http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ How-To Geek Forums Topic: MASSIVE LAPTOP PROBLEM - pleease help en Fri, 09 Jan 2009 09:01:40 +0000 http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/massive-problem/page/2#post-27779 Fri, 06 Jun 2008 06:09:19 +0000 Lighthouse 27779@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>The WD 320GB would be my recommendation too. </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/massive-problem/page/2#post-27739 Thu, 05 Jun 2008 21:29:06 +0000 whs 27739@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>If you have a firewire 800, I would recommend this one:<br /> <a href='http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1350360870.1212700860@@@@&#38;BV_EngineID=cccgadeefhilhedcflgceggdhhmdgml.0&#38;page=Product&#38;fm=null&#38;sm=null&#38;tm=null&#38;sku=335556&#38;category_oid=-32889'>http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1350360870.1212700860@@@@&#38;BV_EngineID=cccgadeefhilhedcflgceggdhhmdgml.0&#38;page=Product&#38;fm=null&#38;sm=null&#38;tm=null&#38;sku=335556&#38;category_oid=-32889</a><br /> With normal USB, This one will do and it is a little cheaper:<br /> <a href='http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1350360870.1212700860@@@@&#38;BV_EngineID=cccgadeefhilhedcflgceggdhhmdgml.0&#38;page=Product&#38;fm=null&#38;sm=null&#38;tm=null&#38;sku=840388&#38;category_oid=-32889'>http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1350360870.1212700860@@@@&#38;BV_EngineID=cccgadeefhilhedcflgceggdhhmdgml.0&#38;page=Product&#38;fm=null&#38;sm=null&#38;tm=null&#38;sku=840388&#38;category_oid=-32889</a><br /> The Ghost is $70 from Norton in the US. But make sure you get the CD (they call that "Physical") - not the download. Maybe a friend from the US can mail it to you if it costs a lot more in the UK. </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/massive-problem/page/2#post-27726 Thu, 05 Jun 2008 20:25:44 +0000 Lighthouse 27726@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>Start here<br /> <a href='http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/editorial/DataStorage_homepage'>http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/editorial/DataStorage_homepage</a><br /> Plymouth<br /> Unit B<br /> Marsh Mills Retail Park<br /> Parkway<br /> Longbridge Road<br /> Plymouth<br /> PL6 8LR</p> <p>ps a lot of their stuff is cheaper to buy on the net rather than direct from the store. (same company, different policy) </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/massive-problem/page/2#post-27723 Thu, 05 Jun 2008 20:20:40 +0000 Aleeve 27723@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>ok<br /> yes I agree I should do that!<br /> i have an 8gb stick, and will buy an external hard drive soon, - can anybody find a decent 250 gb one for areound £60/70 (in uk?)<br /> also, where do you get it and how much does norton ghost cost? (UK) </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/massive-problem/page/2#post-27700 Thu, 05 Jun 2008 18:06:44 +0000 whs 27700@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>Aleeve, Maybe for the future you want to review your backup strategies. Nothing beats backing up to an external device - depending on the amount of your data that could be a big USB stick (just bought an 8GB stick for $30) or, of course, an external disk. Now that is if you manage the backups yourself.<br /> You probably saw that I always advise to look at Norton Ghost. I had the exact same case like yours a couple of weeks ago on a friends machine. He was backed up with Ghost and when his new disk arrived (that was an HP desktop), he slipped his Ghost CD in and recovered the whole system as it was when he took the last restore point. Not only his own files, but all programs, system settings, etc. - the whole 9 yards. There are, of course, more modest approaches - but why go for second best. </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/massive-problem/page/2#post-27695 Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:34:54 +0000 Aleeve 27695@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>ok<br /> I rang Acer, they are going to send a courier to pick it up and take it to be repaired<br /> 5-10 working days turnaround apparently, depending on the nature of the fault - we shall see<br /> thanks for you help guys<br /> as lighthouse suggested I asked for them to return the old drive - maybe I will be able to recover some stuff then, but if so, be ready for me to come to you guys for asking how! </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/massive-problem/page/2#post-27660 Thu, 05 Jun 2008 13:16:50 +0000 Aleeve 27660@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>wasnt planning tot - somebody told me that opening it up may void the warranty<br /> besides i wouldnt really know what i was doing </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/massive-problem/page/2#post-27655 Thu, 05 Jun 2008 13:00:58 +0000 whs 27655@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>Aleeve, I would not touch the ACER with a screwdriver because of warrenty. First see what ACER has to say. </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/massive-problem/page/2#post-27616 Thu, 05 Jun 2008 06:19:57 +0000 Aleeve 27616@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>i can get alt-f10, but when I try to recover my c drive (ie to factory settings) i just get an error saying 'd2d32 text mismatch' so that wont work :(</p> <p>i can only get to bios, then it says hard drive failur imminent and thats it<br /> recov. partition is as scott said - hidden by acer<br /> I have a second computer, will be able to borrow an external hard drive (hopefully)<br /> don't know how to open up laptop to get hard drive (unless it's just screws!)