Laptop Resurrection - HELP!!!!!!!!!!

Vikingr01

Hi,
My wife's Samsung X10 laptop is fading quickly and we need help!!

On start-up the computer tells me that wants to "Checking File System on C:" - Blue screen, white writing, mentions FAT32. If the computer checks the file system or not, it then asks me if I want to start the computer in Safe Mode or start windows normally. If choosing Safe Mode, a long list of file names appear and everything stops. If choosing Start Windows Normally, it's back to the blue screen and "Checking File Sysytem on C:", in an infinite loop.

Questions;
a/ Can I do something to fix it easily myself?
b/ Can a computer proffessional fix it?
c/ Do I need to buy a new computer? i.e.- irretrievable, for the bin!
d/ Its been backed-up, but if its for the bin, can I still salvage some of the data?

I look forward to your replies!

VikingR01

smokiebeverage

It's hard to know for definite without seeing it but it sounds like the hard disk is failing. If it it a new hard disk and either clone of the original hard disk or reinstall will fix it.

drunkmonkey

Sounds like you have a bad virus or the hard drive is faulty. Probably the hard drive, you can pick one up cheaply and fit it yourself, usually no more than 3 screws. Have you the install disks for the computer you'll have to re-load windows on the new hard drive. You can use a hard drive caddy to get you stuff off the old hard drive when the laptop is back up and running.
€50 should see you back up and running if you do it yourself.

carbon nanotube

plus FAT32 goes back to the titanic era, you would want to get a new hard drive, 2.5" i assume. format that with software such as acronis disk suite.

use NTFS for formatting.

that's after you have tried to salvage as much stuff from a external caddy as mentioned etc.

hearny

Definately sounds like the hard drive is failing, you never mentioned what Operating System you are using.

Strange that its using FAT32, so it may not be the drive is failing but the filesystem has errors, so you may not need to get a new drive yet.

First thing you need to do is try to get the data from the drive, the more you use it now the more damage you MAY be doing to the drive.

Assuming you can acccess another computer, try downloading a copy of knoppix or Ubuntu (http://www.knopper.net/knoppix-mirrors/index-en.html).

Burn the iso that you download to a CD.

Make sure you have an external hard drive that you can transfer data to and boot the Samsung Laptop from the CD (Make sure you run from the CD, DO NOT install it to the hard drive).

You should be able to access the drive and copy as much info from it, the faster you work the better, so go for the important files, the Windows folder for one as its not important for retreiving your data.

Once you have the data you can try to repair it, but see if you can do that first.

riclad

Choose safe mode,directory services restore,use keyboard,arrow keys,up,down,to
select,directory services restore,press enter,Wait ten mins for it to fix boot files.this may fix it.
IF this doesnt work,you can download a linux livecd ,eg mint.
DOwnload image, burn image file ,using imgburn program.
Then boot from cd, it boots up mint os, then just browse to drive c:
copy any files you want ,to a usb external drive,.
You can click ,icon install mint if theres 7 gig free drive space on the hardisk.
see
http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php
choose 32bit version.fits on 1cdr, you,ll need a pc with a cdrw or dvdrw
drive.
see http://www.imgburn.com/index.php?act=download,

IT SOUNDS like some windows boot up files are missing,damaged,
it may be possible to replace them using safe mode ,as posted above.
its likely those files were damaged by a virus,
do a full virus scan on the hardrive, and on any files,folder you copy to a usb drive.
start imgburn program
then
Browse to mint iso file,use imgburn menu, clik burn image

or see here,repair windows files using original Windows cd,

Boot (i.e. start up) the computer with the Windows XP CD in the CD drive. You may need to change the 'boot order' via the system BIOS so the CD boots before the hard drive. Check your system documentation for how to access the BIOS and change the boot order. If the system is set to boot from CDs, you may see a startup message saying Press any key to boot from CD....
When you see the Windows XP Welcome To Setup screen, you will see the options below:
This portion of the Setup program prepares Microsoft
Windows XP to run on your computer:

To setup Windows XP now, press ENTER.

To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R.

To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.
Press <Enter> to start the Windows Setup.
Note - DO NOT press <R> to choose the option To repair a Windows XP installation using the Recovery Console, press R
Accept the License Agreement. Windows will then search for existing Windows installations.
Select the XP installation you want to repair from the list (there may only be one) and press <R> to start the repair.
If Repair is not one of the options, you should press <F3> to Quit. This usually means that the version of Windows on the CD does not match the one already installed. If you do proceed to install a fresh copy of Windows rather than repairing an existing one, you will lose access to all the applications you previously had installed (although your own files should be preserved). You will also need to supply the correct Windows licence key for the CD.
Setup will copy all the necessary files to the hard drive and then reboot the system. Do NOT press a key to boot from CD when that message appears.
Reapply all the Windows updates or service packs applied since the initial Windows XP installation. A Repair Installation will remove any service packs

See here safe mode

Safe Mode
Safe Mode with Networking
Safe Mode with Command Prompt

Enable Boot Logging
Enable VGA mode
Last Known Good Configuration (your most recent settings that worked)
Directory Services Restore Mode (Windows domain controllers only)
Debugging Mode

Start Windows Normally
Reboot
Return to OS Choices Menu

Use the up and down arrow keys to move the highlight to your choice.
choose directory service restore mode.

IF THE hard disk is ok,just reinstall windows,in directory c:\windows,
all your old files will still be there ,
Choose KEEP Existing drive format,
DO NOT FORMAT drive, if you Format drive ,you,ll lose your data,music,files,pics.
if safe mode doesnt work .go for livecd mint,
or do a windows reinstall, if you have a windows cd.
BACKUP up all your files,that drive is near the end of its life,
it could last 2 years,or just stop working anytime.
You could get the hardrive replaced.

riclad

IF you are doing a newwindows install,setup, choose setup,
use existing drive/ file ,DO NOT FORMAT Hardrive.
IF necessary the old drive can be put into a 2.5inch usb drive caddy,cost 20euro and plugged into any pc to acess your data files.
ON adverts ie a pentium 4 15inch screen, laptop cpu 2.0ghz can be bought for around 130,ok for youtube,music, webrowsing.
ITS likely all your old files, pics are still on drive c even if windows wont load up.
see here
http://www.beltronics.ie/item.html/id/2465
i think you,d need an ide caddy ,as your laptop is from 2004.
modern laptops use sata interface ,not ide