[king011]

Hello,

I have a DELL PC that runs on Vista. Recently I tuned it on and it was running very slowly in terms of carrying out simple operations such as watching a video on youtube and it constantly kept freezing. Then I got a error message in windows toolbar about disk errors and had to restart the PC, which then gave the options of repairing the errors in the repairs centre (i think its called that) or start windows normally. The errors don't repair and now every time I start the PC I get a blank screen after the initial start up of vista and does not basically boot up. I have tried to restore the PC to its factory settings but due to there not being any restore points I cannot restore it.


I wanted to know if anyone knows any solution to my problem? Should I just get a new hard drve for the PC?


Thanks
King011

Edited by king011, 16 May 2012 - 07:45 PM.

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I have tried to restore the PC to its factory settings but due to there not being any restore points I cannot restore it.

Hello.
Firstly you do not restore to factory settings by using a restore point.
Restore points are created by Windows as a result of certain actions, such as installing new software etc, or automatically once every 24 hours.
When the space allocated to system restore is full, older restore points are automatically deleted.

If you really have no restore points then either system restore has been turned off, or there is file corruption so that windows reports there are no restore points

That all said, please post the full model details of the dell, together with the service tag no.

Do you have a backup at least of your personal data

Was the Dell supplied with any discs and do you have them, if so which please

Have you tried keying F8 after initial post screen, keep tapping it. and when you reach advanced boot options, try
1. Last Known Good
2. Safe Mode

[Macboatmaster]

I have tried to restore the PC to its factory settings but due to there not being any restore points I cannot restore it.

Hello.
Firstly you do not restore to factory settings by using a restore point.
Restore points are created by Windows as a result of certain actions, such as installing new software etc, or automatically once every 24 hours.
When the space allocated to system restore is full, older restore points are automatically deleted.

If you really have no restore points then either system restore has been turned off, or there is file corruption so that windows reports there are no restore points

That all said, please post the full model details of the dell, together with the service tag no.

Do you have a backup at least of your personal data

Was the Dell supplied with any discs and do you have them, if so which please

Have you tried keying F8 after initial post screen, keep tapping it. and when you reach advanced boot options, try
1. Last Known Good
2. Safe Mode

[king011]

Hello,

Thanks for the response.

I understand what restore points are and what there purpose is, I didn't really word the action very well (sorry) I meant that even when using operating disc to do a windows complete pc restore the , I cannot do so due to no backup points.

Its a Dell inspiron 530.
I haven't got any back up of the data but its not vital.

Dell supplied the operating disc and drivers disc. I have tried to boot in safe mode many times but it doesn't seem to do anything just displays the loading of the various files and drivers for a long time and doesn't basically boot up in safe mode either.

Thanks
King011

Edited by king011, 17 May 2012 - 01:07 PM.

[Macboatmaster]

Can you get to the screen advanced boot options please

as here
http://windows.micro...uding-safe-mode

[king011]

Okay, I've already tried those options many time and none of them work. Everytime i do try to repair the computer nothing happens.


Thanks

[Macboatmaster]

Please would you bear in mind that I have no way of knowing what you have tried and what you have not. Neither do I have any way of knowing except by gleaning the information from your replies and the questions you ask, the degree of knowledge you have.


So may we start again please and you tell me all you have tried to date.

[king011]

Of course I understand what you have stated.

I have tried to repair the problem using the "repair your computer" function which is in the advanced startup options and nothing seems to be repairing.
I've tried to boot the pc in safe mode and nothing happens.
I have tried to do windows complete pc restore using the operating disc but doest let me due to no back up points. Also have tried to boot up using last known good configuration and fails to boot up.

Hope that helps.

Thanks

Edited by king011, 17 May 2012 - 02:15 PM.

[Macboatmaster]

So you have tried a chkdsk /r on command prompt in the reovery environment - have you - that is not Safe Mode with cmd prompt it is the cmd prompt itself which will appear on the screen as an X:\Sources>
prompt where you then type

chkdsk C: /r


as explained here

http://www.bleepingc...startup-repair/

on figure 9.

The reason when you tried Windows complete PC restore - it did not work is becuase if you look again you will see that is from backup - in otherwords you have to have a backup - before you can use that option.
Whereas the system restore option above that uses the restore points created on Windows.

