Dell Laptop Fails to Boot up

robryan

Hi,

Can anyone help me with this issue my dad is having with his laptop.

When I try to boot up the laptop I am just getting a blank screen and the Windows OS (Vista) fails to load up.

I ran some tests on it and I got the following message :
Error Code : 0142
MSG Error Code : 2000 - 0142
Status : 79

I have also tried to boot up with the Vista OS DVD that came with the laptop and run a Repair using this but this has also been unsuccessful.

I had a look at the Diagnostic Report and it says there where errors which was 'Failed to find OS loader'

The Laptop is a Dell running Windows Vista OS.

Is the laptop bunched and fit for the bin?
Also is there a way of extracting any files from the Hard Drive?

Thanks,
Rob

FSL

Put a linux distro on a USB stick and try booting from that. YUMI from pendrive linux is very good. It will run under Windows and enables you to create a multi boot USB.

You could then save any files you want to another USB stick and then try reinstalling Vista from the CD.

Alternatively you could install any linux distro.

robryan

FSL wrote: »

Put a linux distro on a USB stick and try booting from that. YUMI from pendrive linux is very good. It will run under Windows and enables you to create a multi boot USB.

You could then save any files you want to another USB stick and then try reinstalling Vista from the CD.

Alternatively you could install any linux distro.

Thanks for the reply FSL..

I will try doing this this evening and see how I get on..

Cheers
Rob

uch

Boot to the recovery console Rob and run a chkdisk for errors, you'll find synthax here

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc730714(v=ws.10).aspx

aidan_walsh

Moved from Virus & Malware Removal.

annieoburns

You can get a little device called a "hard drive reader" and put the Dell harddrive into it and then connect to any other laptop/pc etc. This lets you 'read' what is on it and take copies of what you want to transfer to working computer. It is an inexpensive item, I think I paid 20 euro for one from PC world when my Dell inspiron died.

Best of luck

the_syco

Read this: http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kcs/document?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&docid=DSN_A9E3A15597A04AFBB02EE16785D39C5C&isLegacy=true

Basicly, when the laptop is turned on, tap F12 and select either the "Boot to Utility Partition" option, or the "Diagnostics" option and then press enter, and run the diagnostics. This will tell you if it's your memory or harddrive, or something else.

Most likely it's the harddrive, and they're easy enough to replace.

Torqay

The 2000-0142 error code specifically means that the hard drive self-test failed, which means the drive is no longer reliable. You may be able to retrieve information from the drive.

doncarlos

uch wrote: »

Boot to the recovery console Rob and run a chkdisk for errors, you'll find synthax here

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc730714(v=ws.10).aspx

+1

I've done this lots of times and unless there is physically some hardware issue this solves the problem

If you want to extract files you can like annioburns says by a external hard drive cradle. Or alternatively if its a SATA drive plug it in to a spare port on a desktop and copy all the files across. If you are nervous about opening a PC up go with the first option.

Best of luck with whatever you do.