Can't boot up in any mode!

Hey guys,

I can't access my computer! It won't boot up in normal or any of the other options when pressing F8 at the start.

When I try booting up normally and other ways, I get the blue screen with Windows checking the file system on C:, going through each of the stages, but it always ends up freezing on a certain stage after leaving it for hours!.. sometimes I may just get the Blue Screen (of death).

When I try to boot up in safe mode, all of the drivers and stuff are listed, like normal, but instead of then going to the desktop, it just freezes on the black screen with the list of drivers (i think that's what it lists). Is there any other way i can access my desktop?

I just need to access my desktop so I can back everything up before I end up loosing it all because i think i'm gonna have to do a clean install of everything!

My computer is a Dell Dimension 9150.

Thanks alot guys!

 

Greetings, Mattitude...

Do you have a Windows installation disk? If so, make sure your boot order in BIOS is set for CD drive first, and try to boot to the disk...from there, you may be able to run a Repair Console and/or scannow...

If, instead, the machine only has a recovery partition, there may be OEM diagnostic tools there...

 

If you can't boot into Safe Mode or any other way, can you remove your drive and install as Slave into a friends machine to retrieve your data files?

 

Hey Caliban,

thank you! And thanks for the quick reply, really appreciate it!

Just thought i'd let you know that i don't know a great deal about things inside the computers!

The Windows installation disk... I don't think i received a disk because my computer is a Dell and they don't supply them!.. not even a recovery disk! Everything is done within the computer. I think you have to press ALT+F11 to do a complete clean re-install (this is what I have done in the past).

I've managed to go into the Dell System, which displays a number of things:

System
Drives
Onboard Devices
Video
Performance
Security
Power Management
Maintenance
POST Behavior

Under the System heading, there is something called 'Boot Sequence'. When selected, it displays:

This list specifies the order that the BIOS searches devices when trying to find an operating system. Only devices that are preceded by a number are bootable (the Space key controls whether a particular device is bootable).

1. Onboard or USB CD-ROM Drive
2. Onboard SATA Hard Drive
3. Onboard or USB Floppy Drive (not present)
4. Onboard IDE Hard Drive (not present)
5. USB Device (not present)


So it looks like that the CD drive was already 1st! What do you think I should do? :S

Thanks again!
Matt.

 

Sometimes, there are options in the recovery partition for running a repair - often, though, you're stuck with the basic format/reinstall...

As hrlow2 mentioned, you may be able to salvage your data by slaving to another machine, or you could try to download and burn a bootable live Linux distro, from which you could transfer your data to a flash drive...

 

Thanks for replying guys!

Would I be able to install the hard drive as a Slave to a laptop? Sorry, I really don't much about this!

Would I be able to boot from my external hard drive?.. just by plugging it in and moving it to the number 1 in the settings?

If I can't do any of the above I would love to try the bootable live Linux distro option!

Thanks guys,
Matt.

 

I guess it's possible to slave a SATA drive to a laptop, but I don't know about the hoops you would have to jump through to get it done...slaving to a desktop is relatively easy...

My suggestion would be to boot to a live cd, salvage your important data, then start running experiments on how to fix or format the drive...

 

Okay thanks Caliban!

"My suggestion would be to boot to a live cd, salvage your important data, then start running experiments on how to fix or format the drive..."

How do I go about booting to a live CD, salvaging my important data?

Sorry for my lack of knowledge! Would really appreciate this if you helped me through this

Thanks alot,
Matt.

 

if you can't recover your files using a Linux disk, you can remove the hard drive and plug it into an adapter such as found here
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ESTMATCH&Description=IDE/SATA+ADAPTER&x=0&y=0
then plug the adapter's USB plug into any computer and the Dell drive will appear as an external drive to the other computer as long you don't have the BIOS boot order on the other computer set to boot first from an external device. No need to worry about primary/secondary anything--the Dell drive would just be seen as an external drive by the other computer. Then you should be able to copy off what you want.

