Running a dead hard drive

I have a Compaq Presario with Windows XP. The hard drive is dead and will not boot the system. I tried to download the Puppy Linux with no success. Is there another way I can get the dead computer running again without a hard drive?

 

Does the BIOS recognise the hard drive? If not then there isn't a lot of hope, but if it does then you need access to a working computer with a burner to burn the Puppy ISO to CD and boot to that. You should then be able to see your files and copy them off.

 

The bios didn't recognize the hard drive.

I did get the Puppy ISO to my working computer. The problem there is that I couldn't open it. The file was a .sfs file that I converted to a .zip file. When I opened it as a .zip file there were no setup files listed. This is a list of the sub files listed:

.wh..wh.orph
.wh..wh.pink
Bin
Etc
Opt
Sbin
Usr
.wh..wh.aufs

I tried the first two, nothing worked

 

If the drive isn't being recognised in BIOS then it wouldn't be seen by Puppy if you booted to it, so not much point in going further. Check the connections of the drive to the motherboard being sure to turn off the power and insulate yourself first by touching a metal object, and then try rebooting. If the drive is still not seen by BIOS it's dead.

With Puppy you have to burn the ISO to CD using a burning program as XP doesn't have this capability built in. If the working computer is also XP then download and install CDburnerXP and point it to the ISO file. If it has Win 7 or later then just right click the ISO file and burn to CD. As I said though, if BIOS isn't seeing the drive then no software will either.

 

Thanks for your advice. I guess I'll have to recycle that computer.

I would like to get that Puppy ISO for future use. Instead of burning it to a CD. I want to copy the file to a USB flash card. With the ISO download I have now I would still have problems opening the file to save it. Do you know of a URL that would give me the correct download?

 

The very, very simplest way to be able to boot Puppy without installing it to your hard drive is first to install EasyBCD. In EasyBCD use Add New Entry to point to the downloaded ISO file and click Add Entry. Next time you boot you will have the choice of your Windows system or Puppy. Puppy has persistence so your config as you develop it is always saved and you will boot into it next time.

There are other ways of course but nothing beats this for simplicity.

 

The regular CDBurnerXP has Open Candy within its EULA. So avoid that and download from this link (select without Open Candy https://cdburnerxp.se/download?more-options

 

Thanks for the EASYBCD install.

I couldn't boot with the new added entry. It couldn't be found on boot up.

When I added the new entry and clicked the Linux/BSD tab.
In the type: I tried three choices, Grub, FreeBSD/PC-BSD and SysLinux.
None of them were found on boot up.

I still think the problem is with the Puppy ISO download. It can't be read.

 

You have to use the lower section, ISO tab. Just browse to your ISO file, add it, give it a name and reboot.

 

Disaster has struck.

Now I can't even boot the system. When I shut down and rebooted there was the Window Boot Manager stating that it failed to start to install Windows Installation disk to repair it. I don't have that disk. There also was an error message:

File\boot\BCD
Status: 0xc0000098

Now I don't even get that. I get the BIOS error:

Utility Partition not available.

What do I do now to get it to boot again?

 

I'm confused. What computer is it we are talking about? Can't be the Presario as that wouldn't boot to start with. Give us some info we can work with.

 

Forget about the Presario. This all happened on my running Dell Optiplex 745 with Windows Vista.

I was using this computer to download Puppy ISO. I couldn't open the download so you suggested downloading EASYBCD which I did. I was trying different settings to get EASYBCD to find the Puppy download. I must have chose the wrong setting because when I shut down and rebooted, it would not boot.

I get Windows Boot Manager stating it failed to start for a recent hardware or software change. They suggested to insert the Windows installation disik which I do not have.

They said If you do not have this disk contact computer Mfg.

File: \Boot\BCD
Status: 0xc0000098

I hope this information will help.

 

I should have given you guidance on how to add an iso to the boot menu, as in #9. The way you tried to do it has corrupted the BCD. The following article describes what has to be done and you can use either a Vista or a Win 7 installation disk or a Win 7 System Repair disk, a disk you can create within Win 7. They have to be of the same bitness as the system being repaired - 32 or 64 bit. Do you have a friend with a Win 7 disk of either sort, or just a Win 7 system with which they could create one? In the meantime I'll see if I can come up with any way of obtaining one, or perhaps another member might be able to help with that. The damage is easily repaired once you have a suitable disk.

Anyway, here is the article - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392

 

You can obtain a full Win 7 installation iso HERE. For 32 bit it's X17-58996.iso and for 64 bit it's X17-58997.iso. Burn the iso to DVD, boot to it and follow the instructions I linked you to.

 

I do have a Windows 7 installation disk. I'll let you know how I make out.

Thanks

 

Good job you have a third working machine! Should be straightforward but good luck.

 

Success. I am able to boot up again.

Should I be happy getting it working again or should I try using the proper method to add the Puppy ISO as you mentioned?

 

Earthling, your link for Win 7 is no good

Don't post it as a download; it doesn't work.

