BSoD and Ghosting
Hiya, folks!
I'm afraid I'm in a bit of a pickle... I hope you kind lads and lasses can help me out a bit.
My hard drive was on the brink of dying, I suspected that... it was freezing at odd times and such, but did I do anything about it? No, it was finals week! I know it was horrible of me, but I had to worry about marks and papers instead of dying laptops.
At any rate, I am now paying the price: my laptop's hard drive took its final breath. At least for the moment anyway. I am now receiving an error message when I try to flip on my poor, neglected little baby. As the screen loads, the Windows screen pops on and then it brings me to a black screen which asks me how I want to start Windows. These options include something akin to regularly, safemode, last known configuration, etc.
No matter which option I choose, the Windows screen comes on and goes to start... before giving me the dreaded Blue Screen of Death (*insert dramatic music here*). It only flicks on for a split second before attempting a restart, so it took a few tries before I could tell what any of the text actually said. A friend took a photograph with their cellular phone (handy suckers) and we managed to get most of it.
Insert standard Blue Screen gibberish about newly installed hardware or software possibly being the problem and whatnot with these particulars:
PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
STOP: 0x00000050 (0xF6F303a0, 0x00000008, 0x00000000)
Immediately I shoved the puppy in an external enclosure and got the drivel I needed off of it (which included a paper I find myself exceedingly grateful I do not have to rewrite, I might add), so that's all fine and good. I accessed the data just fine.
I ran a chkdsk on it, and everything seemed alright with the exception of a couple kbs in bad sectors. That to me sounds like my suspicions were correct and the drive is on its last legs.
Now, while I've done a bit of computer nonsense and knew how the address the above situation, I am in a bit of a quandary now. You see, my computery stuff is all self taught, so I have gaps in exactly what to do next. I bought a new hard drive for my pretty laptop, but now I'm trying to decide the exact right way to go about this.
I really do not want to fork over more money to the Microsoft Corporation for another copy of Windows XP (I'm not cheap, I'm just poor. There's a difference, you know). Not that I hate the folks, they just don't deserve more of my currency just because my hard drive took a tumble. I know there's a way to clone the old hard drive onto a new one, OS and all, but I'm not exactly sure how to do that.
I've been doing some Googling and whatnot in search for myself, but I'm on a bit of a time-crunch, as I'm going on holiday soon and will need the critter working before I leave. That being the case, I didn't think it would hurt to ask for help and suggestions along the way.
Is there a different way I should be going about this aside from ghosting the bugger? Is it even possible or feasible to ghost it given the circumstances? I tried popping it back in and all that after transferring and running the chkdsk, but the error message remains the same, regretfully.
Thanks in advance, people!
I'm afraid I'm in a bit of a pickle... I hope you kind lads and lasses can help me out a bit.
My hard drive was on the brink of dying, I suspected that... it was freezing at odd times and such, but did I do anything about it? No, it was finals week! I know it was horrible of me, but I had to worry about marks and papers instead of dying laptops.
At any rate, I am now paying the price: my laptop's hard drive took its final breath. At least for the moment anyway. I am now receiving an error message when I try to flip on my poor, neglected little baby. As the screen loads, the Windows screen pops on and then it brings me to a black screen which asks me how I want to start Windows. These options include something akin to regularly, safemode, last known configuration, etc.
No matter which option I choose, the Windows screen comes on and goes to start... before giving me the dreaded Blue Screen of Death (*insert dramatic music here*). It only flicks on for a split second before attempting a restart, so it took a few tries before I could tell what any of the text actually said. A friend took a photograph with their cellular phone (handy suckers) and we managed to get most of it.
Insert standard Blue Screen gibberish about newly installed hardware or software possibly being the problem and whatnot with these particulars:
PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
STOP: 0x00000050 (0xF6F303a0, 0x00000008, 0x00000000)
Immediately I shoved the puppy in an external enclosure and got the drivel I needed off of it (which included a paper I find myself exceedingly grateful I do not have to rewrite, I might add), so that's all fine and good. I accessed the data just fine.
I ran a chkdsk on it, and everything seemed alright with the exception of a couple kbs in bad sectors. That to me sounds like my suspicions were correct and the drive is on its last legs.
Now, while I've done a bit of computer nonsense and knew how the address the above situation, I am in a bit of a quandary now. You see, my computery stuff is all self taught, so I have gaps in exactly what to do next. I bought a new hard drive for my pretty laptop, but now I'm trying to decide the exact right way to go about this.
I really do not want to fork over more money to the Microsoft Corporation for another copy of Windows XP (I'm not cheap, I'm just poor. There's a difference, you know). Not that I hate the folks, they just don't deserve more of my currency just because my hard drive took a tumble. I know there's a way to clone the old hard drive onto a new one, OS and all, but I'm not exactly sure how to do that.
I've been doing some Googling and whatnot in search for myself, but I'm on a bit of a time-crunch, as I'm going on holiday soon and will need the critter working before I leave. That being the case, I didn't think it would hurt to ask for help and suggestions along the way.
Is there a different way I should be going about this aside from ghosting the bugger? Is it even possible or feasible to ghost it given the circumstances? I tried popping it back in and all that after transferring and running the chkdsk, but the error message remains the same, regretfully.