<br /> I will try the company later, but it's too early right now</p> <p>i dont have norton ghost :( </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/massive-problem/page/2#post-27572 Thu, 05 Jun 2008 02:04:14 +0000 ScottW 27572@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>OK, I was wrong about the recovery keys, it's Alt-F10 for my Acer and probably most others as well. Also, here's the Disk Management view of the Acer recovery partition -- the first one on disk 0 with no drive letter, marked as healthy EISA.</p> <p><img src='http://img48.imageshack.us/img48/8384/acerhiddenrecoverypartitw7.png' /> </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/massive-problem/page/2#post-27568 Thu, 05 Jun 2008 01:36:40 +0000 ScottW 27568@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>whs, I have an Acer desktop and they have the recovery partition "hidden". It has no drive letter, it's an EISA format, but it does show up in Disk Management. When booting, the recovery partition can be accessed by hitting the special control key, which I think is &lt;Ctrl&gt;-F11.<br /> <code><br /> DISKPART&gt; list partition<br /> Partition ### Type Size Offset<br /> ------------- ---------------- ------- -------<br /> Partition 1 OEM 10 GB 32 KB<br /> Partition 2 Primary 60 GB 10 GB<br /> Partition 0 Extended 240 GB 70 GB<br /> Partition 4 Logical 40 GB 70 GB<br /> Partition 5 Logical 200 GB 110 GB<br /> Partition 3 Primary 156 GB 310 GB<br /> </code><code><br /> DISKPART&gt; detail partition<br /> Partition 1<br /> Type : 27<br /> Hidden: Yes<br /> Active: No<br /> There is no volume associated with this partition.<br /> </code> </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/massive-problem/page/2#post-27559 Wed, 04 Jun 2008 21:54:01 +0000 whs 27559@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>OK, then you have a different setup than usual. But where is your recovery partition? -if any. If D:\ are your files, then it's worth trying to recover them. You could also get them out of the shadowstorage. But you need 2 things: a) a working disk and b) an external disk or adequate USB stick to where to transport the files. </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/massive-problem/page/2#post-27558 Wed, 04 Jun 2008 21:52:35 +0000 geek860 27558@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>How far can you get when booting up? Just so we're clear...</p> <p>Can you get past the BIOS? Can you see the windows logo as it loads? Do you get stopped after or before BIOS?</p> <p>There is a way to copy info off of hard drives, which is something I do fairly often. I have a USB adapter that fits 2.5 &#38; 3.5" SATA &#38; IDE hard drives so I can transfer files to and from. Using Norton Ghost allows me to simply copy a partition of the drive to my huge external which offers a nice backup.</p> <p>Do you have any kind of enclosure? My guess is that you have a 2.5" SATA laptop hard drive. You could run out to a computer store and get an enclosure for that kind of drive, then remove the bad drive from your laptop, insert it in the enclosure, and hook it up to another (working) computer. It's a simple matter of copying your files onto another hard drive so that they are safe. Do you have a second computer to work with? Do you know what I'm talking about at all? Do you have any idea how to remove a laptop hard drive? (Not very difficult in most cases as long as you have jewelry screw drivers) That's the only thing I can really recommend except for maybe inserting the windows install disc, repairing the startup files, and seeing if that lets it boot in. </p> <p>Sorry but your options are very limited once your hard drive croaks. Also, with manufacturer warranties expect to wait at least 2 weeks for a new drive, and that's if they don't demand that you send in the entire computer so they can do the swap.</p> <p>Good luck </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/massive-problem/page/2#post-27545 Wed, 04 Jun 2008 21:24:50 +0000 Aleeve 27545@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>D:\ has all my files on it! </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/massive-problem/page/2#post-27544 Wed, 04 Jun 2008 21:22:27 +0000 whs 27544@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>Aleeve, Don't panic. Call Acer, have them send a new disk and also a Vista Installation DVD (in case you do not have one). Why do you want to save D:\ - is that not your recovery partition? It's better to go for the DVD. </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/massive-problem#post-27540 Wed, 04 Jun 2008 21:10:40 +0000 Aleeve 27540@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>really, how come? </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/massive-problem#post-27539 Wed, 04 Jun 2008 21:06:54 +0000 Lighthouse 27539@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>When you phone Acer, ask for Chris or Dave in the Tec dept. </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/massive-problem#post-27538 Wed, 04 Jun 2008 20:58:55 +0000 Aleeve 27538@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>i cant at the moment sorry<br /> but were you going to talk me through saving d drive?<br /> i think ill wait until i have rung acer if thats ok, as opening it up might void warranty<br /> thanks</p> <p>why does this have to happen to me - will I have done anything? </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/massive-problem#post-27537 Wed, 04 Jun 2008 20:57:05 +0000 Lighthouse 27537@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>email me your phone number and i'll talk you through it </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/massive-problem#post-27533 Wed, 04 Jun 2008 20:47:18 +0000 Aleeve 27533@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>lighthouse do you think i am going to be able to save my d drive? </p>