You need to go directly to MS
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-recovery

The problem is, if the key is an installed version, when it is put in, you get a message to contact the manufacturer. Of course if the computer is 2nd hand, and older, I don't think the manufacturer will help.

I've been dealing this for several days. Trying to get a Win 7 DVD for a legitimately installed with good key, Win 7.
(It isn't for me because I either have genuine MS Win 7 disks or I burned my restore/recovery DVDs when I bought the computer through a program on the computer).

 

If you want to take a look at Puppy, or any other Linux distro or bootable CD such as an imaging program, then go ahead and add it to the boot menu. I keep Puppy on the boot menu because if I ever need to rescue files because of a non-booting system it will do it

 

@plodr - thanks for the warning. Obviously I didn't test it first, mainly because those links have worked for years.

EDIT - just read all the notes on the site. Not good news at all for OEM system owners, which is most ppl

 

Thanks to EARTHLING & Plodr for getting my computer working again.

Sorry there was all the confusion with the Windows 7 download.

 

With the computer running again I installed the Puppy ISO.

racy-5.iso
Unicom-6.2.1.91.iso

These are the two versions that I installed. Both of them failed when I booted up my Windows Visa.

Is there something else that has to be installed to read these files?

 

Once again you are overcooking it, you do not install anything at all. To repeat -

Open EasyBCD

Click Add New Entry

Click the ISO tab in the lower section

Use the Browse button to locate your downloaded iso and click it

Edit the Name field

Click Add Entry

Reboot

On reboot you will have a new boot menu containing Vista and whatever you have just added. That's it - ignore everything on the Puppy site about installing as we are not installing it, just running it as a live CD.

 

This is my reply to Earthling.

I did everything you mentioned. I worded it wrong when I said installed instead of added, sorry.
The outcome is the EASYBCD settings did not work. On reboot the puppy ISO failed.

 

Suspect you've got a bad download. The EasyBCD method is very stable and is used here on four different computers to boot Puppy, Linux Mint, Acronis, Macrium Reflect, Easeus Partition Manager and Win 7 and Win 8 System Recovery Disks.

What actually happens, does it simply return you to the boot menu or what?

 

On the racy addition the failure is the racy.sfs file could not be found. I added that file in EASYBCD as a ISO file. Why are they looking for a .sfs file?

On the Unicom addition in EASYBCD they find a bunch of files but still can't boot up.


I then have to power down and boot up normally.

 

ATM this just isn't making any sense at all to me but it's late here now and I'm shutting up shop. Can I suggest you reinstall EasyBCD and try a new Puppy download and hope that's all it is, but I'm wondering if your earlier attempts have somehow queered the pitch. This is a real shame as you would be over the moon if it was working as it normally does.

 

What do you mean by I added that file? The only file you add is the iso file itself, as downloaded.

Another thought, where on your computer is the downloaded iso? Best to put it in your Downloads folder on the hdd, not in a usb drive as it may not be seen there.

 

I am sorry to say that this has got out of hand and I want to end it.

The whole purpose of getting the Puppy Linux was to boot a computer that didn't boot. EASYBCD will only work on a computer that can boot normally, so who needs it?

I want the puppy to boot my dead computer with a USB flash or CD. If Easybcd can't be sent to a flash or CD, it's useless for me.

I need another method of downloading puppy and able to get it on a flash stick.
If you know of a way, fine and let me know how. If not let's just end it.

 

The main reason I wanted to get Puppy up and running for you with EasyBCD was that once it's up there is a built-in wizard that will install Puppy to USB, but for whatever reason it seems that isn't going to work in your case. There are other ways to install it to USB but the method I use, by first installing Grub4DOS to the flash drive to make it bootable, and then adding Puppy (or any other bootable iso) is not mainstream and I do not intend going into it here. Other members here, plodr for one, are expert with other methods of installing Linux to USB and I'll leave it to them to explain it for you as I'm not personally familiar with them. EasyBCD remains the simplest way, both to have Puppy available at boot and to create a Puppy flash drive, and if you want to continue trying to get it to work I will try to help. Otherwise I'm out.

 

I am sorry for all this confusion with EASYBCD. The whole problem is there is a conflict between them and the computer. When I click the ISO tab and search for the program, they only see ISO files. I downloaded both a ISO and sfs file in the same folder. Only the ISO was listed.

I added the ISO file and on reboot the computer system failed to find a sfs file. That's the conflict. I can only add a ISO that the computer cannot find.

I went one step further and clicked the Bios Extender tab. I formatted a RW CD that took a very very long time to format. I'm stuck here. How do I add the ISO file to the CD?

 

The Puppy iso contains its own sfs file which the computer loads into RAM as its first step in booting up. As Puppy runs entirely in RAM - it has no need at all for a hard disk to be present other than as a source of the iso - I'm wondering if your computer is simply too tight on RAM. How much does it have?

 

It has 1.5 GB of RAM which should be sufficient.

 

I hope your not getting ahead of yourself. Puppy is not installed yet. I only have a blank formatted CD in the drive. I asked how to add or plop as they call it to the CD.

