PC won't boot up or run recovery!

Goldust

Hi,

My brothers PC seems to have died. The PC won't boot up and the recovery CD doesn't run either. The recovery program begins OK but when the status bar to start it up is full, the whole thing just stops.

I think it might be a problem with the hard drive - I've got a basic program that seems to let me see that the files are there. This boots from a CD.

Can anyone recommend a good program that boots up from scratch which will remedy this and sort the HD out? I don't mind if it's not free - I will pay as long as it's a decent program!

Thanks in advance.

PeteHerts

Its been a while since i did this but from memory if you can get to command line then have a look by typing in help and run Chkdsk. I think theres an option to fix when running chkdsk

Goldust

I can't even get a command prompt. The only way I think is to get a program that boots up and runs these diagnostics but I don't know of any good ones!

albertross_2

can you boot from an XP Cd, run recovery console, and do chkdsk c: /F/R

The symptoms you describe could be a variety of things, it may not be the HD. Suggest you go to the HD manufacturers site, and download their drive fitness test, to see if there is a physical problem.

spinrite (about £45) from GRC.com can sometimes fix HD problems, but if it is on it's way out, it's cheaper to buy a new HD.

What happens when it boots up? Is it XP? Which program are you using to see the data?


As I say, it may be nothing to do with the HD, so I'd go through testing the HD and ram before spending money.

peter999

1) Can you boot into Safe Mode (press F5 on startup).

2) Download Windows Memory Diagnostic tool to test your memory:

http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp

3) Is your install CD a special recovery CD or just Microsoft XP Install CD ??

If you have XP install CD, boot off CD, you can:
-Repair previous Windows XP installation
-Install new copy of Windows XP

peter999

Browntoa

this is bootable and will let you do some diagnostics

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

woodkitten

Browntoa wrote:

this is bootable and will let you do some diagnostics

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

Hi can you tell me how to put this on a disc so it boots up automaticlly after inserting into the disc drive, as my son cannot get his computer to start up from the hard drive or the windows disc i will have to do it on my compter
cheers woodkitten.

Chippy_Minton

With the UBCD .iso (CD image) on your hard drive, burn it to a CD using the burn image feature of your CD burning software. Then set your computer's BIOS to boot from the CD drive. All explained at http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/faq.html.