Laptop woes

[JCE10]

I have a Dell 700M and when I start it it goes straight to a message telling me of a problem and giving me choices to boot in different modes. All the modes lead to a blue screen and the computer automatically reboots. When I made sure it didn't automatically reboot, I was able to read the blue screen which would normally just flash in a second. The screen mentions something about an "unmountable drive" and leads me to believe that my hard drive has gone the way of the ancients. However, when I do reboot, I would always see the Microsoft XP loading page and that makes me wonder if my hard drive really is dead since I figure that since I see this XP loading screen, Windows is still working, thus hard drive may still be in tact.

It was suggested that I may reinstall XP and still be able to keep all my old files.

Any suggestions? I would really like to keep my old data.

 

[KGB]

Run the Dell onboard diagnostics.

IIRC, turn the machine on and hit F12 at the BIOS screen.
Select DIAGNOSTICS from the boot menu.

If the boot sector is hosed on the hard drive, remove the drive from the laptop and get a USB external enclosure. That way you should be able to get the data off it.

 

[Laputa]

Just think of the worse can happen before you run the reinstall, prepare for the worse always give you the best solution if you need the stuff...

 

[Slikkster]

Try this easy *fix*, too. Remove the drive from the laptop. Should be just one screw on the external drive housing to be removed, then the drive can be pulled out. Now, reseat the drive in its slot, making sure (without slamming it in) that it's snug in its position. Of course, make sure you screw in the retaining screw.

I've had to do this on a 600m on occasion, and it takes care of the issue.

 

[waitman]

Originally posted by: Slikkster
Try this easy *fix*, too. Remove the drive from the laptop. Should be just one screw on the external drive housing to be removed, then the drive can be pulled out. Now, reseat the drive in its slot, making sure (without slamming it in) that it's snug in its position. Of course, make sure you screw in the retaining screw.

I've had to do this on a 600m on occasion, and it takes care of the issue.

I've seen that work a time or two also. I did have a dell one time and all that would fix it for some reason was a low level format.

 

[stealth2009]

What low level formatting application do you use? I have been looking for one for Satellite laptop. Unlike the case above, it can detect the drive but unable to proceed with the high level formatting.

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