 

Hey kipfeet,

thank you for that! I will probably end up getting one of those adapters! I would like to try using a Linux disk first though.. but i have no idea where to start! What do I do? Do I burn Linux on to a disk using my laptop and then insert it into my computer or something?

Thanks,
Matt.

 

Agreed: any adapter that would allow point-to-point transfer would be very handy, especially one that would connect from SATA to USB...

Having a live distro is always an advantage: first of all, I'd suggest downloading the Mint 7 user guide - there are more current builds available, but I know Gloria is stable...

Download the Mint 7 .iso file from this page - as it's a large file, you should choose your nearest server...

Burn the file to a CD as an image - you may have to use some burning software that will do this, such as Nero, etc...

Boot the problem machine to the CD, and a live Linux environment will be created - you should then be able to mount the hard drive in question and transfer files to an external or flash drive...

Read that user guide - you do not have to install Mint, just use it as a live environment, running only from your optical drive...most of it is common sense, but ask any question you have, and I and/or other MGs will help you out...

Keep us posted...

 

You're welcome, Matt. At least you know that you have a fallback if the Linux thing doesn't work out for you.

Sorry, I've used a Linux boot disk only once to null a password that the computer user forgot, but if you google "Linux boot disk for Windows" you'll find plenty of sources and many sites have good instructions about how to make and use them. Don't get confused about making an extravagant boot disk with tons of utilities, etc. All you need is a boot disk that will recognize your HD's file system (probably NTFS) and perhaps an Explorer-like utility so you can easily view files for copying them to other media. Oh, the boot disk should also be able to recognize that other media, too, whether a USB memory stick or whatever it is you want to copy the files to. It appears from the info you've provided that your computer is already set to try booting first from the CD drive, so when you get the Linux disk made, just stick it in the computer then restart and it should try to boot from the CD drive. You may see a lot of arcane command-line-type stuff on screen when it's booting, but don't let that alarm you!

Good luck.

 

Thanks to all of you for your help so far! I'd be totally stuck without you guys!

In reply to Caliban...

I am using my laptop to download the Mint 7.iso file. I will then burn the .iso file to a CD as an image. Thanks alot!

In reply to both Caliban and kipfeet...

I'm understanding it more now! So Linux will just be booting from the CD, not installed on my computer. So when I remove the CD from the computer, Linux will no longer be there? So this won't affect Windows XP in anyway when I remove the Linux CD?

I will keep you guys posted on what's going on

Thanks again

 

Hey guys, a little update...

I burned the .iso image to a DVD disk (the .iso file i downloaded was 1.3GB). I inserted the DVD into the drive and Linux booted up! I chose the language I wanted, and then the Linux Mint Logo came up on a black screen stating 'Linux Mint' beside it, with a green bar underneath (I think this is a loading bar or something). The first time I tried it, it just froze on that screen. I've tried it again and it stayed on the screen for a bit and then turned to a black screen with a flashing '_' symbol in the top left corner. It seems that Linux isn't loading up.

I think the reason behind this could be something to do with my drivers. In another forum, I was posting my main problem of getting the Blue Screen (of death) when trying to log into windows normally. I could log in to safe mode then. One of the forum members was taking me through everything (getting me to run things - i.e. bluescreenview). He then was saying that the Blue Screen could be caused by my video drivers, saying that they could be damaged so I should uninstall them, and then re-install them from the Dell website here - My Video Drivers. After uninstalling the drivers, I could no longer access the desktop in normal, safe and any other mode. I seriously wish I now backed up all of the files when I could access safe mode!

I've just done a little bit of research and found a post about a 'Non-graphical' install. The post is HERE. I'm not sure if this is similar to my problem or not, but you can check it out!

Would i be able to try using Ubunu, as Linux isn't working?

So I at the moment I haven't got any Video Drives, and I need to re-install them!

 

to Tim.
Missing out on the party, or trying to be fashionably late?

 

Ubuntu is a Linux distribution! As you are using a Live CD, it will take some time as Linux loads most of what it needs into computer memory, and accesses the optical drive when it needs something. Give it a little time and it should be ok.

