laptop wont boot

kukkaburra

hiya everyone

i have been unable to boot up my laptop not even into safe mode

the laptop is an acer and im on windows vista 32.it did not come with a windows cd and no one seems to have one i can borrow

i tried download a cd of the net which was meant to help boot but it didnt work

ive seen some recovery cd sold on ebay but not sure if they would help

the laptop was a present out of warrenty now and i cant afford the fees to go to a shop to get it fixed.ive loads of photos on it i really want to save.i should have stored them on disk too but i am long term ill and havent been able to do much being housebound a long time.now im regretting it.it worries me i wont be able to save my photos especially ones that are irreplaceable

im only on dial up and using another old comp to pop on here when i can

please help or advise if you can thank you very much

The_Grandmaster

Tell us what happens when you hit the power button? Any beeps or lights?

CashStrappedTeen89

First thing for me would be to find out what type of HDD is in the laptop, IDE or SATA, im assuming with it having vista its SATA, now does your 'Old' machine has a spare or a single SATA connector on the Motherboard it can use?.

If it does you can at least just copy all your data off the HDD without the possibility of losing it while working on the laptop.

As above though what exactly happens when you turn on the laptop?, the more info you provide the more someone can help you

kukkaburra

hi Grandmaster

the laptop starts to load as normal but then comes to a blue screen with these words

"a problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer

check to make sure any new hardware or software is properly installed.if this is a new installation ask your hardware or software manufacturer for any window updates you might need

if problems continue disable or remove and newly installed hw or sw.diable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing.if you need to use safe mode to remove or disable componets,restart your comp,press f8 to select advanced startup options and then select safe mode

technical information

*** STOP : 0x0000C1F5 (0x00000000, 0x00000000 ,0x00000000 ,0x00000000 ) "


i can use f8 to get to advanced mode but using any safe mode just brings me back to the blue screen again

wonka

The first thing you need to do is to get a Windows Vista install CD - I'm assuming you definitely want to keep Windows? You could of course switch to a free operating system like Ubuntu. (You could also use Ubuntu to boot up and retrieve your photos).

It shouldn't be too difficult to get hold of a disk - a local computer fair maybe. Which edition of Vista is it by the way?

Do you have the product key for Windows - on a sticker underneath the laptop possibly?

With a Vista CD you can then attempt to repair and reinstall Windows, but you will need a valid product key.

CashStrappedTeen89

Possible Solution - LINK

Basically what i said in my post about repairing if not i would then test RAM.

kukkaburra

thanks Wonka i had installed windows vista premium home 32

but i didnt get a disc with the laptop.something ive read saves the company money i think

ive not heard of any computer fairs in my area and im mostly housebound so cant look far.not many shops either.not sure where would sell vista cd but possibly find it on net

i did think it maybe something easy to sort with a cd

thanks CashST that looks easy to follow if only i could get my hands on a cd somewhere.

i have got a windows XP would that cause more harm than good do you think ? thanks for the advice i appreciate it

wonka

Do you have a product key for Vista? It's usually on the bottom of the laptop.

kukkaburra

oops sorry missed answering that question

yes theres a sticker on bottom with a product key

have even been to Acer website try see how much their recovery cd are but it wont accept my serial code or whatever it was called now also found on bottom of laptop

closed

The laptop probably has a recovery partition, which should make it easy to restore to factory settings, (instruction in manual, or on acer website, usually ALT F10 at boot), however if you do this you will lose all your data, so you need to recover it first.

If you download a ubuntu live CD, you could recover your data first, assuming you have somewhere to put it, usb drive etc.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/use-ubuntu-live-cd-to-backup-files-from-your-dead-windows-computer/

Another alternative would be to buy a usb hard disk caddy, at around £5, and take the disk out and attach to your old pc, assuming it is windows xp/vista

kukkaburra

HI Closed

thanks does the caddy hold the hard disk i can take out of my laptop then and connect to my old xp pc via usb ports?

im not sure i know how to take out my hard disk but aslong as i can put it back easy i would have a go if i can buy a caddy

im not up to doing much too complicated im afraid as disability wont let me.

its strange that a windows 7 would help me repair the vista.i wondred if itry put in my xp cd would that wipe everything or let me repair the problem too ?

its giving me too much sleepless nights this : (

trying to load another rescue cd but everytime my internet cuts out this slow dial up it loses all the data ive already downloaded and i need to start again : (