Fujitsu Siemens comp, aaaaagh!

Fujitsu Siemens laptop aaaagh

Good evening all, got a bit of a conundrum for you to ponder.

My friend has asked me to look at his Fujitsu Siemens laptop, an Amilo M3438G, because it refuses to load windows.

On startup it seems to be starting correctly, and then the "blue screen of death" comes up, displaying the following message.

registry cannot load the hive (file):
systemroot\system32\config\software

and then returns to the startup screen.

I've tried safe mode, safe mode with command prompt and restoring but nothing seems to work.

I'm guessing he has somehow corrupted a registry entry, but I can't sort it because windows steadfastly refuses to run.

His windows XP CD is currently in the Lebanon, and his PC is with me in the uk.

Is there any way I can make a generic XP recovery disk? The only XP disk I have is one of the very first versions, and the licence is not valid any more!

Does anyone have any ideas?

Cheers

Scoobs

 

Re: Fujitsu Siemens laptop aaaagh

Firstly, please be more specific about the symptoms. Do you mean you can't boot to safe mode etc or that you can boot to safe mode but can't cure the problem?

Secondly what do you mean restoring? how did you try this and what happened?

Thirdly did you try 'last known good configuration' This should replace the corrupt registry hive.

Fourthly if push comes to shove you XP CD will do fine to repair things , just use your friend's key from the microsoft COA label on the underside for a repair install. You don't need a key to run the repair console, just the administrator password.


Studio T

 

You can use your XP CD and the product key from the sticker on laptop. Or, visit this link: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545/en-us and follow the directions to repair the registry.

hopperdave2000

 

Re: Fujitsu Siemens laptop aaaagh

I see you've posted the same thread in the software forum. I've posted a link for you over in that forum. Try to stick to only one forum as to reduce confusion (not only for us, but yourself as well ).

hopperdave2000

 

As long as you have a matching key for a matching version you can. Like oem key with oem disc, vlk for vlk disc, full retail for full retail. If not its likely it won't recognize the key.

 

I've tried my Windows XP disc, but now I get a message saying "setup did not find any hard disk drives installed on your computer.

Make sure any hard disk drives are powered on and properly connected to your computer, and that any disk-related hardware configutration is correct. This may involve running a manufacturer-supplied diagnostic or setup program.

Setup cannot continue. To quit setup, press F3"


When I press F3 the machine reboots.

I'm assuming that this means there is a driver that is not present on the XP CD that is required to run the hard disks. I have opened the machine up and confirmed the disk drives are correctly connected.

I can't get the machine to boot into safe mode, and even trying to install the windows comes up with the same problem.

Where to go from here?

Many thanks

Scoobs

 

Re: Fujitsu Siemens laptop aaaagh

Studiot, sorry for the lack of clarity. I get the same problem whichever boot option I choose, the error message regarding the registry problem.

I have tried the "last known good configuration" option, but the result is the same, a refusal to boot into windows.

I have posted some more info in the "software" section, sorry for the multiple posting, I accidentally clicked on the "hardware" button when I posted originally. If a mod would like to merge the threads together I'd be grateful.

Many thanks for your help

Scoobs

 

The error message you're getting from setup means that setup is not seeing the hard drive. Make sure that the hard drive is recognized and enabled correctly in the BIOS. If the laptop is relatively new (under 1 year old or so) it may have a SATA hard drive and may require the 'F6' drivers on a floppy disk; but chances are there is no floppy drive so you'd need an external USB floppy drive. Go to the Microsoft link I posted above and print the instructions. Boot to your XP CD and at the first screen where it asks what you want to do (press 'R' for Recovery Console, press 'Enter' to install Windows', etc...), press 'R' and enter the recovery console and follow the steps in the link. Or, take a look at this link: http://www.short-media.com/articles/repair_windows_xp and follow those steps. Printing the info will probably make life easier.... If setup and/or the recovery console still do not recognize the hard drive after you double check the hard drive settings in the BIOS, you may have a crashed hard drive on your hands. Go to the hard drive manufacturer's web site, download and run thier diagnostic tool for the hard drive's health status. If the HD is dead, there's no point in wasting the time to try to repair the Windows....anyway, try the above suggestions, post your results, and GOOD LUCK!

hopperdave2000

 

OK Scooby,

Lets all agree to carry on in this thread since more geeks seem to have caught it.

If your XP CD setup cant find the hard drive is it faulty. In other words is it listed in the computer bios? The driver for the hard drive is in BIOS not XP.

You enter the bios by tapping a key as the pc boots, I'm not sure which one for compaq, watch the screen. Perhaps Dave will tell us.


Studio T

 

I was thinking it might well be a hard drive error. Having gone into BIOS from startup (F2 on the Fujitsu siemens).

In the IDE setup page there is only one device showing, the CD rom drive. No hard drives show although there are two installed.

I will have the covers off again and see if I can find what the hard disks are, and then see if I can download some kind of recovery utility from there.

Many thanks

Scoobs

 

If you are competent to fiddle with laptop hard drives good on ya sport. I would be suprised if two hard drives failed simultaneously though. Look at the IDE detection in bios.
I await your report with interest

Studio T

 

OK, the hard drives are Samsung, SATA drives. They do not show up on the IDE drives page in BIOS and I don't have an external floppy drive to allow me to install the SATA drivers.

Would SATA notmally be set up in a RAID array?

Why would the BIOS suddenly stop recognising the hard drives?

Many thanks

Confused of England confused confused

Scoobs

 

You could try the age old trick of physically disconnecting both drives, booting, saving the bios without them, then reconnecting and rebooting and resaving. Also make sure sata is turned on in bios.

it's a bitch I know but there seem to but an inordinate number of instances of ' sudden loss of drives' since sata only came out. It's Voodoo to get them back I'm afraid.

Studio T

 

If the drives are SATA, they will not show up IDE devices in the BIOS. They might have their own section in the BIOS. This is a laptop, right? How do you have 2 hard drives hooked up? One must be external, thru the USB port. If that's the case, it also would not show up in the BIOS under IDE devices. An external USB drive might show up in the list of possible boot devices tho'... as would the other drive, if it's healthy. Like I mentioned in a previous post, WinXP will not automatically 'see' an SATA HD during setup; the F6 floppy is needed for WinXP to install to an SATA drive....

hopperdave2000

 

I've got hold of the oem recovery disks, what do I need to do with it?

I've tried fixboot and it doesn't seem to have done the trick. I still get the message about the missing hive.

What other utilities on there might help to fix the problem?

There are two disks onboard, it's one of those media pc widescreen thingies so loads of room for the disks.

Many thanks

Scoobs

 

Are the disks Windows XP or are they F-S recovery image disks or are they OEM Windows? Presumably the second one is drivers?

How did you issue the Fixboot command? FYI the boot sector and the registry hive have nothing to do with each other. Don't try fix mbr.

Studio T