 

Hey Laura,

thanks for approving them! Oo okay i'll not use them again

Hey TimW, thanks for joining in to help me with my problem
I don't think I can use the procedure you linked to because my computer is an OEM, with Windows XP installed already from Dell. Microsoft says people with these systems should not use the procedure!

In reply to Novice...

thanks for joining in too!
I've left it for quite a while but nothing happens. This is what happens...

I turn on the computer, Linux Mint boots, I select my language and hit enter. I then get this screen - Link to picture. The loading bar at the bottom moves from left to right for a bit, but then just freezes! I leave it for a while, but nothing happens. It's just frozen on that screen.

I've also tried starting Linux Mint in Compatibility mode too, by selecting it from the list where I choose my language, but still no luck.

Thanks to everyone that is helping,
Matt.

 

Hate to say it, but I've been using the Mint distros for quite a while, and the only times they have ever failed me were when there were hardcore hardware issues...if you're feeling froggy, you might try the UBCD or Bart's PE Builder...

Sure would like to get the data off of that drive soon - something ain't right...

 

Hello again, Matt,
Besides the boot disks Caliban suggested, here's another. This page steps you through the process.
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/wind...backup-files-from-your-dead-windows-computer/

 

Hey Laura. Damn, i totally forgot haha! I'll definitely not do it again

In reply to Caliban:

Oh man it doesn't sound good then

Those links you gave me - UBCD or Bart's PE Builder. How do I run them? They are both .exe files and I can't get to my desktop to run them!

In reply to kipfeet:

Hey again kipfeet, I tried booting from the Ubuntu .iso file you gave me, but no luck!

Thanks guys,
Matt.

 

I've decided to buy one of those SATA Adapters. Hopefully I'll be able to get all my files of my hard drive. If I do get them off, I don't know where I go from there because I can't do a PC Restore. This is since I uninstalled the video drivers. I remember pressing ALT+F11 to bring up the PC Restore option when I was experiencing my first main problem (blue screen of death) and it was fine. It's since i uninstalled those damn video drivers! Just wish there was a way to install them again

Would you guys say that this adapter is okay?: USB To SATA Adapter

Thanks everyone,
Matt.

 

That adapter looks fine - should do the trick.

The CDs were to be burned as images, but I doubt you'll need them - you've already got Mint and Ubuntu - later, you may be able to load some drivers from a PE or DOS environment, but that sounds like a project.

Good luck - keep us posted.

 

Hey again guys,

the adapter arrived in the post today! Before I remove my hard drive from my desktop, I thought of something else I could try. I just don't know how I go about doing it and thought you guys might know!

When I had my first problem (blue screen of death appearing all of the time), I could get to my desktop through Safe Mode. It was only when someone from a different forum told me to uninstall my Video Drivers and reboot my computer and reinstall them, as they might have been damaged. I couldn't reinstall the Video Drivers though because that is where it stopped me from accessing my desktop through safe mode or any other mode!

I'm just wondering if there's a way I can make a bootable CD using my Video Drivers file (it's a .exe file). If I can install the Video Drivers file from the CD, I think i'll be able to use Safe mode again and also use the PC Restore function that will take my PC back to the way it was when I first got it from Dell.

I've created bootable CDs using .iso files but i'm not sure if I'll be able to with a .exe file. What about converting the .exe file into an .iso file?

Anyway, let me know!
Thanks guys,
Matt.

 

Hey guys,

Well I've finally been able to try out the hard drive adapter today. It came without a power pack so I had to wait for that to arrive aswell!

I've plugged my computer SATA hard drive into my laptop via USB using the adapter and my laptop has recognized it. I can see every file in the hard drive now, which is great! I can see a 'Drivers' folder, when i open that, there are other folders - Audio, Modem, Network, Storage, System, and Video.

As I mentioned before about me uninstalling the video drivers, which caused the problem of me not being able to access my desktop in any mode. Is there any way I can manually drag and drop the video driver files into the hard drive? So my computer will be able to boot up in safe mode and i can finally restore the system?

I'm really desperate to get this computer restored!
Thanks guys,
Matt.