System boot failure - IBM T22 - Windows XP Pro

[Guest]

Good evening!

My laptop has just crashed - came back to my work and found the computer
apparently trying to reboot continuously, cycling from the IBM splash screen
to a text screen saying that ntdetect failed. I followed the suggestion of
making a boot disk with ntldr, ntdetect and boot.ini. When I run it, XP does
not load, telling me that I have a bad or missing hal.dll and to load it into
the system 32 directory. I can't do this because the boot sequence never
finishes and the HD is never recognized. I tried using a external USB link
and the drive isn't recognized through another computer either.

My machine came with XP Pro pre-installed - no CD, just the product key on
the certificate on the bottom of the machine. Because of this, I can't use
the recovery console. I have, however, found the file used for creating a
diskette setup set; however, it says I need my OEM disk to finish setup.

I haven't made a backup for awhile and there are some essential files on my
"unbootable" drive. IS there any other method of getting this drive to
reboot?

Comments/suggestions are encouraged!!

 

[Malke]

Good evening!

My laptop has just crashed - came back to my work and found the
computer apparently trying to reboot continuously, cycling from the
IBM splash screen
to a text screen saying that ntdetect failed. I followed the
suggestion of
making a boot disk with ntldr, ntdetect and boot.ini. When I run it,
XP does not load, telling me that I have a bad or missing hal.dll and
to load it into
the system 32 directory. I can't do this because the boot sequence
never
finishes and the HD is never recognized. I tried using a external USB
link and the drive isn't recognized through another computer either.

My machine came with XP Pro pre-installed - no CD, just the product
key on
the certificate on the bottom of the machine. Because of this, I
can't use
the recovery console. I have, however, found the file used for
creating a diskette setup set; however, it says I need my OEM disk to
finish setup.

I haven't made a backup for awhile and there are some essential files
on my
"unbootable" drive. IS there any other method of getting this drive
to reboot?

Comments/suggestions are encouraged!!

It sounds like you have hardware failure. To determine this - and to try
and retrieve the files you forgot to back up - boot with Knoppix, a
Linux distro that runs from cd. If Knoppix will not boot, then you know
for sure that the hardware is bad.

If Knoppix will not boot, you can remove the laptop drive and slave it
in another pc with a laptop hard drive-to-IDE adapter. This assumes
that you haven't got any of IBM's drive protection in force. Then get
your data off. If you used IBM drive protection, you'll need to contact
their tech support (now Lenovo).

If you don't have the skill to do this, then take the laptop to a
professional computer repair shop. This will not be your local version
of BigStoreUSA. You should call Lenovo tech support for the hardware
issues, but your first priority is to rescue the data. If you do have
the skill - and another computer with which to get Knoppix and create
the bootable cd - and would like more information on using it, let me
know.

Malke

 

[Guest]

Many thanks Malke!

I happen to have another T22 at my disposal, same setup, same
hardware/software. I will do a search for this Linux OS (Knoppix) and report
back when I find and try it. If you read this and can provide a link before
I find it, I'll use that to download it onto this sister machine.

I was worried it might be hardware; it does have all the earmarks of that.

Many thanks!

Dave

:

 

[Malke]

Many thanks Malke!

I happen to have another T22 at my disposal, same setup, same
hardware/software. I will do a search for this Linux OS (Knoppix) and
report
back when I find and try it. If you read this and can provide a link
before I find it, I'll use that to download it onto this sister
machine.

I was worried it might be hardware; it does have all the earmarks of
that.

Here's the information about using Knoppix:

An easy way to retrieve Windows files is to boot with Knoppix, a Linux
distro on a live cd. You will need a computer with two cd drives, one
of which is a cd/dvd-rw OR a usb thumb drive with enough capacity to
hold your data OR an external hard drive formatted FAT32 (not NTFS). To
get Knoppix, you need a computer with a fast Internet connection and
third-party burning software. Download the Knoppix .iso from
www.knoppix.net and create your bootable cd. Then boot with it and it
will be able to see the Windows files. If you are using the usb thumb
drive or the external hard drive, right-click on its icon (on the
Desktop) to get its properties and uncheck the box that says "Read
Only". Then click on it to open it. Note that the default mouse action
in the window manager used by Knoppix (KDE) is a single click to open
instead of the traditional MS Windows' double-click. Otherwise, use the
K3b burning program to burn the files to cd/dvd-r's.

If you can't get Knoppix to boot, then you might try putting the hard
drive into an external usb enclosure and connecting it to your other
laptop. Then just copy the files off with Windows Explorer. You may
need to take ownership of the files.

Take Ownership of a File or Folder in Windows XP [Q308421] -
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=308421

How Do I Get the Security tab in Folder Properties? -
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/tips/xp_security_tab.htm

Malke

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

A quick alternative to booting with a Knoppix CD would
be to buy a $5.00 adapter that lets you connect the laptop
disk to a standard IDE cable, thus allowing you to run the
disk as a slave disk in some WinXP/2000 desktop PC.

After resolving this issue you might want to review your
backup strategy. A 2.5" hard disk in an external USB
case is a low-cost but highly effective backup medium.
I do not understand why so many people defer its purchase
until disaster stares them in the face.

