Re: XP Won't Boot; Safe Mode Won't Either
- From: Malke <notreally@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 07 Aug 2007 07:51:53 -0700
JBinPa wrote:
A few weeks ago, when starting up, my VAIO began to stop during Windows startup.
It shows a "DOS type" window with hardware, port and device information.
At the bottom of the page, is says:
"Disk boot failure, Insert system disk and press enter"
If I repeatedly hit F8 during startup to get to safe mode, I get the same error and cannot get into safe mode.
It seems as though the PC thinks it is booting from a disk or CD but there are none in any drives. I've repeatedly opened and closed both the DVD and CD units hoping to "trigger" something. No such luck.
In reading here on XP, I've become aware that I may be able to do a "repair install"
When I boot up with the Sony XP recovery CD in the drive, I'm asked to accept the Microsoft license. The next screen says:
"The hard drive is not partitioned; this utility creates DOS partitions and restarts your computer. You must delete non DOS partitions to continue? Do you wish to continue?
My question is, if I continue with creating DOS partitions aren't I wiping the drive clean will not be able to recover existing applications files?
I really need to recover what's on this hard drive and will ensure there are effective backup strategies in place in the future.
It sounds as though your hard drive has physically failed. Download a diagnostic utility from the drive mftr.'s website. You will make a bootable CD with this file (need third-party burning software). Boot the machine with the CD you made and do a thorough test. If the drive fails any physical tests, replace it.
As for recovery data, if the drive fails any physical tests the only thing to do is send it to a professional data recovery company. My preference is Drive Savers (www.drivesavers.com) but there are others. Professional data recovery is expensive, starting at around $500 USD and going up from there.
If the drive doesn't show any physical problems, you may be able to recover data with data recovery software. Here are some links to various programs. I use Easy Recovery Pro, but it is expensive. People whom I respect have recommended R-Studio and Restoration. YMMV.
http://www3.telus.net/mikebike/RESTORATION.html
PCInspector File Recovery - http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/welcome.htm
Executive Software “Undelete” - http://www.execsoft.com/undelete/undelete.asp
R-Studio - http://www.r-tt.com/
File Scavenger - http://www.quetek.com/prod02.htm
Ontrack's EasyRecovery - http://www.ontrack.com/software/
Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
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