Laptop won't start

davidk11811

My new laptop that I got for Christmas will not boot, I'm using windows 7 and when I power it on, it gives me a blue screen and recommends me to do startup repair, I've done this six times with no avail. I also have tried to do a system restore three times with no luck. When I try to boot it up normally it just gives me a blue screen and sends me back to startup repair. And when I press F8 to try boot in safe mode it doesn't work.

Now earlier I went into "msconfig" and changed timeout to 3 seconds, switched off GUI boot and made it so my 4 processors and 4GB Ram were being used to startup, I think this is what did it. Please someone tell me what I can do because this is driving me insane!

yoyo

davidk11811 wrote: »

My new laptop that I got for Christmas will not boot, I'm using windows 7 and when I power it on, it gives me a blue screen and recommends me to do startup repair, I've done this six times with no avail. I also have tried to do a system restore three times with no luck. When I try to boot it up normally it just gives me a blue screen and sends me back to startup repair. And when I press F8 to try boot in safe mode it doesn't work.

Now earlier I went into "msconfig" and changed timeout to 3 seconds, switched off GUI boot and made it so my 4 processors and 4GB Ram were being used to startup, I think this is what did it. Please someone tell me what I can do because this is driving me insane!

Did you try "Last known good configuration" option on the boot menu (with Safe Mode et al.)

Nick

davidk11811

Yes, tried it just there and blue screen again.

yoyo

davidk11811 wrote: »

Yes, tried it just there and blue screen again.

Is there important data on the machine, would you mind restoring it? Most machines have a "hidden partition" with the OS reinstallation files on it, most can be invoked by pressing certain keys on startup, I think CTRL and F12 is a popular one, but open to correction.
If you need to backup files let us know and I can give you instructions how to access your files via a Ubuntu live disc

Nick

davidk11811

Yes there is files I would like to keep, I would at least like to try and keep them anyway but if it is not possible I'll just restore. Can you explain how Ubuntu works?

yoyo

davidk11811 wrote: »

Yes there is files I would like to keep, I would at least like to try and keep them anyway but if it is not possible I'll just restore. Can you explain how Ubuntu works?

• Download Ubuntu from the link above (32Bit ISO) and save it on a working machine.
• Now get a blank CD-R and burn the .iso to the CD (use www.imgburn.com to do this or any burning software that supports image burning).
• Now put the burnt CD-R into the laptop and boot off the CD, sometimes you need to set "boot order" in the bios to CD First priority, some laptops have a hotkey ([F12] common) to access the boot devices menu. Boot of the Ubuntu disc.
• Choose run Ubuntu disc live when asked and the OS will load directly off the disc.
• When in the Ubuntu desktop your Windows Drive (Called "File system" I think) will have been mounted. Navigate this drive to Users>[Your name]>Documents/Desktop/Music/Pictures etc. will be in there. Plug in a USB key or external hard disk into the laptop and copy them over onto it

Hope this helps!

Nick

davidk11811

Okay I'll give it a shot and let you know how I get on, thanks.

yoyo

davidk11811 wrote: »

Okay I'll give it a shot and let you know how I get on, thanks.

Any probs post back here for help

Nick

davidk11811

One question, I previously had 64 bit Windows 7 so should i use the 64 bit now or 32 bit?

yoyo

davidk11811 wrote: »

One question, I previously had 64 bit Windows 7 so should i use the 64 bit now or 32 bit?

32Bit version is fine, Ubuntu is only being used as a tool to grab your files off the other OS install, you won't be replacing Windows using Ubuntu in Live/Try mode

Nick

davidk11811

yoyo wrote: »

32Bit version is fine, Ubuntu is only being used as a tool to grab your files off the other OS install, you won't be replacing Windows using Ubuntu in Live/Try mode

Nick

And once I get the files I just restore the laptop to factory settings using F12?

yoyo

davidk11811 wrote: »

And once I get the files I just restore the laptop to factory settings using F12?

Thats pritty much it, yep . Not a hard thing to do at all, but any issues you run into post back here!

Nick

davidk11811

I finally burnt it onto the CD after many failed attempts :rolleyes:
Now when I turn on my PC and tap CTRL+F12 nothing happens.

EDIT - Ah for me F2 was the button to access BIOS and under the tab "Boot" it says "Boot Option priorities" and "Boot option 1" is, [P0: Hitachi HT2547...] and "Boot option 2" is [P1: MATSH1TADVD-RA...]. Now I have switched these around to make MATSH1TADVD-RA... Boot option 1. Is this the right thing to do?
I won't save yet to avoid further mess ups.

unkel

Change the boot order. Then when the boot selection pops up on the screen, select the DVD player to boot from.

yoyo

davidk11811 wrote: »

I finally burnt it onto the CD after many failed attempts :rolleyes:
Now when I turn on my PC and tap CTRL+F12 nothing happens.

EDIT - Ah for me F2 was the button to access BIOS and under the tab "Boot" it says "Boot Option priorities" and "Boot option 1" is, [P0: Hitachi HT2547...] and "Boot option 2" is [P1: MATSH1TADVD-RA...]. Now I have switched these around to make MATSH1TADVD-RA... Boot option 1. Is this the right thing to do?
I won't save yet to avoid further mess ups.

