Computer partially dead, need help reviving

[digital_blue]

Okay, so after nearly 2 years of constant abuse(slamming keyboard/trackpad, throwing, dropping, rough handling, etc) my laptop finally decided to conk out. I was typing up a report when the computer decided to "act up"; in a rushed and pissed off state, I slammed the trackpad pretty hard. At that point, things started going downhill, the mouse and screen still worked but nothing would open when clicked. I left it for about 20 minutes and nothing had changed so I attempted to restart it by holding down the power button. Since then, I have not been able to boot windows; I am running dual boot(ubuntu and vista). For some reason, Ubuntu seems to be running perfectly fine; it's Vista that doesn't boot. Any attempts to boot vista is met with a black screen. I have a feeling that I may have caused the HD to crash/corrupt files when I hit the computer.

The main problem now is backing up some files. I know enough DOS commands to transfer my stuff to an external but I can't seem to get a DOS window. Upon startup, there are no options to boot windows in safe mode, DOS, etc. Anyone have any suggestions on how to get a DOS command prompt? BTW, my laptop is a HP pavilion DV2500(Got it back in late 07).

thanks

 

[GreenMachine]

I think Banana might be able to help you.

 

[Deleted member 8382]

Hold F8 all the time until you get that black screen. If you are getting a black screen without any error code and the system isn't reaching the point in which you can use F8, take the OS cd that came with the laptop and use the reinstall windows in an existing partition mode.

If that doesn't solve the problem format the HD and reinstall the OS.

If all of this didn't work, Open your laptop, check the conections and test the HD cable with a multimeter to check it's making a proper connection.

If it crashes during any of these processes or the problem isn't solved, your HD might be damaged. Buy a new one and done (not so expensive at all).

I suggest you to use Ubuntu or some linux LiveCD to recover your info and you could even try to make some HD tests from Linux.

Hope this helped.

Yours,
Albert

 

[GreenMachine]

I think he wants the data off the HD.

Blue, you might as well get an external case for it and use it in another computer to get the data off.

 

[digital_blue]

Thanks for the responses guys, I am attempting to use the HP system recovery utility to back stuff up; I'll see if it works... I am now able to get something after booting vista; an error code comes up and mentions something about harware error and possibly disconnecting the drive inproperly... As for recovery disks, there are none; HP has some sort of bootable recovery utility. I am more worried about my data than recovering my computer...

 

[iskor12]

Hahaha...what would you expect to happen? You clearly damaged your hard drive.

I would do what GreenMachine said.
Blue, you might as well get an external case for it and use it in another computer to get the data off.

Sorry if I sound insensitive to your situation. I always have to work on people's computers that have been abused like yours. It's like...what do you expect is going to happen...will it sudenly speed up after hitting it? It's just rather funny to me.

 

[Deleted member 8382]

Hahaha...what would you expect to happen? You clearly damaged your hard drive.

I would do what GreenMachine said.
Blue, you might as well get an external case for it and use it in another computer to get the data off.

Sorry if I sound insensitive to your situation. I always have to work on people's computers that have been abused like yours. It's like...what do you expect is going to happen...will it sudenly speed up after hitting it? It's just rather funny to me.

haha well sometimes I hit my mobile when it starts making strange things and it goes back to the normal state, I assume there's some wire playing inside.

Ofc, I would never try that with a computer lol

 

[jaycey]

You could try Hirens boot cd Hiren's BootCD 10.0 - www.hiren.info

Enter your BIOS setup screen, normaly 'del' key or F2 and set laptop to boot from CD.

Once started Hirens Boot CD has a comprehensive set of tools to diagnose and repair hard disk faults.

Vista also has a repair/recover feature during the installation process.

Good luck

Jason

 

[schmag]

well what most likely happened when you slammed your hand down is that you caused your hdd protection to kick in. so your hdd shut down.
while you are using your computer it is constantly caching stuff to the drive etc. well when you just shut down a drive that it was writing to it creates a delayed write failure.

in a nutshell you most likely corrupted some of the data on your drive.
you can use something like acronis true image to create an image of your drive to an external that you could then (once you reload the beast) access to get back at your data.
in this event I would not power on the machine untill you plan on backing it up. if you did happen to crash a head for a short second it will only get worse as well you can use a bartpe to access the file system and copy stuff off one by one however that is quite slow.
the hp backup and restore works alright however some of them don't give you the option to backup to an external drive.
good luck sir.

 

[digital_blue]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, my computer does not have a HDD protection system(I believe my thinkpad does). I have tried using the HP Recovery manager and it seems to be freezing at the 67% mark. I think I might have caused a head crash or something...

Iskor12 - Haven't you ever had the urge to smack the crap out of your computer when it does something stupid? At this point, I'm ready take a shotgun to it.

 

[schmag]

I would try a live linux disto like knoppix. or you could use a bartpe disk.
like jaycey said above hiren's ultimate boot cd is a good one.
it boots and runs off the cd and only modify the drive when you read it. it sometimes kinda slow with read and copy times but you will be able to browse the files and copy them in windows
otherwise
if you can get a hold of a copy of gibson research's "Spin Right"
GRC*|*Gibson Research Corporation Home Page**
is there homepage.
I have had alot of success with it. I used to consult for nearly 100 local businesses we have had good success with it retrieving data from bad sectors (if the drive doesn't permadie in the process it can take some time).
it is most likely down to what is that data worth to you. and what lengths you will meet to get it back.

 

[iskor12]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, my computer does not have a HDD protection system(I believe my thinkpad does). I have tried using the HP Recovery manager and it seems to be freezing at the 67% mark. I think I might have caused a head crash or something...

Iskor12 - Haven't you ever had the urge to smack the crap out of your computer when it does something stupid? At this point, I'm ready take a shotgun to it.

Yes I have had the urge, but I never do it. I have way to much time and money in my computer to do things like that. If things do stop running, then I take them out and they enjoy a nice roast in the camp fire! or M203 Grenade or some full auto fire or some .308 sniper rounds.

 

[iskor12]

Oops double post???? Sorry

 

[Tech_Junkie]

This thing works great. I use it all the time.

DealExtreme: $11.27 USB 2.0 to IDE Cable

 

[matrixcs]

well here is my solution, on the windows vista boot PRESS F8 then try to select the safe mode first, if you were able to log on using safemode, commence SYSTEM restore.

if in case it wont still repeat by restarting the Laptop and PRESS F8 again,

this TIME choose Directory Repair Service mode..

that should to it..

If not...

Retry the recovery console of vista by inserting the Installer Disc.

 

[charliebruce]

If I'm not mis-reading, your Ubuntu distro is running fine still. Why not copy off your data using this instead, then wipe everything and do a clean reinstall?