[tim_p_keeling]

Hi all

The missus dropped her laptop the other day and when attempting to boot, it says: 'no bootable device' (or some such thing).

So what did I try?

1. I used my laptop to burn a windows 7 recovery disk, opened the boot menu, tried to recover, got the message: 'startup repair cannot repair this automatically'.

2. Tried disk check (dsk chk - or something similar I can't remember off the top of my head - I followed instructions online) via the command prompt and had no joy.

3. Tried 'bootrec /fixmbr' followed by 'bootrec / fixboot' on the command prompt (actually, I didn't get past the first command, so couldn't do the second anyway)

4. Windows memory diagnostic gave me the message 'windows cannot check for memory problems'.

5. System image recovery can't find images on the c:/ drive or on my boot disk.

Nb. I've tried all these actions (bar #1) both with and without the recovery disk in the drive.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm fairly adept at computer things given some half decent instructions, but must admit some of the technical jargon does, from time to time, go over my head!

My worry is that, in dropping the machine, my other half has caused physical damage. Is this likely to be the cause?

Thanks in advice for what will no doubt be a torrent of help and support!

Coco

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Hello tim_p_keeling

There is a chance that the HDD has been damaged so first off I suggest attempting to recover any important data on it so can you let us know if you need to do this.

[phillpower2]

Hello tim_p_keeling

There is a chance that the HDD has been damaged so first off I suggest attempting to recover any important data on it so can you let us know if you need to do this.

[tim_p_keeling]

Hi Phil

Any advice on doing this would be much appreciated. I have external hard drives, etc.

Thanks
Tim

[phillpower2]

Hi Tim

Puppy Linux would be my suggestion as it uses the system Ram and not the HDD, please see below;


===================
***Required Hardware***
CD Burner (CDRW) Drive,
Blank CD,
Extra Storage Device (USB Flash Drive, External Hard Drive)
===================

1. Save these files to your Desktop/Burn Your Live CD:

• Download Latest Puppy Linux ISO (i.e.: lupu-520.iso)
  Download BurnCDCC ISO Burning Software
  
  
• Open BurnCDCC with Windows Explorer
• Extract All files to a location you can remember
• Double Click BurnCDCC
• Click Browse and navigate to the Puppy Linux ISO file you just downloaded
• Open/Double Click that file
  IMPORTANT: Adjust the speed bar to CD: 4x DVD: 1x
• Click Start
• Your CD Burner Tray will open automatically
• Insert a blank CD and close the tray
• Click OK

Puppy Linux Live CD will now be created
2. Set your boot priority in the BIOS to CD-ROM first, Hard Drive Second

• Start the computer/press the power button
• Immediately start tapping the appropriate key to enter the BIOS, aka "Setup"
  (Usually shown during the "Dell" screen, or "Gateway" Screen)
• Once in the BIOS, under Advanced BIOS Options change boot priority to:
  CD-ROM 1st, Hard Drive 2nd
• Open your ROM drive and insert the disk
• Press F10 to save and exit
• Agree with "Y" to continue
• Your computer will restart and boot from the Puppy Linux Live CD
  
  

3. Recover Your Data

• Once Puppy Linux has loaded, it is actually running in your computer's Memory (RAM). You will see a fully functioning Graphical User Interface similar to what you normally call "your computer". Internet access may or may not be available depending on your machine, so it is recommended you print these instructions before beginning. Also, double clicking is not needed in Puppy. To expand, or open folders/icons, just click once. Puppy is very light on resources, so you will quickly notice it is much speedier than you are used to. This is normal. Ready? Let's get started.
  
  3a. Mount Drives[list]
• Click the Mount Icon located at the top left of your desktop.
• A Window will open. By default, the "drive" tab will be forward/highlighted. Click on Mount for your hard drive.
• Assuming you only have one hard drive and/or partition, there may be only one selection to mount.
• USB Flash Drives usually automatically mount upon boot, but click the "usbdrv" tab and make sure it is mounted.
• If using an external hard drive for the data recovery, do this under the "drive" tab. Mount it now.

3b. Transfer Files.

• At the bottom left of your desktop a list of all hard drives/partitions, USB Drives, and Optical Drives are listed with a familiar looking hard drive icon.
• Open your old hard drive i.e. sda1
• Next, open your USB Flash Drive or External Drive. i.e. sdc or sdb1
• If you open the wrong drive, simply X out at the top right corner of the window that opens. (Just like in Windows)
• From your old hard drive, drag and drop whatever files/folders you wish to transfer to your USB Drive's Window.

For The Novice: The common path to your pictures, music, video, and documents folders is: Documents and Settings >> All Users (or each idividual name of each user. CHECK All Names!) >> Documents >> You will now see My Music, My Pictures, and My Videos.

Remember to only click once! No double clicking! Once you drag and drop your first folder, you will notice a small menu will appear giving you the option to move or copy. Choose COPY each time you drag and drop.

YOU ARE DONE!!! Simply click Menu >> Mouse Over Shutdown >> Reboot/Turn Off Computer. Be sure to plug your USB Drive into another working windows machine to verify all data is there and transferred without corruption. Congratulations!

Note that there might be some other Puppy distros on the page (such as Slacko Puppy), but you need Lucid Puppy (lupu), the Ubuntu-based one. Always make sure you start downloading a file that starts with "lupu"!

NB: If there is any physical damage to any area of the disk itself you may not be able to recover any data from that part of the drive.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[tim_p_keeling]

Hi Phil

Sorry if I'm being slow, but I'm unable to boot the computer, so can't open windows explorer to complete stage one of that.

Would I do stage 1 on my computer and then stages 2 and 3 on the broken one?

Thanks again!
Tim

[phillpower2]

That is correct regarding steps 1, 2 and 3 and no worries BTW - please take your time to avoid stress