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Start up stalls at "Please wait..."


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#16
luckyjock55

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Olie,
Yes I have data I would like to back up. I am not sure if I created a backup point. That seemed to be happening automatically as I have used that in the past.
However, during this attempt to repair, I did a restore (using the vista DVD repair mode you directed me to) from a list of backup points offered to me. I chose the oldest one, about one week ago before my problems began. It reported back that the restore was not successful. When I went in and tried again, it reported that I had no backup points.
As my puter education improves my confusion increases.
I am trying to learn more about command prompt.
Any suggestions at all welcome.
:) :) :)
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#17
Troy

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Run chkdsk /r from the prompt as happyrock suggested. You cannot boot to Windows from there, it only provides repair functionality.
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#18
luckyjock55

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Thanks guys,
I have found diagnostic utilities, with your direction, that have brought me to the following:
From Startup Repair diagnosis and repair details log:
"last successful boot was 10/29/2009 2:19:11 PM (GMT)
Number of repair attempts: 9

Session details
System disk = \device\harddisk0
Windows directory = C:\Windows
AutoChk Run = 0
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#19
Troy

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So did it run automatic boot diagnostics? Did you get to the command prompt and run chkdsk /r? Does the machine boot?
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#20
luckyjock55

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Sorry, I did not complete the last reply.

Yes, it ran automatic boot diagnosis and reported that "Startup repair cannot repair this computer automatically"

Diagnosis and repair details - about 10 tests completed successfully but the root cause - "Startup repair has tried several times but still cannot determine the cause of the problem."

I have run a Dell diagnostic POST test found no problems.

Any suggestions??? :)

chkdsk /r would not run for me.
I still can't get past the "Please wait..." screen. The only difference now is that it gives me the option to launch "Startup Repair" after the Dell logo screen.
Contrary to my last, When I first encountered a problem, My laptop was stalling at the "Please wait..." screen.
Now it doesn't go there, I switch it on, then see the "Micrsoft Corperation" activity bar for a couple of minutes, the a "Windows Error Recovery" (white letters on black screen) and it goes into Startup repair automatically with the same results as above.

Edited by luckyjock55, 03 November 2009 - 11:17 AM.

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#21
rev_olie

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To me it sounds like its maybe time for a reformat and reinstall.
I think what ever error is produced - even if Windows was repaired - there is a likely chance that the system will still have errors/be unstable somewhere along the line.

That's just my opinion however and I am weary at this time to suggest any further moves until one of the Tech's reply back. They may have something else up their magical sleeves, so in the mean time hang tight.
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#22
rev_olie

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Hi Joe,

Sorry for the delay.
From your other post it sounds like there might be another test to run if that's ok.
However we will try and backup your data first.

You will need a second working bootable PC for this

Get Puppy Linux...Get puppy-2.16-seamonkey-fulldrivers.iso download it and burn it to cd

if you don't have a burning program that will burn .ISO files get Burncdcc, it is a small FAST no frills iso burning program...

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 puppy-2.16-seamonkey-fulldrivers.iso
3. Select the ISO file
4. click on Start

make sure in the bios the cd drive is the first boot device (we covered this earlier in the post)

put the cd in the cd drive..boot your computer....puppy will boot and run totally in ram...if your hardware is is good working order you will know...
after you get it running and your at the desktop...you take the puppy linux cd out and then you can use the burner to copy all your data to cd/dvds
you can also use it to backup your data to a external usb harddrive..just have it hooked to the computer when you boot up with puppy...

==========================
quick guide for saving data...music..files on a system that will not boot using puppy Linux using a flash drive(memory stick, external hard drive etc)..


After you get to puppy desktop..
click on the drives icon...looks like a flash drive...top row..it will list all the drives connected to your computer...
click on the red icon for the drive you want to mount...in this case its a flash drive ...puppy will mount the drive..the drive icon turns green when its mounted...minimize the drives mounter window,you will need it again in a few minutes..drag the right edge of it sideways to shrink it to its narrowest size...about half the width of the screen...then drag the window to the right edge of the screen...

Now click on the icon that looks like a filing cabinet (kind of yellow) on the main drive...it should already be green..
You will see a list of all the folders on the main drive Usually your C: drive..shrink that window to
the narrowest you can..about half the width of the screen...drag that window to the left side of the screen...
at this point you should have 2 windows open on your desktop..the flash drive on the right side..

