[Mark7576]

It is difficult having a meaningful topic title when my laptop takes 1+ hours to load windows 7 and programs that do start freeze and become not responsive.
I tried to run OTL from an attached external hard drive and it froze and when to not responding.
I tried to drag it into the c: directory on my laptop and a similar thing happened.
There is information that I need for my business on the laptop.
I just don't know where to go.
Is it as serious that I need to start from scratch again with a new hard drive?
I appreciate any input into this vague topic.
Thank you for your response.
Mark7576

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You might have better luck with OTL in Safe Mode with Networking
(Reboot and when you see the maker's logo, hear a beep or it talks about F8, start tapping the F8 key slowly. Keep tapping until the Safe Mode Menu appears and choose Safe Mode with Networking. Login with your usual login.)

[RKinner]

You might have better luck with OTL in Safe Mode with Networking
(Reboot and when you see the maker's logo, hear a beep or it talks about F8, start tapping the F8 key slowly. Keep tapping until the Safe Mode Menu appears and choose Safe Mode with Networking. Login with your usual login.)

[Mark7576]

I did not think someone would get back as quickly as you did, thanks.
I have tried starting Windows in safe mode and have got as far as Startup Repair. I let it go the other night overnight and the blue rectangle in the Searching for problems... box was still going.
I cannot afford the time to wait until it finishes. The computer is not locked up because I can still move the mouse curser.
When I upgraded to Windows 7 from Vista I got a new hard drive for my laptop and started afresh. Yes I lost all the information on the old but I put it into a 2.5 inch hard drive case and still have it. There is nothing that cannot be prepared again, like business invoice templates, it'll just take some more time.
I have tried already to slave the hard drive I am trying to recover to another computer and was told it needed to be formatted.
So do I just do the fresh install on the new larger hard drive, which in itself has a few curve balls in it?
Mark7576

[RKinner]

Up to you. Since you are in a hurry it probably would be faster to reformat. Make sure that you remove the old partitions before reinstalling.

[Mark7576]

Thank you RKinner. Because of time constraints I have successfully done a clean install on a new hard drive, I even found my product code for the Windows 7 Upgrade and my MYOB for Dummies book that I used to redo my business invoice template and at about 2am that morning I went to bed weary but satisfied with what I'd accomplished in a day.

Now, maybe I can fix the problem on the old hard drive because there is some information on it that is very helpful, not vital but contract documents for a job that I'm in discussions with again. There are new people in the organisation.

So RKinner, The old hard drive is in a 2.5 inch case, where to from here. I think I tried to read it as a slave drive a while ago and it was not recognised.

How long have you been helping others? Thanks again for your input, I really appreciate your effort.
Mark 7675

[RKinner]

Look at the sick drive and find who makes it. Western Digital and Seagate both provide very good drive test software on their websites. Other makes may also have drive test software. If you can't find anything then try DiskCheckup:

http://www.passmark....diskcheckup.htm

If you select the drive then click on Disk SelfCheck then change the Quick Test to Extended Test I think it will work for most drives.

Then get a USB to IDE or USB to SATA adapter depending on what type it is. These are usually less than $10 on Amazon. http://www.amazon.co...l/dp/B001OORMVQ will supposedly do both but I've had better luck with the ones which only do one type.

IDE
http://www.amazon.co...y/dp/B000XPS3U6
SATA
http://www.amazon.co...e/dp/B001AAVA08




Then plug it up and see if the drive test software can run what they call an extended test on the drive. (can take up to 24 hours!) Sometimes when you are lucky, when it finishes the test the software will offer to repair the drive and if it can you may be able to access your data.

If the data is really important then you can send it off to a data recovery service but they are expensive.
http://voices.yahoo....876.html?cat=15

How long have you been helping others?

I've been working on various forums since 1995 so about 18 years.

Going on vacation 5/16 - 6/18 so will be off-line until I get back.