Can I resurrect old XP laptop?

downshifter

I have an old Dell Inspiron running XP that I don't use very much, my documents are on Dropbox. It has still worked brilliantly up until a couple of days ago. I now find a message 'Disk read error occurred. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart' immediately after showing the Dell sign. Pressing those just brings it back to the same point.

I can see this is quite a common problem judging by a bit of googling, but with many possible fixes, some of which I've tried to no avail. I'd like to try to boot from a restore disk but find I haven't got one, usually I keep these things and can find restore disks from computers long since gone, but nothing from this one. Is there a way I can download the necessary files onto a CD using my current Vista laptop? If so how?

I'd love to bring this old thing back to life as it has been really good but if I have to get rid, I'd like to be able to do a final check that I have indeed got all the files from it that I need to, I thought I had but would really like to check just in case.

The other alternative I haven't tried is linux from a disk. I used this years ago so will have to relearn!

Or any other solutions would be great. Thanks. DS

esuhl

Some Dell machines I've seen had the option to create recovery discs. If you can get the laptop running for long enough, you might be able to find a program in the Start Menu that Dell pre-installed.

If not, you can request recovery disks from Dell. I don't know how much (or if) they'll charge for them.

http://www.dell.com/support/article/uk/en/ukdhs1/SLN135486/EN

Alternatively, Linux might be a good option if you can find a distro you can get on with. As a slightly techie control-freak, I'm a big fan of Arch. If you want to learn how Linux works "under the bonnet" and be in control of the system, it's brilliant. If you don't care about Linux and just want an OS you can use to get stuff done without having to configure everything from scratch... you'll absolutely hate it!

https://www.archlinux.org/

I_have_spoken

Could be the hard disk has a problem, so even restoring wouldn't solve that.

An options is to get a USB caddy, put the old drive in that and attach the Vista laptop. You may get lucky and be able to check the drive for any remaining critical files.

Laz123

The Ultimate Boot Disc is quite handy for accessing and sometimes fixing hd problems. Otherwise you can download and burn to disc an XP boot disc http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm and maybe do a repair if it's a os problem. Have you run a hd error check and ticked both boxes so it can recover bad sectors?

NiftyDigits

Service Tag?

[Deleted User]

I_have_spoken wrote: »

Could be the hard disk has a problem, so even restoring wouldn't solve that.

That's what I'm thinking.

I'd be inclined to replace the HDD, then re-install.

If there's a computer fair near you, you might find a cheap HDD and a copy of an early(ish) version of Windows (eg. XP, 98), and you could set the laptop up with that.

Alternatively, I'd be inclined to fit a replacement HDD, and use it for experimenting with non-standard OSs.

downshifter

Just to say a big thank you to you on here. Lots of good ideas which I will try over the weekend. Have asked a friend to lend me a caddy, that sounds like the easiest and first plan. Thanks again.

DS

Orangezorki

If your documents are in the cloud, consider a small SSD for well under a hundred quid, and installing a speedy linux with a GUI on it. Will breathe new life into the machine!

NiftyDigits

downshifter wrote: »

Just to say a big thank you to you on here. Lots of good ideas which I will try over the weekend. Have asked a friend to lend me a caddy, that sounds like the easiest and first plan. Thanks again.

DS

Service Tag?

steviebabes

I had a similar problem with an old XP laptop. Started with disc error reports then took 2 or 3 times to start up. Got a new (larger & faster) HDD and put XP back on from the recovery disc and its now like a new machine. The odd thing is the old HDD is in a caddy and is still working as a backup drive over a year later. I'm guessing the part of the drive with the operating system on was worn out but the rest is OK. Before doing anything check you can read the product key on the bottom of the laptop, it often wears off. If you cant you may be able to get it running long enough to retrieve it with a key reader program. If you don't have a recovery disc you can often buy a disc from ebay but it will need to be the same issue of windows for your key to work.