[rshaffer61]

I've had 6 pots of coffee so far today and it's late now so i have to stop drinking it.

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Ah yes, well that could be the problem then. I suggest going for a jog around the block.

[Troy]

Ah yes, well that could be the problem then. I suggest going for a jog around the block.

[cbwgators]

I'm not sure where memtest has come into this at all.

It was in your instructions!!


NOTE...do not put a blank cd in until burncdcc opens the tray for you
1. Start BurnCDCC
2. Browse to the ISO file you want to burn on cd/dvd ....in this case its memtest86.iso
3. Select the ISO file
4. click on Start

[rshaffer61]

ahh i see, my mistake as the instructions were not clear. Forget the memtest part and substiture it for the puppy file instead. Thank you for pointing that out to me and i have corrected the mistake.

[cbwgators]

ok, we got the puppy downloaded per instructions. Can't get the PC to boot to anything.

[Troy]

You will need to enter the BIOS and set the boot order so that it looks to boot from the CD drive before the hard drive.

[cbwgators]

You will need to enter the BIOS and set the boot order so that it looks to boot from the CD drive before the hard drive.

I cannot do that. No matter what key I press (f8, f10, etc), it goes to the error message about the hard drive and then says to press Enter to continue. Then the screen says press F4 to enter set up. When I do that, it just sits there.

If you have some magic spell to get me into the BIOS, plmk!

[Troy]

If pressing F4 at that point does not enter the BIOS (which is what they mean by SETUP) then there is another problem with your computer. At this point I would suspect the motherboard however it's not 100% at this stage.

If you need to continue to get the data off the drive first, you will need to remove the hard drive from your computer and slave it into a known good working computer.

[cbwgators]

Will that work with a laptop? If so, can you tell me how to do that?

What about a hard drive enclosure to read the data?

[Spyderturbo007]

The hard drive enclosure will work just fine. Personally I like to use something like this.

You'll need to remove the hard drive from the laptop to make the connection. Typically, you flip the laptop over and there will be a cover over the hard drive you unscrew to get to the hard drive. You can download the manual from the manufacturer for instructions specific to your laptop.

Edited by Spyderturbo007, 30 December 2009 - 07:35 AM.

[rshaffer61]

A external enclosure will work. You have to make sure the drive connection will work on your hd.
Is it IDE or SATA.
The link between enclosure and your laptop most likely will be USB so that is a easy decision.
Below I am attaching a picture of the different types of HD connectors. Top is IDE and bottom is SATA

[cbwgators]

I may have been confusing in my last post. My computer with the hard drive problem is a pc. My laptop is fine.

[rshaffer61]

The steps are the same for the desktop. You will need to remove the hard drive and determine the type it is per my instructions above.
From there purchase a external enclosure that will work with your hard drives connections. The connection from external to laptop most likely will be USB as I'm sure your laptop has at least one of those on it.