still stuck with laptop

jon76

jon76

Member
Hi all, been stuck trying to fix the same laptop for ages now, after many attempts at reformatting having to use usb as the dvd drive is knackered I finally successfully formatted and installed windows 7, but it still wouldn't work, no updates would install, all the programs constantly froze, so I have resorted to wiping the hard drive and was going to use hdat2 to check and repair errors, but I was wondering, is a disk wipe the same, better/worse than low level format, I have only performed a disk wipe a couple of times so i'm lacking in knowledge a bit here
 
jon76 said:
...but I was wondering, is a disk wipe the same, better/worse than low level format...
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The question is a bit redundant actually as both are different names for essentially the same thing. And honestly I wouldn't use that program to check for errors, I would either slave it to a windows or Linux system and scan or use the tool from the manufacturer. The tool from the manufacturer is usually the very best way to go for error checking. Since you are still going to use the hard drive and you dont have a disk drive....

Did you buy a legal version of windows for installation or did you torrent it?
 
gamblingman said:
The question is a bit redundant actually as both are different names for essentially the same thing. And honestly I wouldn't use that program to check for errors, I would either slave it to a windows or Linux system and scan or use the tool from the manufacturer. The tool from the manufacturer is usually the very best way to go for error checking. Since you are still going to use the hard drive and you dont have a disk drive....

Did you buy a legal version of windows for installation or did you torrent it?
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Thanks for the reply, I wasn't sure if they were the same thing or if they differ, by slave do you mean set up as a secondary hard drive? as I am not good with laptops at all, desktops are easy but I don't trust myself with laptop hardware, I have already started a disk wipe which has so far took me nearly an hour to get to 842mb so it would be a shame to stop it before it finishes, yes it is a legal copy, it's actually a friends laptop, it had a disc image on one partition which I have backed up, not that I can read the key as the sticker on the back of the laptop is worn, can I download a tool from the manufacturer that I can run from boot?
 
gamblingman said:
The question is a bit redundant actually as both are different names for essentially the same thing. And honestly I wouldn't use that program to check for errors, I would either slave it to a windows or Linux system and scan or use the tool from the manufacturer. The tool from the manufacturer is usually the very best way to go for error checking. Since you are still going to use the hard drive and you dont have a disk drive....

Did you buy a legal version of windows for installation or did you torrent it?
Click to expand...

oh also sorry would probably be a good idea to tell you some information on the laptop, it's a high grade w76t, honestly I think it's one of the worse laptops I have had the misfortune to use but hoping to get it working before tommorow when it gets taken back, i'm seriously considering launching it really hard against the wall right now though!
 
gamblingman said:
The question is a bit redundant actually as both are different names for essentially the same thing. And honestly I wouldn't use that program to check for errors, I would either slave it to a windows or Linux system and scan or use the tool from the manufacturer. The tool from the manufacturer is usually the very best way to go for error checking. Since you are still going to use the hard drive and you dont have a disk drive....

Did you buy a legal version of windows for installation or did you torrent it?
Click to expand...

it's actually just got to 1gb and gave me the following message drive not ready (command failed or time out)
 
You could give the recovery partition on the hard drive a try, but it may or may not work. They are usually selected by quickly/repeatedly pressing F8 or F10 or CTRL-F10 or CTRL-F11 at boot until the option is given to access the recovery partition.

Without a working disk tray its hard to do a lot of things without taking more time than you have. I mean if its not absolutely necessary they have W7 I'd install Ubuntu. Its free and easy to install and use.

And yeah you could pull the hard drive out and connect it to a desktop or laptop with a slave cable. But you dont have time to get one and probably dont wanna spend the money. If really wouldnt worry about formatting from some other program, I'd just try to reinstall from the usb and let the installer format the drive. If you had a diagnostic dvd you could run a disk check, and it probably definitely needs to be done. If you can, run the checkdisk after you get the os installed.

And now I'm off to bed as its 330am here in texas.
 
gamblingman said:
You could give the recovery partition on the hard drive a try, but it may or may not work. They are usually selected by quickly/repeatedly pressing F8 or F10 or CTRL-F10 or CTRL-F11 at boot until the option is given to access the recovery partition.

Without a working disk tray its hard to do a lot of things without taking more time than you have. I mean if its not absolutely necessary they have W7 I'd install Ubuntu. Its free and easy to install and use.

And yeah you could pull the hard drive out and connect it to a desktop or laptop with a slave cable. But you dont have time to get one and probably dont wanna spend the money. If really wouldnt worry about formatting from some other program, I'd just try to reinstall from the usb and let the installer format the drive. If you had a diagnostic dvd you could run a disk check, and it probably definitely needs to be done. If you can, run the checkdisk after you get the os installed.

And now I'm off to bed as its 330am here in texas.
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I think they will need windows as they are worse with computers than me and I wasn't impressed with it when I set it up as dual boot on mine, I have ran windows 7 format multiple times and it still played up which is why I have resorted to such drastic measures, it's that bad if I got windows working again I honestly don't think it's capable of performing a disk check or any other program without freezing, cheers for the advice though, i'm actually using ultimate boot cd
 
Chase1 said:
well

bumb ubm!
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???
 
