My system restore disks won't work? Help!

MissShal

Hi all, I'm sorry if this has been asked before, I did a search but couldn't see anything that answered my question.

My Compaq pc (running Vista) which was only purchased in November '07 has decided to pack up on me. When I switch it on it shows a screen saying "Compaq" with the options to go to boot menu, system setup and system recovery. Then it goes to a screen that used to be the windows logo with a loading indicator underneath, however the windows logo has vanished. Then it goes to a black screen and does nothing. System restore (F11) just takes me to a blank blue screen with a cursor on it.

I tried last night to do a system restore using the disks I made when we first got the pc, they definitely work because I've used them once before with no problems. Now however it just loads a blank blue screen like it does if I press F11. I tried about 3 times last night, I've changed the BIOS to load from CD first and that didn't work either. I'm completely stumped.

A similar thing happened about a week after we bought it, we ended up taking it back to the shop and after the bloke pressed a few buttons he got it working and told us that it was probably something that we'd downloaded from the internet and if it happened again they wouldn't be able to help us, so I'm not holding my breath about taking it back!

Has anyone got any advice as to how I can get the thing working?

mr_fishey

I would set your bios to boot from the cd/dvd and then reboot the pc but this time as it boots up dont press any buttons and let the pc boot from the cd, then follow the instructions on screen. It sounds like your hard drive is corrupted which is why the F11 restore isnt working,that would be looking at you hard drive for the restore information.

MissShal

Hi, thanks for the reply, I've just tried that but it's still loading up to the blue screen. Is there anything else I can try?

If the hard drive is corrupt will that definitely be down to me or could it be a fault with the drive itself? I've been careful not to download anything dodgy, all of my music is from Itunes etc, I only really go on this site and facebook, amazon and similar things. The pc had AVG free edition and Spybot on it.

mdbarber

If the restore cd doesn't work(make sure its clean and not scratched) it could be the cd drive has gone as well but from what you have said it actually sounds like the hard drive has failed
This is rare on a newish machine but not unheard of
Go into the bios and see is there is anywhere to detect the hdd if this fails its a duff un!
Do you have a standard window cd to boot from?, if so try that because it will be able to detect and remove a corrupted partition(hdd format) whereas the restore cd may not

MissShal

I'm in the BIOS, under the boot menu, and under "Hard Drive Group Boot Priority" it says:

1. Ch2 M. : ST3160815AS

Would that be the hard drive? On the "Main" screen it's under "3rd Drive". I've not altered anything on the main screen, all I've changed is the boot order to try and get it to boot from the restore CD.

The CD drive is fine, I had to use it yesterday to load Ubuntu to try and rescue my files (ended up using BartPE because I don't have a clue how to mount the HDD on Ubuntu). Would that have made a difference?

All I have is the recovery disks (2 disks on DVDs) that I had to use the computer to make when it was first bought. It didn't come with any CDs in the box. Typically in the guide book it tells you how to do a system restore with the disks but it has no info at all about what to do if it doesn't work!

Just a thought, would anything happen if I stuck CD 2 into the drive?

mr_fishey

I would take it back to where you bought it, it's still under 12 months old so there shouldnt be any real problems in getting it repaird.

MissShal

Yeah I think you're right. It was from PC world though, and they weren't exactly helpful last time so I'm not looking forward to it, I fear we may have a bit of a battle on our hands over this!

mdbarber

Looks like the bios is picking the drive up ok, that says the controller card for the disk is ok and that will do basic tests on ths disk it's self, so??
The idea of creating restore dvds is ok but has a few flaws in real life usage, dvdr's are more prone to failure than factory made ones, not been left in sunlight have they?
From post mentioning ubuntu and bartpe i suspect you are fairly pc literate so basically you need a method of removing the partitions on you hdd and attempting to either use restore disks again or manually install windows(borrow a disk?)
Would of thought a newish linux distro would automatically mount a hdd? but not used one for a while so can't tell you for sure, again it may fail if the partition table is corrupt.

donnajunkie

hi,
i'm no expert at this but you mention the two system discs but not the boot disc. didnt you also make a boot disc? i am just curious if it is that what you need to get things going. like i said though i'm no expert. i have a compaq with vista also so i am crossing my fingers that i dont suffer the same problem.

MissShal

Definitely only have the two disks, they're labelled "Recovery Disk 1 of 2" and "Recovery Disk 2 of 2" which I think is what the PC said to label them when I made them, so nothing about a boot disk.

I took it into PC World yesterday, and I've been told that I have a Boot Manager virus (or something like that). Can anyone tell me what that's all about?

Been told that it will cost me £29.99 to have it fixed by them, and then he recommended getting Norton which will be £30 instead of £60 if I buy it when I have the PC fixed. Is this good advice? I haven't really got £60 to spare at the moment but I need the computer up and running because it's how we keep on top of our bills, check our bank statements etc.

Here was me thinking that rescuing my files would be the difficult part!

colboy

If you have added any other devices(DVD-RW,extra hard drive,etc) they must be disconnected before running the restore disks.Also disconnect printers and scanners. Restore disks can be a nightmare as you start update the comp.