Yes, Matsh!ta should be first

Nick

davidk11811

Ok it's booting up in Ubuntu now, hopefully all goes well.

davidk11811

I can't find any familiar files in "File System" and the search system isn't working either. All the files are just random letters, the only one i recognize is "bin" and there's nothing familiar in there. Any ideas?

yoyo

davidk11811 wrote: »

I can't find any familiar files in "File System" and the search system isn't working either. All the files are just random letters, the only one i recognize is "bin" and there's nothing familiar in there.

Its not file system, click on the other disk drive under "places", can't remember what its called.

Nick

davidk11811

Aha! Yes i got it, it was under "OS". Now I'll transfer it over onto my USB. When I turn off my PC I just switch the boot order again and then reset to factory defaults?

yoyo

davidk11811 wrote: »

Aha! Yes i got it, it was under "OS". Now I'll transfer it over onto my USB. When I turn off my PC I just switch the boot order again and then reset to factory defaults?

You can if you like, put the Hard Disk (Hitachi) as first boot item, your machine will be fine if you leave as it though

Nick

davidk11811

When I look up on google or youtube on how to reset to factory default settings, I either need to have a windows 7 disk (which I don't have) or I need to boot the PC in safe mode (which i can't do). Is there any other way?

yoyo

Download the Windows 7 Disc for your machine here, burn it to a DVD, use to re install and use the serial # underneath your laptop to activate Windows

Nick

davidk11811

Do I need to get the same version I had before? I think I had home premium but does it matter?

Edit - I just went for Home Premium but 2.7GB! Gonna need to buy new blank CDs, these ones are a little outdated! :rolleyes:

Also what are the chances of this actually working? I don't wanna get my hopes up

yoyo

davidk11811 wrote: »

Do I need to get the same version I had before? I think I had home premium but does it matter?

Get the Home Premium iso so, Microsoft arn't that generous letting a windows 7 Professional activate with a Home Premium license

Nick

davidk11811

yoyo wrote: »

Download the Windows 7 Disc for your machine here, burn it to a DVD, use to re install and use the serial # underneath your laptop to activate Windows

Nick

Can you explain how I re install and restore my PC to factory defaults using the Windows 7 disc? Do I just do the same thing I did with the Ubuntu disc?

yoyo

davidk11811 wrote: »

Can you explain how I re install and restore my PC to factory defaults using the Windows 7 disc? Do I just do the same thing I did with the Ubuntu disc?

Ubuntu to recover the files, don't install run it live "try" it. Windows disc you will use to re install OS

Nick

davidk11811

yoyo wrote: »

Ubuntu to recover the files, don't install run it live "try" it. Windows disc you will use to re install OS

Nick

Grr technology hasn't been kind to me today, after spending forever downloading Windows 7 I can't find the file anywhere now on my PC to use on IMGBurn. And when i try to drag it to my desktop from my downloads it won't budge. http://gyazo.com/e9828401ea98b874834177dd4d966751
It must be corrupted?

yoyo

davidk11811 wrote: »

Grr technology hasn't been kind to me today, after spending forever downloading Windows 7 I can't find the file anywhere now on my PC to use on IMGBurn. And when i try to drag it to my desktop from my downloads it won't budge. http://gyazo.com/e9828401ea98b874834177dd4d966751
It must be corrupted?

Looks like you chose to "Open" rather than Save to disk. Unfortunately its probably been deleted at ths stage. Make sure to save the iso somewhere you know of, e.g: the desktop, NTI CD/DVD creator should let you burn it ok when its down

Nick

davidk11811

yoyo wrote: »

Looks like you chose to "Open" rather than Save to disk. Unfortunately its probably been deleted at ths stage. Make sure to save the iso somewhere you know of, e.g: the desktop, NTI CD/DVD creator should let you burn it ok when its down

Nick

Oh brilliant! :rolleyes:

yoyo

davidk11811 wrote: »

Oh brilliant! :rolleyes:

Use a download manager to get it this time, something like Free Download Manager will do it . These things can happen unfortunately.

Nick

Standard Toaster

Can you post what was on the blue screen?
Least the error code?? These are usually fixable if you put the effort in.

davidk11811

Standard Toaster wrote: »

Can you post what was on the blue screen?
Least the error code?? These are usually fixable if you put the effort in.

It says "BAD_SYSTEM_CONFIG_INFO"

davidk11811

yoyo wrote: »

Use a download manager to get it this time, something like Free Download Manager will do it . These things can happen unfortunately.

Nick

Ok I'm using Download manager but i'm only getting 80 KB/s while downloading it normally I was getting 300 KB/s.

yoyo

davidk11811 wrote: »

Ok I'm using Download manager but i'm only getting 80 KB/s while downloading it normally I was getting 300 KB/s.

Are you on mobile or fixed line broadband, those servers are actually quite fast!

Nick

davidk11811

yoyo wrote: »

Are you on mobile or fixed line broadband, those servers are actually quite fast!

Nick

Fixed line

yoyo

davidk11811 wrote: »

Fixed line

That seems to be very slow, at least now it will be saving anyways!

