Re: need some MVP help for visiting relative's XP laptop
- From: "Nepatsfan" <nepatsfan@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 26 Dec 2007 21:02:25 -0500
"Hank" <hgreintges@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:2tq5n3ld54b5f60knde93h6mjhrhqli6pa@xxxxxxxxxx
My daughter is visiting and has a problem with her HP laptop that has
me stumped (not hard unfortunately). She has Windows XP Home Edition.
When PC boots the window that comes up says Sorry could not boot and
gives the options of starting in Safe mode, safe mode with command
prompt etc. Problem is no matter which option you select it goes off
and slowly runs through the motions only to end back up at the same
screen again. They have many data files with pictures etc which are
not replacable so I am being very careful on the options I can try. Of
course they do not have a backup system or even their windows disk
(which could be a problem even if they did as it might damage some
important data files). I have a windows XP disk of myown but not sure
I can use it for copywrite or even damaging their files. Any idea
what I might do to get the laptop booting to the point I can try a
repair or even install the recovery mode to the machine.
TYIA
email response not expected but to respond remove .uk at end
TIA
Hank
Since I'm not an MVP, I can't answer your question.
If I were an MVP, I would tell you that backing up her irreplaceable files
should be your first priority. There are a number of ways to do this.
The easiest route is to remove the laptop's hard drive, put it in an external
USB hard drive enclosure designed to handle a laptop's hard drive, and connect
it to your computer. You may need to take ownership of some files in order to
copy them to your computer, but that's easily accomplished.
Another approach is to boot the laptop from a Linux live CD. If the laptop has a
CD burner, the files can be backed up on a CD. Here are a couple of sites with
more info.
Knoppix
http://www.knoppix.org/
Computer First Aid Using Knoppix
http://www.shockfamily.net/cedric/knoppix/
Ubuntu Linux
http://www.ubuntu.com/
Ubuntu Live CD
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/LiveCD
Here's a program which can be used to create a bootable CD from the downloaded
ISO file.
http://www.cdburnerxp.se/
Once you have her files backed up, you can begin troubleshooting. Start at the
laptop manufacturer's web site and look for a support section. See if you can
download the manual for the system. The manual should contain instructions on
how to restore the operating system. It's possible that there's a hidden
partition on the laptop's hard drive that contains the files needed to reinstall
Windows XP. Also, look for any utilities that will check the hard drive for
problems.
Note: In order to use your XP disk to work on the laptop, it would have to be
the same version and type as what is installed on your daughter's laptop. If
there's a Microsoft sticker on the bottom of the laptop with the CD key, you'd
need to have an OEM CD for XP Home in order to run a repair installation.
If any of these suggestions appear daunting, my suggestion would be to tell your
daughter to take the laptop to a professional computer repair shop. And, I'm not
talking about the Geek Squad at Best Buy. Do that and you'll get an inflated
bill to replace the hard drive with none of her files recovered.
Good luck
Nepatsfan
.
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