 

I think I've found your problem. The version you have installed is specifically for newer hardware and as you are running a Vista system that's definitely not you I recommend either the latest release, Tahrpup, or the long term support Precise.

EDIT - read this from the Puppy site

You don't have to install Puppy (to hard disk) to use it. Simply burn the ISO to CD/DVD and boot the PC or laptop with it. Once booted, you can then install it to USB flash (see the Setup menu), so you can use it for booting the PC when a CD is not available.

 

I think the last suggestion to burn poppy directly to a CD worked. It booted right up so I'm not sure if it indeed was puppy that booted. I copied it to a flash and will check it out later. I have to leave now, enjoy your weekend.

 

Well at least we've got it booting at last. You have to use its menu system to create a bootable flash but that can wait until you're back.

 

I'm back again. Sorry to inform you that it was a false alarm. Puppy didn't boot the system. I was using a working computer as I have been doing all along. The boot was from Windows. I should have known it wasn't Puppy booting because there was no Puppy icon as it usually does.

The problem as far as I can see is the conflict of the Windows OS not reading the ISO file, it's still looking for a sfs file. Sfs may be in the IOS file but it's not seen on boot up. Until you get them look for a ISO file, nothing will work booting up Puppy. The only way that it's going to work is to change the BIOS to look for the ISO file.

I tried that by pressing F2 when booting Puppy. I tried a few changes at the Dos prompt but they didn't help. You know more about how systems work then I do.
Maybe you can check that out and see a command that will work.

 

Go to the Win 7 computer with a working CD burner.
Download this Porteus ISO

Code:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bx3KN-61NJarRmNNSjVtTzlMLWs/view?usp=sharing

Right click the ISO and select Burn disc image.

Put the burned CD into the XP's computer and it should boot from the CD since the hd is toast.

 

Suggestion...

You can create a bootable Live USB drive with UNetbootin. Instructions are included on the Homepage which lists all the Linux distros that are supported.

http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/

Also have a look at Damn Small Linux. It requires just 128MB RAM.

http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/

 

Several possibilities here -

- Is the optical drive ahead of the hard drive in the BIOS boot order? Can you test it by booting a different CD/DVD?

- The CD isn't bootable, possibly because of a bad ISO or or a bad burn. How did you burn the ISO? You have to use burning software which Vista does not have. Just copying the ISO to CD won't do it.

- The version of Puppy you have downloaded isn't compatible with your hardware. The Puppy site suggests this may be the case.

 

You can't burn an ISO file to a formatted CD-RW*. Erase the disk or use a CD-R.

* If you burn an ISO file to a formatted CD-RW, you'll have the ISO file on the disk, not the individual files and folders contained in the ISO.

 

Thanks to Eldon & Plodr for leading me to a bootable disk that worked fine. Unfortunately after opening up Porteus, I don't think Linux is for me. I'm too used to Windows to change now. Although I can still use it to check if a computer is bootable.

A special thanks to Earthling who has been with me from the start. He/she has given me a bunch of good information that I am truly great full.

Thanks also to the rest of MajorGeeks terrific members who helped a great deal.

Keep up the great work.

 

That would appear to confirm that you got unlucky with your choice of which Puppy to download. racy-5 is described as being for the latest hardware, hence its name., and wasn't compatible with your old Vista box's hardware. It's a shame as it gave you the worst possible experience of adding Linux to your system.

You may not like Linux - neither do I - but a bootable CD or flash drive with Puppy or a similar small distro can be a very useful tool to have available if Windows won't boot, as you can easily browse, get your email or rescue your files with it or edit text files, so don't just chuck it

 

You can also use the Porteus CD to grab files from a Windows Hard drive that will not boot but still has files you need.

There are better distros that are much larger and act more like Windows but Porteus is perfect to examine and work on a Windows hard drive to delete or move files and perhaps edit some things.

 

Thanks again. I won't chuck it. It's going with the rest of my recovery discs.

When I can get at my wife's computer which is Windows 7 that was upgraded from XP. I'll see what I can accomplish getting Puppy's racy-5.

 

I suspect that will suffer the same problems if not worse. A computer that started life with XP has even older hardware than your Vista system :eek If you still want Puppy get Precise or Slacko - they will work.

I'm really pleased this finally got resolved - a long thread with no resolution is total frustration for everyone involved.

 

I just this afternoon download percise puppy and burned an iso to dvd. Everything works. This is a vista box. I had to use windows to ge a driver for my wireless. Percise reads from all my disk and plays mp3 and flv's and seem right now to load mg's pages faster than IE. Was easy to do!

 

Success. I finally have a puppy ISO disk. I did that with Windows 7. It was so simple that it was annoying to me for trying to get it with Vista. I didn't even have to use EASYBCD. All I had to do was download the file and burn it to a CD.

That simple.


I like Puppy more. It's almost like Windows. Now you can finalize this string that should satisfy everyone concerned.


THANKS A MILLION