 

[Malke]

A quick alternative to booting with a Knoppix CD would
be to buy a $5.00 adapter that lets you connect the laptop
disk to a standard IDE cable, thus allowing you to run the
disk as a slave disk in some WinXP/2000 desktop PC.

After resolving this issue you might want to review your
backup strategy. A 2.5" hard disk in an external USB
case is a low-cost but highly effective backup medium.
I do not understand why so many people defer its purchase
until disaster stares them in the face.

My main reason for him to try Knoppix was to see if the hardware was bad
or if it was a Windows problem. Since he has another laptop, he can put
the original drive in a usb enclosure and attach to his working
Thinkpad if he just wants to get the files without testing the
hardware.

Malke

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

My main reason for him to try Knoppix was to see if the hardware was bad
or if it was a Windows problem. Since he has another laptop, he can put
the original drive in a usb enclosure and attach to his working
Thinkpad if he just wants to get the files without testing the
hardware.

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

I have no problem with a Knoppix boot CD - I use a similar
tool quite often. The reason for my response was to provide
the OP with a quick alternative for saving his important and
not backed up files in a safe place. My method often works
in cases where the operating system is damaged.

 

[Guest]

Hello -

Thanks for the post - I used Casper to clone my drive at the outset - I own
an external USB case/adapter and have my machine operating - my only problem
is that I didn't do my backup as I normally do, to my desktop via my other
80GB Maxtor external drive. I was only trying to get my most current
versions of some spreadsheets and my current Outlook archive off this drive.

I have taken the bad drive and put it in my USB adapter - while Windows says
it has been installed and is operating correctly when plugged in - the drive
icon never shows up in Explorer. Also, observing the drive shows the
activity light to go from green to a flickering red while it is hunting for
whatever it needs. This cycle continues until it is unplugged.

I am downloading the Knoppix iso file tonite - will post tomorrow.

Many thanks for your help on this!

 

[Malke]

Hello -

Thanks for the post - I used Casper to clone my drive at the outset -
I own an external USB case/adapter and have my machine operating - my
only problem is that I didn't do my backup as I normally do, to my
desktop via my other
80GB Maxtor external drive. I was only trying to get my most current
versions of some spreadsheets and my current Outlook archive off this
drive.

I have taken the bad drive and put it in my USB adapter - while
Windows says it has been installed and is operating correctly when
plugged in - the drive
icon never shows up in Explorer. Also, observing the drive shows the
activity light to go from green to a flickering red while it is
hunting for
whatever it needs. This cycle continues until it is unplugged.

I am downloading the Knoppix iso file tonite - will post tomorrow.

It sounds like the hard drive is damaged. Let us know what happens and
good luck,

Malke

 

[Guest]

Yeah - it's the drive alright -

I downloaded Knoppix and tried it first with my good system - everything
loads and KFind can see and work on the hard drive.

When I put the "bad" drive in, Knoppix loads correctly - when I run KFind (
a disk utility like Windows Explorer I believe), here's the message:

Error - KFind

Could not mount drive
The reported error was:
The device /dev/hda1. is mounted.
Forced to continue.
X Volume is dirty.
Forced to continue.
fusermount: user has no write access to mount point /media/hda1
fuse_mount failed.
Unmounting /dev/hda1 (IBM_PRELOAD)

Wow, first time I've ever seen (or been accused) of a "dirty volume" - must
be the translation from German. Looks like I'm off to find some sort of data
recovery.

Thanks for the input, guys - the Knoppix program really did the trick in
terms of giving me a definite answer as to the health of the drive.

Be well -

Dave

 

[Malke]

Yeah - it's the drive alright -

I downloaded Knoppix and tried it first with my good system -
everything loads and KFind can see and work on the hard drive.

When I put the "bad" drive in, Knoppix loads correctly - when I run
KFind ( a disk utility like Windows Explorer I believe), here's the
message:

Error - KFind

Could not mount drive
The reported error was:
The device /dev/hda1. is mounted.
Forced to continue.
X Volume is dirty.
Forced to continue.
fusermount: user has no write access to mount point /media/hda1
fuse_mount failed.
Unmounting /dev/hda1 (IBM_PRELOAD)

Wow, first time I've ever seen (or been accused) of a "dirty volume" -
must
be the translation from German. Looks like I'm off to find some sort
of data recovery.

Thanks for the input, guys - the Knoppix program really did the trick
in terms of giving me a definite answer as to the health of the drive.

No, the "dirty volume" isn't a translation error. Volumes that have file
system errors are known as "dirty volumes". Often these errors are just
in the file system and can therefore be fixed using the file system
correction tool - for Windows NT-based OS's that would be Chkdsk. For
Linux systems, that would be fsck (and know you know why we here on The
Dark Side use "fsck" as a curse word!) or sometimes reiserfsck if using
that file system.

Since Knoppix reported problems, you are quite right to assume that the
drive hardware itself is bad and this isn't just a Windows software
problem. I'm sorry that your hard drive died, but I'm glad you got the
answer.

Better luck,

Malke