message it give you?

 

[PhasLat]

Thanks for that, I think thats my best option so far.

 

[Abarbarian]

You could try the tools on the Parted Magic live cd. That would save you having to swap out the hdd.

http://partedmagic.com/doku.php?id=start

 

[PhasLat]

Thanks for link - however I feel unsure about paying for software I have no idea how to use and not know if it would solve my problem.
Def one for a plan "B" though - thanks again.

I'm thinking of linking the hdd to a pc and format it that way.
Can I get a usb cable direct from hdd to pc or do I need a caddy with adaptors etc?

 

[Urmas]

Thanks for link - however I feel unsure about paying for software I have no idea how to use and not know if it would solve my problem.

Oh, they are rather flexible, monetary wise:

If you use Parted Magic and it does its job correctly, please donate to help continue development. It would be nice if computer professionals could donate more, especially from those earning money using this OSS software.

 

[bootneck02]

As you still have access to the Internet download and burn to a CD a Bart PE software (it is free). It runs like a virtual PC and you should be able to reformat your C drive. You should be able to put Bart PE on a memory stick, if your BIOS has been set up to second boot from a memory stick.

 

[muckshifter]

All hard drive manufactures have diagnostic software free to use & download. It will also format, if you need to. You may have a bad HD.

 

[PhasLat]

Bart PE sounds a good plan, I'll get onto that asap

Also, manufacture software worth looking into although I'm not sure how they can run a diagnostic if it wont read anything but I can ask.

Thanks peeps

Kieron

 

[PhasLat]

Thanks guys - I have downloaded bart, am not waiting for memory stick to arrive.

As a second option, is this the kind of adaptor I need to connect the laptop hdd to my pc to format via my main pc?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2-5-3-5-SATA-IDE-USB-Adapter-Cable-Hard-Disk-HDD-/280578132944?pt=UK_Computing_CablesConnectors_RL&hash=item4153c28bd0

Thanks in advance

 

[Abarbarian]

Parted Magic is a free GNU/Linux live toolbox cd.

If your laptop is this one,

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-HP-Compaq-Presario-CQ56-Notebook.42285.0.html

then it should have a Hitachi hdd,

The 5400 rpm rotating hard disk from Hitachi proved to be a mini highlight of the CQ56 (250 GB, HTS545025B9A300). It reads data from the rotating disks at a speed of 65 MB/s in sequential read (HDTune). This is an average rate for 2.5 notebook HDDs (5400 rpm) in any event. CrystalDiskMark 3.0 determined 72 MB/s (read) in another test program. Also an average rate in comparison of this benchmark. The burst rate of 135 MB/s is fairly high. This is the data capacity that can be read from the cache within one second. By the way, the hard disk's LED indicators are almost invisible on the case's left.

So you might find free tool useful,

http://www.hitachigst.com/support/downloads/

Drive Fitness Test
Version 4.16
The Drive Fitness Test (DFT) quickly and reliably tests SCSI, IDE and SATA drives. The DFT analyze function performs read tests without overwriting customer data. (Note: other DFT restoration utilities may overwrite data.)

 

[PhasLat]

Thanks again for all your help.
I have resulted to removing the hdd, formatting and checking for viruses on another pc - all went well.
Put it back in laptop and started to install Win XP and after about 10 mins of what seemed to be "It's working!" then it gave a horrid blue screen "A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer. If this is the first time you have seen this stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:
Check for viruses etc etc etc - newly installed devices etc etc
Technical info:
*** stop: 0x0000007B (0xF7D663C, 0xC0000034, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)

Now after several attempts with same result I concluded hdd was corrupt. I could be wrong.
I replaced the hdd with a new one of same model and guess what - exactly the same message!

I'm considdering dropping it in the bath and letting house insurance deal with it!

Unless there is a solution I'm overlooking.

Any ideas folks?

 

[bootneck02]

Bath seems a good idia to me

 

[bootneck02]

Serously though this link may help http://www.wiki-errors.com/wiki-errors.php?wiki=0x0000007b

 

[muckshifter]

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/324103

 

[PhasLat]

Thanks Muckshifter - but crombs :-/ thats well advanced!

That level of trouble shooting for me means taking it to an expert and as I don't know any, it's paying the local computer shop (a thought thats makes me feel ill)

I guess toss up the cost of shop repair verses house insurance excess.

I better get researching.

Cheers though