Gateway laptop caught in continuous booting loop

I received a Gateway Model E-475M from my father. Everything was working great until Print Shop started grabbing all of my photos, even those in e-mails and then wouldn't let me open them. I thought I would just use System Restore and go back closer to when I received the laptop. I am not sure now of what exactly happened but it never completed the restore and it has been in a continuous loop unable to boot in any mode since then. I did a temporary install of ubuntu and I think I have all of the important files off. I wanted to do a repair or, if no other choice, do a return to factory of the XP Pro. However, I have no CD's or recovery disks. I have tried every key combo suggested on web to boot into the hidden partition but cannot get out of the loop. I can boot into ubuntu but that is all.
Please help, this was a great computer before this happened. Thank you. I am not very technically savvy but can follow instructions.

 

What do you mean by a temporary install of Ubuntu? If you installed another OS on the hard drive, there is no longer a restore partition. If you want to install Windows on it, contact Gateway to order the CD or DVD with their version of the Windows that came with it.

 

Ubuntu said it was a trial version and there was still a hidden partition on the hard drive. Is that not so?

 

I think the partition may still be there but the installation of Ubuntu may have erased Gateway's MBR(Master Boot Record) that allowed the key combinations to start the recovery.

I have not had much luck with helping to get the PQService partition to work in such a situation. I will read a bit more.

You might want to boot into Ubuntu and find the program Gparted. Run that and detail the list of partitions including their filetype and size. It should tell us if the PQService partition is still there.

http://gparted-livecd.tuxfamily.org/screens/gparted_1_big.jpg

 

I will ask him tomorrow. I have also searched for the program GParted but I am not having any luck. Could it be called anything else? Could you direct me how to locate it in case I missed it somehow? Thank you for all of your help. Icemaiden

 

You may have to add gparted to your ubuntu installation.

 

I am a little confused, too. But I thought that's what it said. I burned it to a CD and was expecting to use theubuntu drive from the CD as my son had instructed me but when the CD started up I had more than one choice as to how to proceed and I thought one of them was install a trial version for a month and that's what I chose. Then I was asked a question about the drive. it told me there was a hidden drive (wasn't very large) and it told me something about splitting the other bigger drive into two parts and that's what I did. So they are each about 320gb. The ubuntu and the old windows XP. It's obvious that I shouldn't have been trying to do this as I wasn't sure what I was doing.

In answer to other posts disks may have been located. I will know soon and I will see
about adding GParted in the morning. Thanks for all suggestions.

 

Now I am confused. IceMadien is stating that "his son" instructed him, when at the beginning, it was the "son" who was asking what to do. So at this point, who wants to guess which party of the family will be responding next. Maybe mom or sis.

 

You really don't have to be rude just because someone doesn't always express them selves well. IceMaiden has always been me." the Mom". I received a computer from my father. When I messed it up my son mentioned to me about ubuntu. I hope this clarifies the situation. In answer about the GParted. I have it on and I have the information. I didn't know how to copy the page. Was afraid I would do something to the partitions. Here is the information from the GParted page:

Partition File System Mounted Size Used Unused Flags
/dev/sda1 ntfs 97.65GB 50.74GB 46.91GB Boot
/dev/sda2 ntfs 100.22GB 3.00GB 97.22GB
/dev/sda3 extended 100.22GB
/dev/sda5 ext 4 / 96.22GB 27.59GB 68.63GB
/dev/sda6 linus-swap 4.00GB
I hope this is the info that you needed. I can provide more if needed.

 

Windows is still there. You should be able to look at the Windows directory from Linux. As for putting it back to normal, you would need a Windows XP disc to Fix the MBR, so you can boot up in Windows.

 

According to Sach2, with the screen from GParted we would be able to see if the Recovery Partition was still there and intact. Did the screen I sent you tell you that information? If it is still there will I be able to do a Repair Windows instead of Complete Restore? The three disks mentioned earlier have been located are in route to me. I would really like to keep this present OS intact with repair instead of having to wipe it out and start again.
Thank you again. IceMaiden

 

Hi,

I am not seeing the recovery partition (they are usually about 10gb). Can you see the files on sda2 from the desktop folder icon and give a list?