Thanks in advance, people!
0
Comments
Are you saying you have no recovery CDs for the laptop?
Okay, so this entire time I've been thinking, "Hard drive, hard drive, hard drive..." I've spent HOURS researching and looking up stuff, ways to save my data and fix this and that. Then I looked at Your Amish Daddy's input and thought, "Hmm... the RAM."
I borrowed RAM from someone else's laptop, and now my laptop is running; it's on, Windows is up and no more blue screens. I want to shoot myself for being so sure it was the hard drive.
At any rate, I now have a new hard drive that I *could* take back if I wanted to, but there were four kbs in bad sectors when I did the chkdsk /r. Should I keep the new hard drive and replace my old one with it because of the bad sectors, or take it back?
Additionally... now that my baby is working - Thrax inquired earlier about a recovery CD... I do not have a recovery CD, unfortunately. My computer didn't come with one and I never knew how to go about making one. Can anyone point me in the right direction as to how to go about that?
While I kind of feel like I want to get everything done quickly, because I'm afraid it'll die on me again for some random reason (and I'm going on holiday in two days), I would understand if someone moved this from the emergency section to elsewhere if it's in the way.
The relief flooding my body right now is indescribable. I love you people - marry me, please?
There's a definitive way to test whether or not that hard drive is bad. I've written two articles that can help you here:
The first one is a guide that walks you through a hard drive diagnostic tool that's very thorough. You seem rather advanced in your knowledge, so I'm going to assume you know how to burn an ISO to CD.
If not, there's the second article which walks you through the steps of burning an ISO with free software.
The results of the utility in the first article will tell you if it's worth taking that second hard drive back or not. Also, if you have multiple sticks of memory in your laptop, some of them might be salvageable. You can find out by testing each stick installed into your laptop one at a time with Memtest86+.
Lastly, what is the brand of your laptop?
Yay! :]
Wow, Thrax. That's pretty spiffy. Thank you!
I received an 0x70 error during the test, which according to the key means I have a corrupted sector/s. The key also says, "You can run the "Erase Disk" utility; if a subsequent test fails again, the drive is defective and should be replaced."
Your article, meanwhile, stated, "Most commonly, if your hard drive has an issue, you’ll see a red box with 0x70 or 0x72 cited. In both cases, your hard drive has a physical malfunction and must be replaced."
I opted against having it Erase Disk, run the test again or anything else in the key - considering the diagnosis from the contents of your article, it seemed kind of pointless. :] I wanted to make sure I have all of my stuff off. *grimace* And a recovery disk made if at all possible. x-x Something tells me I'll be keeping that second hard drive.
Thank you for creating such an invaluble guide. It went directly to my bookmarks on del.icio.us.
This is really, really handy. Thank you, Thrax!
It's a Gateway MX6441 with Windows XP Media Center.
that sounds sorta like gratitude...
Runaround indeed. I tried not taking no for an answer, but the lady (an actual person instead of a machine; that was surprising) on the line seemed irritatingly stubborn. The conversation was, for lack of a better word, unpleasant at best. She kept insisting that a set came with my computer and that they don't typically send out another. Afterwards, I opened the box that my laptop came in (I keep these things), only to reveal... no CDs, just like I remembered.
I came across the box for another laptop, however, and it has a Windows XP OS reinstall CD in it that's never been opened. It was also a Gateway laptop, though not the same model (M305 instead of MX4661). I was assured by someone whose computer knowledge I question that if I popped it in my laptop, it would work fine to restore the operating system. However, I consider you folks entirely more educated in these matters and thought it best to inquire first.
This same guy also said, "You can just go on the Gateway website and download the operating system!" To which I rolled my eyes and stifled a giggle.
Alternatively, and if I can't get these folks to send me a recovery CD (I plan on trying again tomorrow, perhaps after consuming a tablet of Xanax this time), is it possible to clone the drive now that Windows actually works on the laptop, or would the four kbs of bad sectors still cause system instability on the new drive? The only reason I bring this up again is I'm being pressured to try this by the same person that told me to try sticking the other Windows OS CD into my laptop. :]
My apologies, YAD... I was saving the proper thank you for the honeymoon. :] However, if you'd prefer one now instead of later... thank you! I wouldn't have thought to check the RAM before your input.
Let's assume, however, that the M305 disc and your laptop don't have such a love triangle. Restoring your laptop with the m305 disc will restore Windows XP, but you will be on your own in the search for drivers. If you absolutely cannot get Gateway to send you a disc, it's an option we can pursue, because there are ways of tracking down the proper drivers for your machine.
I still advise against making a clone of your existing drive, as it's risky to make the virtual equivalent of bad sectors on the new disk. There's no telling what kind of havoc it would wreak.
And, lastly, download the OS? Pffftthahaha.
Give them a call again, point out that Toshiba, HP and Compaq all offer restore CD reissues, and ask why Gateway isn't so kind to its customers. Be the pain in the ass that all customer support reps hate, and stick it to 'em. They definitely offer replacements.
All told: 1) Beg, 2) Beg more, 3) Go with the M305 disc and come on back here for the Great Driver Hunt.