Actually using Estool for Samsung hard drive, there is a list of Error : LBA 0, it has been stuck at 0.407% for some time now with LBA : 1988608
 
If you're finding many errors then its time for a new hard drive (or ahem... time for them to get a new/newer computer). Once a hard drive starts developing errors its usually only a short time before major failure occurs. I had to replace mine last year as it had loads of bad sectors. Doesn't take long for damage to happen, and it's like a fast cancer.
 
gamblingman said:
If you're finding many errors then its time for a new hard drive (or ahem... time for them to get a new/newer computer). Once a hard drive starts developing errors its usually only a short time before major failure occurs. I had to replace mine last year as it had loads of bad sectors. Doesn't take long for damage to happen, and it's like a fast cancer.
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That's pretty much what someone on another forum said, they suggested a program called spinrite might help but the chances are it's had it, don't know what they do with it, about a year ago there was a problem with the laptop and I got it working smoothly, it's back again but this time I really doubt I will be able to sort it, it does look like it's been dropped as there is a crack on one of the hinges so i'm thinking that might be what broke the dvd drive, I do have a laptop in a cupboard upstairs so i'm tempted to put the hard drive from that in but i'm a bit weary about doing it as I have never installed hardware in a laptop before, is it a lot harder than a desktop?
 
Usually pretty easy to do, except for Sony VAIO's. Those are a pain. All it usually takes is taking out some screws and pulling the hard drive straight out. Then transfer any clips or guards from the old hard drive to the "new" one. Pretty easy actually. I've done it loads of times on laptops.

BUT if they've dropped it there is no telling what other damage there may be. And there are no "fixes" for a failing hard-drive. Once the sectors are damaged there is no fixing them. All checkdisk or other disk checker programs do is mark the damaged sector as "dont use this sector: XXXXXX" in the MFT. They cant fix it. Once hard drives start to go bad usually they last anywhere from minutes to about a year before they totally fail and are DEAD. There is really no way to know exactly when it will die.

If you arent comfortable messing with it there is nothing wrong with telling the person who owns it that the computer has a hard drive failing and they need a new one. Imagine the scenario where you take that laptop apart and during taking it apart it REALLY starts to fall apart due to the prior drop damaging internal components in ways not visible from the outside. And now..... now you are on the line to "fix it". Its up to you. There is nothing wrong with sending them to a good local computer shop if you arent comfortable doing it.

And now I'm off to work for 10 hours!
 
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gamblingman said:
Usually pretty easy to do, except for Sony VAIO's. Those are a pain. All it usually takes is taking out some screws and pulling the hard drive straight out. Then transfer any clips or guards from the old hard drive to the "new" one. Pretty easy actually. I've done it loads of times on laptops.

BUT if they've dropped it there is no telling what other damage there may be. And there are no "fixes" for a failing hard-drive. Once the sectors are damaged there is no fixing them. All checkdisk or other disk checker programs do is mark the damaged sector as "dont use this sector: XXXXXX" in the MFT. They cant fix it. Once hard drives start to go bad usually they last anywhere from minutes to about a year before they totally fail and are DEAD. There is really no way to know exactly when it will die.

If you arent comfortable messing with it there is nothing wrong with telling the person who owns it that the computer has a hard drive failing and they need a new one. Imagine the scenario where you take that laptop apart and during taking it apart it REALLY starts to fall apart due to the prior drop damaging internal components in ways not visible from the outside. And now..... now you are on the line to "fix it". Its up to you. There is nothing wrong with sending them to a good local computer shop if you arent comfortable doing it.

And now I'm off to work for 10 hours!
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I have transferred the hard drive, was really easy to do, I have built a couple of desktops but never dared open a laptop, although after reading this post I have just realised I am an idiot as I did not transfer the guard which I am guessing could cause strain on the part that connects to the laptop, other than that it's working perfectly, just at the install windows select language screen now, that's quite a shift, my girlfriend is on her 3rd 12 hour shift tonight, I only work one shift a week now as I have a baby to contend with as well as a 9 year old step daughter to look after, thanks for the help with the laptop
 
How did it go? Any problems?

I would run check disk on the hard drive you installed so you know the condition of it. And if you want there are some tools you can install to monitor the hard drive's health and also some maintenance tools to keep it working efficiently.
 
gamblingman said:
How did it go? Any problems?

I would run check disk on the hard drive you installed so you know the condition of it. And if you want there are some tools you can install to monitor the hard drive's health and also some maintenance tools to keep it working efficiently.
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Hi, it all went well thanks, might be a plan, only thing is I start work at 12 today and will be busy until I go, the laptop will be back with the owner by the time I get back, it's actually my girlfriend's cousin's laptop, it should be okay the laptop has actually not had that much use so hopefully will be okay, thanks again for the help
 
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