Latop not booting.

[copacetic]

Hello.

Friend's laptop not booting.

Drive is seen in boot-up.

Does not get as far as windows boot, just gets stuck on a black screen.

Removing drive, and placing into a desktop PC causes my computer to get stuck at trying to load windows (definitely booting off of my drive).

I presume the drive is buggered, but I am hoping there may be some way to salvage some data off the thing if possible.

Any advice or ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Pooky]

Put it in the laptop, boot PuppyLinux off a USB stick (make the usb first boot priority in the BIOS): http://puppylinux.org/main/Overview and Getting Started.htm

See if it boots up and you can see the HDD. If you can then plug in an external drive and backup what you want.

 

[dews]

Yes do as Pooky said, boot of USB flashdisk, u can ofcourse use other linux distro's but PuppyLinux is pretty good with older hardware.

 

[copacetic]

Sees the drive in Linux, but is unable to mount it.

Damn.

Thanks guys.

 

[Bar0n]

Tried fixing the master boot record? Shot in the dark, but still.

 

[ponder]

Sees the drive in Linux, but is unable to mount it.

Damn.

Thanks guys.

Try Gparted-->Device-->Create Patition Table and afterwards try and create a new partition.

 

[copacetic]

Reliable cheap replacement drive?

Reputable online store to get it from?

Thanks!

*edit*

I presume any 2.5 SATA drive will do?

Don't know much about laptops...

 

[GreGorGy]

Put it into a SATA enclosure and plug into another laptop. If windows can mount it, you should be able to get something from the drive.

 

[copacetic]

Put it into a SATA enclosure and plug into another laptop. If windows can mount it, you should be able to get something from the drive.

Already plugged the drive into another PC. Windows won't boot with it connected, and Linux cannot mount the drive.

 

[copacetic]

What the hell is a latop?

 

[Pooky]

What the hell is a latop?

It's french.

 

[Rickster]

Already plugged the drive into another PC. Windows won't boot with it connected, and Linux cannot mount the drive.

Do that and install Crystal disk info on your pc and check the health of the drive.

 

[ponder]

Get the drives S.M.A.R.T. status and post it here.

 

[GreGorGy]

Already plugged the drive into another PC. Windows won't boot with it connected, and Linux cannot mount the drive.

Startup pc then plug it in via USB enclosure is what I meant.

 

[Maverick Jester]

Tried fixing the master boot record? Shot in the dark, but still.

This. Can be done in Linux too...

 

[Maverick Jester]

Already plugged the drive into another PC. Windows won't boot with it connected, and Linux cannot mount the drive.

Does it appear when you run GParted?