It sounds like a grinding almost. Like the old floppy disk when the data was being read/written. I am trying to install Ubuntu on a laptop but it seems like the cd-rom isnt reading the CD fast enough. Any Ideas?
The machine is a Toshiba Satellite Laptop.Celeron Class Processor I am trying to install Ubuntu Linux onto it via a live CD Burned on a CD-r. It will boot into the live OS (after 20 minutes) but when I go to install it seems to hang up and is always trying to read the CD
Posted in Linux Live CDs
Tagged cd rom, Disk, Failing, floppy disk, isnt, Laptop, read, Ubuntu
I’ve read of downloading and burning a “Live CD” which the computer can boot up on.
(1) Do I need Windows in order to install Linux?
(2) What do I need present on my hard drive in order to install this OS? config.sys and autoexec.bat?
(3) If I want to remove Windows and run Linux how do I “wipe” the hard drive clean?
Thank you all for your help,
Perkins80
I am fixing a friends laptop computer that has Vista on it. She bought it from Best Buy a little over a year ago. 5 months ago she was downloading a game, closed the lid, and went to bed while the game kept downloading. When she woke up and open the laptop lid, it asked her to restart. After restarting the computer she received the “A disk read error has occurred, press ctrl+alt+del to restart.” That is where it is stuck at.
She took her computer to Best Buy and was told she had MalWare and that it would cost $325 (she even bought the extended warranty which they told her doesn’t cover the hard drive) to send it off and have the data backed up and a new Vista OS installed. Or $525 to backup data and replace hard drive. I know thats bs. I took it from her yesterday to play with it.
I have tried using the Vista Recovery CD from NeoSmart, but no luck. I set laptop to boot from cd and it stops after the Windows Loading screen that has the little green “Knight Rider” bar. After that screen it just goes black. I know the CD is fine because I tested it in my computer. I know the DVD drive is fine also because of whats follows in the next paragraph. I am pretty sure this problem is a simple fixboot/fixmbr problem, but I can’t get the Recovery CD to load which in turn prevents me from running anything. BTW, this laptop like many does not have a Vista CD since it has the Recovery Partition installed on the HDD. Can’t access that since I can’t start Windows. She did however make other Recovery CD’s when she bought the computer using the Recovery Manager (you know the whole 3 Dvds crap) but those will not work either. they just cause a clicking sound.
So, my last effort was Linux Live. I don’t use Linux, but I always keep a updated Linux Live CD for just such an occasion. Linux Live (Using Slax) will load just fine from the DVD drive and I am able to access the contents of her HDD. So now I am pretty sure the HDD is in good shape and that the boot sector is the culprit. My question basically boils down to:
Is there any way to restore a Windows Vista Boot Sector with a linux live cd?
I did a search and came across ms-sys, but know nothing about it. I aso have a Win XP CD, but read somewhere that you should never use an XP CD to repair Windows Vista boot sectors. I so far haven’t even tried that CD to see if it will load. Anyway that is where I am at. Any help or guidance would be appreciated.
Posted in Linux Live CDs
Tagged 5 months, bed, best buy, computer, Disk, game, Laptop, laptop computer, lid, read, Read Error, startup, vista, year
I am fixing a friends laptop computer that has Vista on it. She bought it from Best Buy a little over a year ago. 5 months ago she was downloading a game, closed the lid, and went to bed while the game kept downloading. When she woke up and open the laptop lid, it asked her to restart. After restarting the computer she received the “A disk read error has occurred, press ctrl+alt+del to restart.” That is where it is stuck at.
She took her computer to Best Buy and was told she had MalWare and that it would cost $325 (she even bought the extended warranty which they told her doesn’t cover the hard drive) to send it off and have the data backed up and a new Vista OS installed. Or $525 to backup data and replace hard drive. I know thats bs. I took it from her yesterday to play with it.
I have tried using the Vista Recovery CD from NeoSmart, but no luck. I set laptop to boot from cd and it stops after the Windows Loading screen that has the little green “Knight Rider” bar. After that screen it just goes black. I know the CD is fine because I tested it in my computer. I know the DVD drive is fine also because of whats follows in the next paragraph. I am pretty sure this problem is a simple fixboot/fixmbr problem, but I can’t get the Recovery CD to load which in turn prevents me from running anything. BTW, this laptop like many does not have a Vista CD since it has the Recovery Partition installed on the HDD. Can’t access that since I can’t start Windows. She did however make other Recovery CD’s when she bought the computer using the Recovery Manager (you know the whole 3 Dvds crap) but those will not work either. they just cause a clicking sound.
So, my last effort was Linux Live. I don’t use Linux, but I always keep a updated Linux Live CD for just such an occasion. Linux Live (Using Slax) will load just fine from the DVD drive and I am able to access the contents of her HDD. So now I am pretty sure the HDD is in good shape and that the boot sector is the culprit. My question basically boils down to:
Is there any way to restore a Windows Vista Boot Sector with a linux live cd?
I did a search and came across ms-sys, but know nothing about it. I aso have a Win XP CD, but read somewhere that you should never use an XP CD to repair Windows Vista boot sectors. I so far haven’t even tried that CD to see if it will load. Anyway that is where I am at. Any help or guidance would be appreciated.
Posted in Linux Live CDs
Tagged 5 months, bed, best buy, computer, Disk, game, Laptop, laptop computer, lid, read, Read Error, startup, vista, year
my mothers computer wont boot it will get as far as the log in screen if you wait 10 mins. the hard drive labors and the read write arm clicks back and forth. i know this is a sign of a bad hard drive however i had another drive do this in my hp and it was just a messed up bootloader. im asking becouse i decided to just go ahead run hdat2 to fix possible bad sectors and then reformat. it will run the bootable cd but after scanning the hardware when i should have disk options on the screen i get nuthing. i dont get no drive found or anyof than just a blank screen with a curser. im thinking i have a busted hard drive. i just find it odd that i cant even get drive options to run off the bootable cd. could a bad hard drive prevent this from running? i did try a linux live cd on the machine and it ran fine. im pretty sure its the hard drive i just wanna be sure before i go spend money i dont have. if not the hard drive what else could i check? or dose this sound like classic hard drive failure??
Posted in Linux Live CDs
Tagged arm, bad sectors, blank screen, boot, bootable cd, computer, computer wont boot, curser, dont, drive, hard drive failure, hp, Linux, Linux Live CDs, log, money, problem, read, screen, Won't
