The Death Blow

#1

As they are well known, my PC issues have come full circle...

I am computerless...As in, I do not own a computer of my own that works...And at this point, I'm not sure I ever will again...I mean, of course I will but...I think I just lost my heart for them..!

OK, so, the laptop I was using decided that it would simply die...It will power on, but will not post...Not sure what that could be, but since its a laptop, all the parts are pretty much integrated...Which means I am fucked either way...

So I was thinking, on the bright side of things, my cousin has a HP laptop that she doesn't use much...It isn't as powerful as the one I had, but hey, its system...And I've worked on it before, so, I figure that it wouldn't be so bad...I could simply plug in my hard drive, and compute as close to normal as possible...The PC died, but, my data is stored safely...

Right..?

So, you know what happens...I swap the hard drives out...And it be too much to think bout, but maybe I could be computerless, but not dataless, right..?

Wrong..!

My hard drive will not boot into the OS from this PC...And I have tried everything that I know how to do to make it happen...I logged into the repair console, tried to run fixmbr and a few others...Won't load the OS...Just goes to a blinking cursor...

Tried to boot XP w/an Ubuntu disc...No go...And of course, I can't read the files from Ubuntu Live, or, at least I don't know how, or I swear to God, I would move them and never use a Windows OS on my main machine again...

So, am I fucked, or am I FUCKED..?! The only option I have now, is to see if my old laptop is fixable...Maybe its a slight glich, no big deal, I'd invest -100 to fix it...But ideally, I'd just as soon scrap the parts, and try to find a good barebones laptop...I'm all but positive that I won't buy another desktop...I'd just as soon get a laptop w/a full 3 year warranty, and if that shit breaks down send it to the people that made it, let them fix it and be done w/it...

I don't care about my programs, but there are about 5 folders on my C drive that I don't want to be deleted...But then again, I may not have a choice; if I can't access the files either way, I must...I would want to install Ubuntu, but it won't let me delete my NTFS files that I don't want, and it wants to create a partition bigger than the free space that I have...

Have I forgotten a way to fire up my OS from the command prompt..? Some kind of way that I can get my OS to load..? Or do I just have to say fuck it, and kick myself in the bawlz.?

#2

I don't know that much about computers but I'd say you are FUCKED. Say fuck it and kick yourself in the balls man. You have some serious bad luck

Bot · #3

Shit man... you've had a long string of bad luck. lol I'd say it's time to just invest in a new computer. Get something good if you've got the cash.

#4

why not just take the machine(s) to a shop? let them figure it out. that would take the load off u.

u can just ask them what was wrong after they fix it. /:D" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt=":D" />

good luck!

#5

Hmm, I'm sure I've said it before, but if not, I'll say it now...

Dude, I am poor...And I don't mean in a can't go out to eat this Friday poor, I mean poor...Building or getting a new machine, even a very basic one, would cost $600-$1200...

And the deal isn't that they can't be fixed, shit, I'm a certified tech, I usually know more than the guys trying to help me, LoL...

The thing is I am having issues that are beyond my grasp, and its completely pissing me off, even if I had the money to blow, shit, I'm almost sure something would go wrong...Just look @ ayhja.us and teh1337.us...I think this is my technical asthma attack so to speak, I need to move into a new direction or something, LoL...either that, or I am about to have my wildest PC dreams come true... /:D" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt=":D" />

#6

Some info you might find helpfull:

1) Swapping a hard disk with XP from one computer into another:

I used to have to do this a bit. Taking the hard drive and just plugging it into a new system never works. It will never boot up. The reason lies in the registry having incorrect values for IDE and various other drivers. It is possible to fix this. There is a Microsoft knowledge base article on it here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314082/en-us

The article presumes you can boot the hard drive on the original computer. If you can't, I have used Knoppix linux to make the required changes but it was reasonably difficult.

A simpler solution is just to get a cheap IDE (or SATA) to USB adapter. Plug one end into the hard disk and the other into a working computer's usb port. The drive should now be accessible and you can do the above changes or copy off any important info from the hard disk.

2) Testing your original computer:

You can throw the hard drive back into your original computer and download this Boot Disk: http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

Use the boot disk to run disk and memory checks to try and establish what bits of your laptop aren't functioning correctly.

At the end of the day, it is usually that the hard disk is damaged or simply dying. RAM and CPU and mainboard hardly ever die if the system has been working fine for a while.

Hope this helps.

#7

Now we're talking Zap...IDE to USB convertors...I didn't know that they made those for laptops, which is what I'm dealing with here...But if that's not possible, I am sure I can get my hands on Knoppix, if I don't already have a copy...Any idea where I can go from that point..? And if this does in fact work, I will not be going back to Windows, I could have avoided all of this shit all together if I had stuck with my Ubuntu deal, but whatever...

Like my grandma said, "A hard head makes a soft ass or a shitload of data loss..." Bust out the tips and pointers M8...

Oh, and if someone has a good haunt where I can get a barebones laptop, that would be just as appreciated, as I mentioned, I SHOULD be able to get something new next week, even if it isn't much...

#8

Hmm, I just thought about something...

I did attempt to reinstall Windows, it deleted the folder, copied new files, and the proceeded to stall on the reboot...Which means I am hoping to GOD that those settings are stored somewhere else that isn't altered in this process...

#9

Making the changes with Knoppix was fiddly for a Linux noob like me. I have an article that explains how to use it to make NTFS file system changes somewhere. I'll look around for you. Can't remember off the top of my head.

This is the sort of device I have to hook hard drives up to my USB ports: http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/06/30/ ... _hooks_up/

If you are able to reinstall XP right now that's great. Dunno if it will keep the stuff you wanted saved though (unless you were able to copy it off beforehand). A complete reinstall usually wipes your stuff...

#10

If the Knoppix route is the hardest one, then I may as well go that way first...I have no inclination to think that my luck will change anytime soon, I may as well get the pain started while I have linux heads around to help me...