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Windows won't start after attempted defrag

D

Destructive

n00b
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Messages
16
My father left his laptop on overnight defragging. In the morning, it was displaying an error message stating that it couldn't find anything to boot from. Upon rebooting, it will randomly either go to windows safe mode dialog, or say that message again. trying any safe mode options or starting windows normally causes the computer to restart after a very long loading time at the windows splash screen, where I can faintly see a BSOD before it reboots. There could have been thunderstorms that night, and the computer was plugged directly into the wall :(

I have tried:

1. using a windows cd for recovery. I tried to run chkdsk, but the recovery console refuses to believe the computer has a hard drive. Every drive letter except the cd drive is inaccessible.

2. UBCD. The utilities on there show that the files on the drive still exist, and I tried multiple things to fix the boot sector. Nothing seems to work. The gateway scanner on UBCD said the drive failed the extended test-- quite a detailed diagnosis :rolleyes: .

3. Knoppix won't mount the drive, complaining that the boot sector is bad and that there is no backup. I was under the impression that windows didn't even defrag that, so I have no idea how it could be damaged.

Also, sometimes even with the boot order set to cd drive first and a bootable cd in it, it will repeatedly prompt me to insert a bootable disc.

In addition, my father has lost his windows cd, and I only have a home edition cd. :rolleyes: .

The computer is some sort of Asus laptop. Win XP pro, 1.5ghz pentium m, 768mb ram, Toshiba 40gb hdd (model MK4026GAX) in ntfs format. It's about 2 years old. Can't really get any more detailed specs because I can't even get into windows.

I have never really had to deal with problems like this before, so basically:

A. What is the best bet for getting windows to start (if possible)

or at least

B. What's the best program for getting those files off of the damaged disk and burning them to a cd(on the same computer)? Preferably free.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help! I have been trying to fix this thing all day.
 
right when i read bsod's on login, i knew your drive was dying/dead/bad sector. you could just have a corrupt file, but it almost seems like a dead drive if knoppix wont mount it. the best way to get the information off is to take out the drive, buy a 2.5" to 3.5" adapter and boot the drive up with your desktop. you may get bsod's and it may take a while, but at least you'll get the information off.

if you know where he purchased the laptop, he may be able to get it fixed there, depending on the warranty he has or had. otherwise, laptop hard drives are terribly expensive. once you know, you newegg
 
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