 

I have tried but either you or not able to see or find the files or I just don't know how to find them. Can you give me more specific commands on how to access these files? Thanks

 

So far I have only been able to locate an XP Home Edition disk. Can these be interchanged? I really didn't want to wipe this hard drive clean. It has many connections to my father in it and so will wipe it clean only as a last resort. Any ideas of where I could obtain a Microsoft XP disk? My Linux OS tells you how to get a disk for Windows7 and for Vista but not for XP. I don't understand why the "Gateway" XP Pro disk doesn't allow you to repair the disk. Thank you.

 

I'll download Ubuntu now. Will take a while but I'll check out the Desktop and figure out how to look at that sda2 partition. (It should be from the Menu button then a File Manager program or a notation for Computer but I will let you know after I boot from it.)

I don't think the recovery partition is still there as I think Gateway puts a "diag" flag on it which would show in gparted. But we should check what is on that sda2 just to be sure.

If you do get the Gateway discs we can look at them as it appears there is an option for manual installation which might let you do the michaelstevens link plodr provided (step 5 view picture). It may not as some PC manufacturer discs have limited options and came with SP2 (Service Pack 2) and the computer may have been updated to SP3. We have to cross that bridge when we get to it.

****
You really should consider what you are trying to save from that XP installation because even with a fully fuctioning XP disc the "boot loop" is notoriously hard to fix. (Your symptoms are no matter which option Safe Mode, Normal mode etc. you choose the computer just restarts without any information on the screen?)

 

Actually, I see a series of things that always happen: We apologize but Windows did not start successfully. A recent hardware or software change may have caused this.....
then there are the boot choices. I have tried them all. After choosing one with the exception of safe mode you get Windows logo, then black screen, then gateway logo, then request for HDD password, then it goes back to we apologize. If you choose safe mode it does the scroll of partitions, drivers etc. and then resumes the loop.

I received the CD's from Gateway today. I think this OS does have SP3 but I am not sure. I know someone with a HP CD XPPro and someone with OEM SP3. After reading in the Gateway support, it made me think that the HP CD might not work.

 

That is the boot loop.

I'll have to think about a way forward with the disks to try to fix the boot loop. I just have never read a thread where the cause is discovered.

Even though you have the discs let's see what is on sda2. It looks like it is only 3gb of 100gb so if it is unimportant you could try to put a second copy od XP in that partition until you/we figure out what to try with the damaged one.

In Ubuntu click on Places at the top then select Computer. You should see several icons for the Hard Drive. Double click on the first three. One will be XP with a Windows and a Documents and Settings folder. One will be a Linux partition with Bin, Ect and Dev folders. One will be the one we are interested in--what folders do you see?

 

I see 3 folders:

1) 94f1797d9aafb53a94b19ff959
2) Recycler
3)System Volume Information:
Files in 3)
restore
MountPoint Manage
tracking log

 

Hi, sorry I have not answered this thread.

It does not look like there is anything of value on sda2. Your restore partition does not appear to be on the HD.

I really don't have a good answer to the boot loop situation. You could try the michaelstevens link given earlier on the off-chance that your Gateway discs would have the repair option. It seems unlikely from the information on that site. (You would do the repair steps 1 through 5 to see if the R(epair) function is available on your discs. If not quit setup.)

Note: when starting from the Gateway disc you would choose Manual installation before trying the steps 1-5.

Edit: I just read the options for the Gateway recovery disc and ther is option 2 which tries to fix Windows files. That may be worth a go as it is essentially the same as the michalstevens option.

 

Thanks, I will try this. I really appreciate all of the trouble that you have gone to to help me execute a possible repair. It is a sentimental reason to not want to wipe out all traces of my Dad that kept popping up all through the computer. Will let you know how it goes.

 

Sorry, I wasn't more clear. The Gateway CD has the Fix Windows Files option within the Recovery Wizard. So you would start the Recovery Wizard and try option 2. (It may or may not work because the layout of the HD has changed from its original configuration as the recovery partition is not there and Ubuntu was installed, but is definitely worth a try.)