Go back to the folders on the C: drive...Click on the documents and settings folder...then your user
name or all users..find the folders that has your data..
Drag and drop the folder with the data you want to make copies of to the flash drive window...

Your options are to move ..copy ect...JUST COPY..if its to big you will have to open the folder and
drag and drop individual files until the flash drive is full...(I have a 120 GB external USB drive for
big data recovery jobs and a 4 GB flash drive for the smaller jobs)..after you get the files copied to
the flash drive...
Click on the drives mounter you minimized earlier

UNMOUNT THE FLASH DRIVE by clicking on the green icon..you will once in awhile get error messages when
unmouting the drive..ignore them..when the flash drive icon turns red again its safe to remove the
flash drive..trot on over (stroll if you want to look cool) to another computer and plug in the flash

drive and copy all the data files ( I drag and drop) to the other computer..
make sure the other computer can read them...

now delete the data on the flash drive...take it back to the misbehaving computer and plug it in

again..click on the drives icon again and repeat until you have all your data transferred to the working
system..
(Thanks to happyrock for the instructions)

If you have problems then get back to me and I'll try and help you out. Make sure you get everything here as the next steps will totally wipe your PC so its imperative you don't forget anything.

Edited by rev_olie, 08 November 2009 - 09:17 AM.

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#23
lair360

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Have you tried to repair your master boot file?

* Boot up your computer using Microsoft Windows Vista Bootable disk. (Check your BIOS setup)
* When you see the 1st Windows Vista installation screen appear, please configure your 'language' preferences.
* When prompted, click 'Repair your computer'.
* Startup Repair will automatically detect a problem. When prompted, click 'Repair and restart', and then restart your computer from the Windows Vista bootable disk. If Startup Repair does not automatically detect a problem, continue to the next step.
* click 'Repair Your Computer'.
* Click Command Prompt from the System Recovery Options.
* BootRec.exe provides the following command-line options:

1.] /FixMbr. Re-writes the master boot record (MBR) of the system partition to start Windows Vista. This won’t overwrite the existing partition table.

2.] /FixBoot. Writes a boot sector onto the system partition to start Windows Vista.
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#24
luckyjock55

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Many thanks for all the effort putting that together Ollie.
But I have a real bad feeling. :)
I was feeling like a genious, Puppy 2.16 downloaded, Burncdcc downloaded, burned puppy to cd, booted my laptop with the cd and opened "drives" then the flashdrive, and minimized the drive mounter.
But I cannot locate the main drive.
The puppy drive mounter window has 4 drives listed as follows
-Floppy Drive, (1 blue floppy icon),
-CD/dev/hda.TSSTcorp DVD+/-RW TS-L632H, (1 red disk icon)
-DISK/dev/sda:250.0 GB.ATA WDC WD2500BEVS-7 (2 red disk icons), and
-Disk/dev/sdb: 2062 MB. Imation Clip (yellow file cabinet icon, and green disk icon) 1.9 G Free

No C drive. :)
Is it fried?? :)

By the way, I've never done anything like this before,... very limited use. So I feel good about this progress.

Cheers
Jim

Edited by luckyjock55, 07 November 2009 - 11:14 PM.

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#25
happyrock

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linux names your drives differently than windows ...
DISK/dev/sda:250.0 GB.ATA WDC WD2500BEVS-7 is your C drive...
mount it and see if you can find your data...
BTW rev_olie...the canned for puppy linux is MY canned...but anyone is free to use it...
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#26
rshaffer61

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Sorry about that Happyrock I forgot to include that line for Rev.
I will now impose a lashing of 10 for my mistake :)
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#27
rev_olie

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woops sorry  :)

I asked rshaffer61 for the can after using it in the past and just presumed it was his. Changes made  :)
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#28
luckyjock55

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:) Thanks Happyrock, rshaffer61 , Rev-Ollie, Troy

found it :)

I'm recovering my files :)

:)
Jim

Edited by luckyjock55, 08 November 2009 - 09:50 AM.

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#29
rev_olie

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Good job  :)

So do you have everything you need off the PC now?
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#30
rshaffer61

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I'm innocent on this one. :) :) :)
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