Have you tried all the options shown on the link I have just sent you

[king011]

Yep initially tried chkdsk when the problem occurred and have done so today as well but the problem is still existent. I have also tried the options you provide in the link and unfortunately didn't work.

Thanks.

[Macboatmaster]

and when you run the chkdsk at the x prompt on the command prompt what is the result displayed. especially regarding bad sectors

Also in view of the message received that you mention in your first post, was there most certainlhy some free space on that HDD at the very least 10% and have you been receiving reports previously, and on occasions chkdsk being run automatically on boot.

With the message one of your disks must be checked etc.

[king011]

I cannot run chkdsk because it says "cannot open volume for direct access". Yes there was more than 10% free and yes chkdsk has been running automatically with the messages your disks must be checked and no it was the first time the message appeared.


Thanks for the replies!

Edited by king011, 17 May 2012 - 04:09 PM.

[Macboatmaster]

That error message on the command prompt in what is known as the recovery environment is usually received when you are typing the command incorrectly.

Please confirm What exactly you are typing and at which prompt you are typing it.

In otherowrds would you kindly type here the prompt that appears when you first open the command prompt

eg X:\Sources>

and what EXACTLY you are then typing please.

AND you previously said

Yep initially tried chkdsk when the problem occurred and have done so today as well but the problem is still existent.

so from where and how did you run it then please

[king011]

Hello,

Initially when opening command prompt in the recovery environment "X:\Source>" appears.

When I previously said in the topic "Yep initially tried chkdsk when the problem occurred and have done so today as well but the problem is still existent.", I only typed chkdsk and not "chkdsk C: /r", so chkdsk works but not "chkdsk C: /r".

The result of only typing chkdsk are that it shows "0 KB in bad sectors" just to let you know as you asked earlier.
However I'm not sure if the entire disk is being assessed as it only shows "3086 KB total disk space".


As always Thank you!!

Edited by king011, 18 May 2012 - 06:04 PM.

[Macboatmaster]

typing chkdsk is no good as it does not repair any errors.

See this
To run Chkdsk in read-only mode, at the command prompt, type chkdsk, and then press ENTER. To repair errors without scanning the volume for bad sectors, at the command prompt, type chkdsk volume:/f, and then press ENTER.

Note If one or more of the files on the hard disk are open, you will receive the following message: Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be checked the next time the system restarts? (Y/N)Type Y, and then press ENTER to schedule the disk check, and then restart your computer to start the disk check. To repair errors, locate bad sectors, and recover readable information, at the command prompt, type chkdsk volume:/r, and then press ENTER.

On the X prompt you are operating in what is known as a ramdrive, that is a drive loaded in your memory. That is why the capacity is so small. It is the space taken up on the ramdrive.

as explained here
You will land in the Sources subdirectory (folder) of a RAM disk identified by the drive letter X.


Therefore from that X prompt if you type as you did chkdsk, you are checking the ramdrive, it means nothing whatsoever.
and as explained even if you ran it on C drive it would still mean nothing as it does not repair errors.

when you type as I have told you
chkdsk (space)C: (space) /r
you do not type the space, you therefore end up with

chkdsk C: /r

If you are certain that this is what you have done, then proceed to this step please

It should be noted that when you boot into the Windows Recovery Environment the drive letter for your Windows installation may not be the same. For example, if your Windows installation is normall on the C: drive, it may not be located at the D: drive. To determine what drive letter your windows installation is located on, you can type this command press enter:

bcdedit | find "osdevice"

This command will display output similar to : os device partition=D:. The drive letter after partition= is the drive that your Windows installation is located. To change to that drive letter you can then type D:, or whatever other drive letter it shows, and press Enter on your keyboard.

So having established that chamge as indicated to that drive and now type

chkdsk /r

you do not now need the drive letter, as you are now issuing the command on that drive, as you were previously issuing it on the ramdrive

[king011]

Okay, I tried everything in the top section of you reply again and the result was the same as before.

So I moved on the next step in you reply and tried "bcdedit | find "osdevice" " but the result was " 'bcredit' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file."

Also after typing "bcdedit | find "osdevice" " and getting nowhere I did type "chkdsk /r" and got the following message "The type of file system is NTFS. Cannot lock current drive. Windows cannot run disk checking on the this volume because it is write protected".

Hope that helps.

Thank you!