Nick

davidk11811

Finally re downloaded windows 7 and when i try to burn it using IMGBurn it ejects it at 100% and at the bottom it says "Device Not ready", when I try to "X" IMGBurn it says "Are you sure you want to cancel?" Why isn't it burning properly?

yoyo

davidk11811 wrote: »

Finally re downloaded windows 7 and when i try to burn it using IMGBurn it ejects it at 100% and at the bottom it says "Device Not ready", when I try to "X" IMGBurn it says "Are you sure you want to cancel?" Why isn't it burning properly?

What brand disc are you using? Sounds to me like Imgburn is having trouble finalising the disc, does the disc work in the laptop even though this error appears?

Nick

davidk11811

yoyo wrote: »

What brand disc are you using? Sounds to me like Imgburn is having trouble finalising the disc, does the disc work in the laptop even though this error appears?

Nick

YES! After my fourth attempt (on the same disc) it worked. Going to try it now, wish me luck!

davidk11811

Just to confirm (I know I'm being extra careful) I just make the DVD the main boot option like before, yes?

yoyo

davidk11811 wrote: »

Just to confirm (I know I'm being extra careful) I just make the DVD the main boot option like before, yes?

Yes, thats it. Then it will boot off it. Then delete all the partitions so all you have is "unallocated space" and install to that

Nick

davidk11811

yoyo wrote: »

Then delete all the partitions so all you have is "unallocated space" and install to that.

Nick

Sorry but I don't understand what you mean by that. Can you explain?

davidk11811

I'm installing it now and I've come to "Where do you want to install Windows". I have 3 options
Option 1: Disk 0 Partition 1: RECOVERY
Option 2: Disk 0 Partition 2: OS
Option 3: Disk 0 Partition 3: DATA
I don't see an option to delete any of these, which do I pick?

Edit - I clicked "advanced options" or something like that and the option to delete was there, and I'm installing to unallocated space now.

yoyo

davidk11811 wrote: »

I'm installing it now and I've come to "Where do you want to install Windows". I have 3 options
Option 1: Disk 0 Partition 1: RECOVERY
Option 2: Disk 0 Partition 2: OS
Option 3: Disk 0 Partition 3: DATA
I don't see an option to delete any of these, which do I pick?

Edit - I clicked "advanced options" or something like that and the option to delete was there, and I'm installing to unallocated space now.

Yeah thats pritty much it, once its installing alls good

Nick

davidk11811

Thanks so much for the help and especially the quick replies! You're a life saver!

davidk11811

It's up and running now, delighted. But for some reason it looks like Windows 7 Basic, the X at the top right corner of programs look strange and also the size of the text and general quality are different, I can't connect to the Internet either. Do I need to tweak some settings?

yoyo

davidk11811 wrote: »

It's up and running now, delighted. But for some reason it looks like Windows 7 Basic, the X at the top right corner of programs look strange and also the size of the text and general quality are different. Do I need to tweak some settings?

Make sure you install all important drivers, Chipset, Audio, Video etc. then right click on the Computer shortcut in start menu>Properties>Rate this computer. Re-run the rating and Aero effects should work again

Nick

davidk11811

yoyo wrote: »

Make sure you install all important drivers, Chipset, Audio, Video etc. then right click on the Computer shortcut in start menu>Properties>Rate this computer. Re-run the rating and Aero effects should work again

Nick

When I go to Device Manager and click Action>Update Driver Software it says "The best driver software for your device is already installed". And also when I troubleshoot why Internet Explorer isn't working, it says I'm missing drivers and when I click Install Drivers it says "Windows could not find a driver for your network adapter".

davidk11811

This is driving me mental! None of the devices with a yellow thing beside them will let me update. I wish I put the drivers folder onto my USB before I reinstalled windows. What about if I copied the drivers folder from my netbook or other laptop onto a USB and put them onto my main laptop, would that fix this problem? They would probably incompatible though wouldn't they? Any ideas? I really want to get this fixed tonight.

Edit - I'm going to download the main drivers from this website and transfer them to a USB. In theory this should work but... :rolleyes:

Edit - It didn't work :mad:
Will I ever get this fixed?

yoyo

davidk11811 wrote: »

This is driving me mental! None of the devices with a yellow thing beside them will let me update. I wish I put the drivers folder onto my USB before I reinstalled windows. What about if I copied the drivers folder from my netbook or other laptop onto a USB and put them onto my main laptop, would that fix this problem? They would probably incompatible though wouldn't they? Any ideas? I really want to get this fixed tonight.

Edit - I'm going to download the main drivers from this website and transfer them to a USB. In theory this should work but... :rolleyes:

Edit - It didn't work :mad:
Will I ever get this fixed?

What make/model is the machine. You always need to get the drivers from the manufacturers website, Windows rarely finds them!

Nick

davidk11811

yoyo wrote: »

What make/model is the machine. You always need to get the drivers from the manufacturers website, Windows rarely finds them!

Nick

I have an Asus K53SV laptop, I downloaded the main drivers and put them on a USB, transferred them to my laptop and when I tried to update them again, it didn't work.