Windows fails to start

Zatharus said:
Yes I did. You witnessed this functionality first hand. I wanted to clarify that it was in fact a default setting and ability of the current Ubuntu version, and that if the OP was not seeing his drive at all, there may have been more serious issues to contend with. Just affirming your observations.
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Fair enough.

Do you know why I am limited to the file types I can see?
 
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Well, I was able to see the drive, I just couldn't open it. It gave the message "Unable to moiunt volume." :(

When I have the Windows disc in, and the repair FINALLY loads, it asks me to choose the OS I want to repair, or to Load Drivers to find the OS. I didn't know where to go from here, so I loaded a driver in the driverstore folder that seemed to add about 10 drivers. After that, it just sat there for about a half hour - 45 min.

Is it loading these drivers from the hard drive?
 
Bodaggit23 said:
Do you know why I am limited to the file types I can see?
Click to expand...

That I am not sure of. You are able to navigate to the directory, but it shows up as empty?


DPtheGod said:
Well, I was able to see the drive, I just couldn't open it. It gave the message "Unable to moiunt volume." :(

When I have the Windows disc in, and the repair FINALLY loads, it asks me to choose the OS I want to repair, or to Load Drivers to find the OS. I didn't know where to go from here, so I loaded a driver in the driverstore folder that seemed to add about 10 drivers. After that, it just sat there for about a half hour - 45 min.

Is it loading these drivers from the hard drive?
Click to expand...

Hmmm...there could be a problem with the file system on your drive. We'll get back to that.

At the point where the installer asks you to choose the OS to repair, you should be presented with a list of operating systems installed on your machine. In your case, you should see only one install. Was the list empty?

You should not have to load any drivers with a Vista install disk. It is Vista, correct?
 
Ah, I forgot to mention that earlier lol. Sorry! :( But yeah, it is Vista.

The list dialogue sits gray and takes a little bit to load. But, when it finally does, the list is indeed empty. It says if it's not currently listed, then to load drivers to find it. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do here. :(
 
Huh- That is strange. I'm surprised it will boot into Vista at all then. Did you ever try booting into Safe Mode?

One other option you can try is to fix the Master Boot Record from recovery. Have a look over here for information on how to do that. After that, see if your OS shows up in the repair install window.
 
Zatharus said:
That I am not sure of. You are able to navigate to the directory, but it shows up as empty?
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Bodaggit23 said:
Ok, I'm posting from Ubuntu Live Disc.

I can browse to all my partitions, and see all my Folders,
but I can't see my Pictures, Music, Videos, JPEGS.

I can, however, see .txt files, .png's, .exe's and .bin's.
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This as posted earlier. My folders are not empty, I'm just limited
to what file types I can see.

I just thought posting this info may help in some way. :o
 
Bodaggit23 said:
This as posted earlier. My folders are not empty, I'm just limited
to what file types I can see.

I just thought posting this info may help in some way. :o
Click to expand...

Oh, OK. Thank you for the clarification. :)

I'll have to look into this. I have not experienced any missing files like you mention. Actually, I recently had to use a live disk to get into a co-worker's machine to offload his data. I was able to back up his entire user folder, images, videos and all without issue.

I have seen mention of files missing due to missing text encoding support. In other words, files with special characters in them may not show up without enabling other language sets. I'm not convinced that this is the case for you though, but it is worth checking out.
 
Unfortunately I can't get to safe mode, as it crashes and restarts giving me the same windows failed to start error. When I try booting from the windows disc, it takes forever to load if it loads. If it loads, it doesn't show the operating system and asks to load the drivers for the hard disk.

Anybody have ideas? It's driving me nuts, and all I want to do is get my information off the computer before I plan to reformat.

By the way, I have the option to boot from lan, so if my laptop is linked to my computer could I get my files that way?

THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP!
 
Boot from Lan is completely different than what you are thinking.

It sounds like the drive may have crashed then. Open up the laptop to get to the drive, and listen for the drive to spin up when you power it on. You may want to put it in an external case for this. Then you can try mounting it on another Windows computer.

After that, I would recommend purchasing another drive to put in the laptop. See if that comes up under the Vista installer.
 
Hmm, but do you know what could be causing the computer to take forever to load the Vista recovery from the Windows disc? That should be entirely on the DVD drive, right?

:( I hope it's not toasted. If I don't have an external case, could I still mount it to, say, my desktop? Could I retrieve my files that way, and also format the drive?
 
You have a slow disc drive perhaps. It will take some time to load up. How much RAM is in there?

Yes, you could mount it to your desktop easily if it is a SATA drive.
 
I have 2 GB of RAM in there, but the processor is a 1.6 GHz, which I know is relatively prehistoric. :P

It is a SATA drive, I believe, I have to double check. Do I just connect it to one of my sata controllers in the tower? I'm not sure if I have any spare, but I should, right?

Also, if I do throw the hard drive in my desktop, can it cause any issues with my desktop's HDD, or other hardware?

BTW -- Will it matter if the laptop hdd is 2.5 inch, while my desktop HDD is 3.5? I believe it's that big lol
 
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Yes, you can pop the SATA connectors from your desktop right on there. Once in there, it shouldn't cause problems with the other drives unless there is an electrical problem with the drive.

The connectors are the same for 2.5" and 3.5" SATA drives.
 
I'm getting ready to turn this computer off and plug in the hard drive. After I plug it in, if I can access my files and back them up, should I use the disk management to format the drive and then place it back in the laptop and then reinstall windows?

I ask because my windows disk is exclusive to the laptop brand.
 
Yeah, that's not a bad idea. Back it up and wipe it on the desktop if you can. That may help speed things up for you.
 
I threw the laptop HDD as a secondary in my desktop, and the computer fails to boot. It finally comes to a chkdisk, and after the scan it justs sits there. So, I decided I'd try booting into safe mode on this desktop's HDD, and see if I can access the laptop HDD and just pull the files from there. Safe mode runs extremely slow, and eventually freezes. But, I do see it asking me to install the driver for the generic volume. So, if I was to find the driver for the laptop HDD online, could I install it and use it that way, without it doing any damage to this desktop?
 
You won't need a driver for that laptop HD. It sounds like the drive itself is completely buggered. It seems like there is something wrong with the drive electronics, or the drive is physically damaged. Does you desktop function normally without the laptop drive in it?

As I mentioned earlier, your laptop drive should not damage your desktop unless there is an electrical problem with the drive itself. From what you described, this does sound close to it. I would toss the drive and replace it.
 
Yeah it functions just fine without the laptop HDD. It seems like safe mode is trying to access the laptop HDD. I loaded command prompt and tried to access the laptop drive, but it says "The device is not ready", then brings up the dialogue asking me to install the driver for the drive.
 
Sorry mate. It is either the controller board or a physical malfunction in the drive. Doe it make any strange sounds when you start up the drive? Or, any sounds of life for that matter?

If you absolutely need the data off of it, you could contact a recovery service. Be warned, they are very expensive.
 
Well, I don't hear any strange sounds or anything, but I don't exactly know what to listen for either lol.

Although, when I plug it in, I can hear and feel the drive start spinning and working. Does that indicate sounds of life?
 
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