laptop wont boot

closed

yes you just need a 2.5" usb caddy, undo a couple of screws, and pop it in.

There are 2 types, pata/ide (older) and sata (newer - likely to be this if its vista, but check), you need the correct one for your laptop, if you take the disk out, and either look at the label, or google the model no, or compare the connectors with google images of pata or sata, it should be obvious.

If you are stuck, post for advice, I wouldn't stick the xp cd in.

Or you can buy a lead that does both, try amazon, ebay etc.

Ever considered broadband, often cheaper than dial up nowadays, and with a wireless router, makes your laptop so much more useful.

If you have the xp cd, and a cd writer, creating a pe disc is an option

It looks very complicated, but it isn't

http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/

Do you have any external backup devices, eg usb flash drive, or usb hard disk?

kukkaburra

im afraid i dont have any external devices to back up to i have downloaded a fre trial of download manager which should make it a bit quicker to download ubuntu now and at least if my intenet cuts out it will resume where i live theres limited broadband providers and expensive for them and not an option as i already owe debt to my phone provider.they letting me keep dial up as im paying in installments is the PE disk for vista ? ive tried to read a bit but unsure.at least if i have my files and photos of the laptop i dont mind installing the xp on it just to get a working laptop but need to rescue first its limited when friends dont even have net and ive not heard back yet from some who might be able to help me with the rescue mission..i will try a few more rescue cd first for now thanks

closed

If you are going to download a rescue disk, you are going to need somewhere to put the data, either a different partition, or external drive, network drive, or cd/dvd

diable

whip out any added memory sticks and try to start it up

kukkaburra

thanks closed

i must try to get hold of a caddy for my drive.the ubuntu download says wil take 79 days on dial up so thats a waste of time.so i will try get some energy up to travel shop or search ebay for a caddy.must get right one : )

thank you diable im not sure what the memory sticks would be.im sure i read about them on a forum but dont know what to look for.have you any links that may help me?

need to sort this soon.i keep waking up thinking about it.just want to safely save my photos.very sentimental and no replacements.thats what i get for not back ing all up.

must look for a usb drive or something i can store stuff on.i not sure how much they are nowadays : /