laptop repair..

funkyfifi

Hi can anyone recommend a cheap place to repair a laptop? Im 99 per cent sure its my hard drive.. Thanks

Ronan H

Are you saying that the HD is damaged and you can't access anything on it / boot up the computer?

Any error messages coming up?

Repairing a HD can be quite expensive and sometimes not financially worthwhile unless you have something particularly important on it that you want to recover...

Some more information would be good, you might not have to bring to be repaired...

funkyfifi

Hey
Error messages are coming up an its saying inset boot disc, but its not reading it, it also says, PXE-E61: media test failure, check cable and PXE-MOF: exiting broadcom PXM ROM. i dont no a lot about computers so dunno if this is useful to you or not

Ronan H

OK, have a look at this link and see if it helps in relation to the PXE-E61 error...

The other error doesn't suggest a hard drive issue unless Broadcom are making hard drives these days! It might be to do with a modem, flash card or other broadcom product.

Have you disconnected any equipment lately or uninstalled any software?

funkyfifi

One of the hinges broke so a lad i know took it apart so it wouldnt snap and just removed it, would that have anything to do with it? i dont want to ask him to fix it because the following day when i turned it on all these error messages popped up.. your being a great help thanks a mill

bazz26

Sounds like the system is trying to boot off the integrated network card instead of the hard drive.

I would check the boot sequence in the system BIOS. The Hard Drive should be at the top of the boot sequence list.

xsiborg

funkyfifi wrote: »

One of the hinges broke so a lad i know took it apart so it wouldnt snap and just removed it, would that have anything to do with it? i dont want to ask him to fix it because the following day when i turned it on all these error messages popped up.. your being a great help thanks a mill

hi funky, posting from my mobile so bear with me, but it sounds like whats called the 'boot order' in your BIOS is set to boot off the Network Adapter, thats why i think it wasnt picking up the cd in your drive either.
when you turn on your laptop, it might say 'press F2 to enter setup' or some such message.
once in there, look for the word boot, or boot order, boot devices, along those lines. then, set your hard drive as the '1st boot device', and hopefully all going well, it should boot back into windows...

baz got there before me...

funkyfifi

oh my god that is double dutch to me ha ha, but ill try google it to help me through it

funkyfifi

hey xsiborg
when i press f2 nothing happening only a really loud buzzing noise from it, Its just repeating itself,
broadcom UNDI PXE-2.1 v 14,0.8
PXE-E61: media test failure, check cable
PXE-MOF: exiting broadcom pxe rom.
No bootable devices - insert boot disk an press any key

xsiborg

funkyfifi wrote: »

hey xsiborg
when i press f2 nothing happening only a really loud buzzing noise from it, Its just repeating itself,
broadcom UNDI PXE-2.1 v 14,0.8
PXE-E61: media test failure, check cable
PXE-MOF: exiting broadcom pxe rom.
No bootable devices - insert boot disk an press any key

ok funky, thats not a problem, just that F2 is a common key to enter setup to change your settings, DEL key is another one, have you any idea, even manufacturer of the laptop? eg. dell, acer? its easy enough fix that message once you figure out the key to get into setup, its usually a message displayed when you first turn on the laptop. other keys to try are F10 for acers and F12 for boot options...

funkyfifi

hey its an acer aspire 5551, i have typed out every key an its doing nothing so annoying...

xsiborg

interesting link here fifi, that F2 key should have worked...

http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110206103138AAj4z7E

MarkR

Should be F2 all right. Turn it off, power on and tap f2 every second or so.

roast

funkyfifi wrote: »

hey xsiborg
when i press f2 nothing happening only a really loud buzzing noise from it, Its just repeating itself,
broadcom UNDI PXE-2.1 v 14,0.8
PXE-E61: media test failure, check cable
PXE-MOF: exiting broadcom pxe rom.
No bootable devices - insert boot disk an press any key

Without getting into the more complicated side of it...

The PC is trying to boot from the ethernet port, because it isn't detecting a hard drive. It's either a physical fault with the hard drive, or it may have become dislodged from the connector. The hinge was broken too, was it dropped at any stage? Because that's the most likely cause, unfortunately.

Ronan H

Yerman that took it apart may have dislodged the HD somehow and it's just not connecting now. Well, hopefully that is the case and not that the HD is wrecked.

Is it making any noises when it displays the messages?