Laptop not booting windows

-( i )- Wicker

Im trying to recover an old laptop but im not having much luck.

After it shows the toshiba splash it should start to load windows but nothing happens, it just goes to a blank screen. I've tried resetting the BIOS so the default settings which made no difference. I've tried to run the recovery cd but that wont load up either.

I've used ultimatebootcd to test the memory and hard drive several times and recieved no errors, so i cant seem to figure out where the problem lies.

Any ideas?

yoyo

-( i )- Wicker wrote: »

Im trying to recover an old laptop but im not having much luck.

After it shows the toshiba splash it should start to load windows but nothing happens, it just goes to a blank screen. I've tried resetting the BIOS so the default settings which made no difference. I've tried to run the recovery cd but that wont load up either.

I've used ultimatebootcd to test the memory and hard drive several times and recieved no errors, so i cant seem to figure out where the problem lies.

Any ideas?

In the bios try changing the SATA controller mode. Are you booting off the windows recovery cd, or trying to use the recovery partition? It could be the recovery partition is broken and thats why nothing is loading

Nick

-( i )- Wicker

Thanks for the reply.

There is no option to change the SATA controller mode in the bios, theres very limited options actually. I had considered updating the bios but the .exe needs to be run from windows so thats no use to me.

I was trying to run the windows recovery CD but with no success, this is an old laptop and doesn't seem to have a recovery partition.

Edit: I should note that I've cleared the CMOS so the default bios should be loaded.

homingbird

Best thing to do is run a live version of linux to copy any of the stuff you want & erinstall windows.

-( i )- Wicker

homingbird wrote: »

Best thing to do is run a live version of linux to copy any of the stuff you want & erinstall windows.

As I've said, i've tried to run the recovery cd but it wont launch, just blank screen. I can boot from the ultimatebootcd fine though.

yoyo

-( i )- Wicker wrote: »

As I've said, i've tried to run the recovery cd but it wont launch, just blank screen. I can boot from the ultimatebootcd fine though.

It could be the Windows CD your using is damaged? Could you try another one? The disc drive could also be faulty.

Nick

-( i )- Wicker

yoyo wrote: »

It could be the Windows CD your using is damaged? Could you try another one? The disc drive could also be faulty.

Nick

Just after trying another XP disk now. It said "Setup is inspecting your computers hardware configuration" and then a blank screen like before.

I had no problem running the ultimatebootcd so I don't think the disc drive is at fault.

yoyo

-( i )- Wicker wrote: »

Just after trying another XP disk now. It said "Setup is inspecting your computers hardware configuration" and then a blank screen like before.

I had no problem running the ultimatebootcd so I don't think the disc drive is at fault.

At this point you may need to backup everything, completely wipe the drive, and then do a fresh install of windows XP. From Googling it sounds as though issues with hard disk partitions can cause this black screen (here for eg)

Nick

-( i )- Wicker

yoyo wrote: »

At this point you may need to backup everything, completely wipe the drive, and then do a fresh install of windows XP. From Googling it sounds as though issues with hard disk partitions can cause this black screen (here for eg)

Nick

Thanks Nick, i'll investigate this now and get back to you

-( i )- Wicker

Just a quick update, managed to run testdisk and it reports that the MFT and MFT Mirror are bad. There's nothing of major importance on the hard drive so i'll try a format and reinstall tomorrow hopefully.

yoyo

-( i )- Wicker wrote: »

Just a quick update, managed to run testdisk and it reports that the MFT and MFT Mirror are bad. There's nothing of major importance on the hard drive so i'll try a format and reinstall tomorrow hopefully.

Yeah a fresh install will likely sort it

Nick