hello Ellen,
yes, you can make an emergency boot
cd from your system, regardless of
any updates.
I'll keep this posting flagged so you
can take whatever time you need to
provide a status for me.
stay warm...
- db
Hi Db,
since it is late here (Netherlands) I will read your steps tomorrow, when I have more time.
I think it should be no problem at all to make that emergency boot CD from my system... but will it matter that my laptop is from a different brand?
And secondly my windows XP will be more up-to-date then hers, since she has NO internet access and therefore never ran Windows updates.
As I recall from making a boot disk once for W98, this all should not matter, but just double-checking!
Appreciate your help and talk to you tomorrow... some of the steps (like working on her PC) I will not be able to do so tomorrow, but only later this week, due to other appointments I already made.
Best regards for now!!
"db" <databaseben.discussions.Microsoft.com> wrote in message Hello Ellen,
Ok, I can understand the situation. So
lets try to take it step by step. Here
we will first get a boot cd made from your
computer. Then we will try looking into
the cmos settings:
Firstly, do you have the ability to make
cd's from your laptop? If so, then
make an emergency boot cd from your
system.
To make an emergency boot cd, insert
a blank writable cd into your drive.
Then go into your file explorer, right click
on your cd drive and the format command
should be indicated.
Select it and ensure that the make startup
disk is selected. Afterwards eject it and keep
it handy.
Secondly, Lets focus on the dysfunctional pc's
cmos/bios settings.
Briefly, inside the cmos/bios there are a number of
settings that enable the motherboard to
see the physical hardware connected to it.
Most all of the motherboard cmos settings
can be manually entered or there will be
options to have it automatically search for
the correct settings.
If the harddrive settings have been wiped
out due to the powerfailure, then this would
be a cause for the hd not being recognized.
So this is what you will focus on when inside
the cmos/bios menu.
To access the cmos/bios you will need to
press and hold down a key like the del key
or f2 key and then press the power on
button to the pc. Depending on the
motherboard it would be either the del key
or the f2 key. So try the del key first.
Press and hold down the del key and push your
power button on. If it beeps then you
can release the key and you should see a cmos screen.
If the del key was not the right one, then
you will likely be taken to the screen with
the error message. So, you need to retry
and reboot using the F2 key instead. (The
motherboard manual will notate which key
is required to access the cmos, if the two
above do not work)
When you get into the cmos, briefly browse through
all the settings to get a feel for it. You should
find a tab or a subscreen dedicated to the harddrives.
Here is where the harddrives, master and slave,
should be listed and sizes indicated. If there
is no harddrive listed, then is a cause for loosing
recognition of the hd.
As a convenience, there could be listed on the screen
as well a key to push for automatic search
of the harddrives. Be using this option the specs
for the connected harddrives will populate those blank
fields automatically.
If the harddrive(s) settings do not populate
the fields then we need to take some more steps.
If the specs do or are populating the subscreen then save
and exit the cmos.
Then we will go to the next step depending on your
discovery..
- db
then they will have to be manually entered.
Hello DB,
thanks for your reply.
Yes, I am pretty sure her PC was turned off, in that sence she listens well to me (She has Down Syndrom and was home with her parents on the weekend).
Unless somebody in her house used her PC, but I hope not, since it is her private room.
The Error message however also mentioned something about a power failure.. so it is kind of confusing to me, what really happend.
Bear with me, please, but how can I check if the cmos didn't loose it's settings... I never heard of CMOS to be honest, so... ~worried look~
Further they re-installed her hard disk last August (since it crashed somehow) and the store gave CD's as well for system restore.
Now if I use them how can I prevent using these CD's, which are the only ones I (she) have, that a system restore is done...
I did a few system restores in the past on my own laptop, but it has been too long ago for remembering all the options it offers to choose from...
Thanks for your patience!
Ellen
"db" <databaseben.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message hello ellen,
well unless the pc was on during a power
failure, then there should have been no
problem.
but if the pc was in use and there was
a power failure, then generally a chkdsk
could fix a problem occurring with the
master file table.
first make sure that the cmos
didn't loose it settings in particular
with the harddrive(s).
secondly i suggest to boot up with the
win cd and go into recovery console.
at the c prompt you can run the following
chkdsk /r
then run a regular chkdsk again just
to double check the state of the file system
afterwards type exit and try
to boot normally again.
- db
Hi All,
a friend called me yesterday if I could come over, since her PC wouldn't
start.
She was away for the weekend but she understood from her room-mates that
there was a power failure (There was no power for a while, due to whatever
reason).
I just visited her a little bit ago and the problem is, that if you turn on
her PC, it
will not start windows at all and comes up with a screen suggesting
to start in normal mode or go back to the last working configuration,
but both options have as result you return to this same "error' screen.
Safe Mode doesn't work either, since if I try this option I also return to
the "error' screen.
I tried to do a Safe Mode with Restore function (Since the Restore Function
on this machine (HP Pavilion F1723) is hidden under F10 and not on Cd's) and
when I tried this, I received an UNMOUTABLE-BOOT-VOLUME Error.
The only restore I know is a System Restore and I was hoping I do not
have to go that way, since of course she didn't make any back-ups.
Thanks for any advice!
Ellen
