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DIY Forum >> Alarms, Phones, Aerials, CCTV & Datacomms >> laptop HELP! https://www.askthetrades.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1231444287 Message started by wozzy on Jan 8th, 2009, 7:51pm |
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Title: laptop HELP! Post by wozzy on Jan 8th, 2009, 7:51pm not sure anyone will be able to help but i thought i may aswel give it a go. My laptop wont start, it bings up a scren that starts 'we apolgive for the inoneince winows did not strt sucessfully' blah blah blah. the all of the options ive tried and still no joy, most i get from the ' start windows normally' and last known configuration' options then it loads windows for about 5 seconds then the screen turns blue it restars and im back to the begining. Any help beofre i through it out the window? cheers |
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Title: Re: laptop HELP! Post by JerryD on Jan 8th, 2009, 11:48pm Boot it up in safe mode is a good place to start |
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Title: Re: laptop HELP! Post by woodsmith on Jan 9th, 2009, 7:42am Can you put the windows instalation cd in and boot up from that :-/ You may have a corrupted file. I think if you can manage to run disk defragmenter it automatically looks for/corrects damaged files. |
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Title: Re: laptop HELP! Post by wozzy on Jan 9th, 2009, 5:39pm tried safe mode not much happened i have the recovery CD but i was relucant to format it as i havnt bcked up the business documents for a couple of weeks! silly git its having a diagnosis done on it now to determine the problem only costing £25, didnt think that was too terrible. Hope its nothing serious, although the technician did say that my model of laptop has a big problem with over heating when used on your LAP!!!!!! |
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Title: Re: laptop HELP! Post by CWatters on Jan 9th, 2009, 7:32pm If it's totally knackered... It's sometimes possible to remove the hard drive and fit it into a USB external hard drive enclosure. Plug that into the new laptop and the old drive will appear as a new drive letter. Browse it to recover the files. You can then put it back into the laptop and try to repair it by reinstalling or "repair installing" windows. |
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Title: Re: laptop HELP! Post by Zambezi on Jan 9th, 2009, 10:51pm and if that does not work then you could try this with it... http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=YocnQ0NMTUA&feature=related |
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Title: Re: laptop HELP! Post by wozzy on Jan 10th, 2009, 8:10pm the diagnosis was corrupted fire. the disk drive has always made a funny noise, the technician said it damaged his diagnosis disk, therefore it could just format it using the product recovery disk as it may have damaged that aswel then i would be screwed. He is now installing windows and office, and fitting a new disk drive for £125. |
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Title: Re: laptop HELP! Post by Joiner on Jan 15th, 2009, 10:45am Had the same problem with mine. (Yours wasn't a Toshiba was it?) You got off lightly. Would have cost £150 for my local computer shop to try a replacement hard drive and there was no guarantee that would have worked - and that was just the cost of the hard drive - because if the hard drive won't boot the OS can't work on anything you put in to diagnose the problem(s). Catch 22. I have total faith in my shop, they're sound people, they didn't charge me for the hour or so they'd tried recovering things. Upshot? As I could buy a second hand refurbished laptop for £157 with six months warranty, preloaded with XP Professional, from Steve's place, I left my machine with them to do with as they liked and sell on and bought myself an Asus Eee PC notebook from Staples for £147 new, which allows me to take it with me EVERYWHERE (it fits into my work jacket pocket or the glove compartment of the Transit). I save everything of note onto a 2 gig memory stick, including downloaded pdf files off my local authority planning web site (full docs of planning apps) which enables me to discuss jobs with the customer anywhere. Fate, such as it is, actually did me a favour this time. |
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Title: Re: laptop HELP! Post by Joiner on Jan 15th, 2009, 11:14am I should have said that I load everything of note OFF MY PC onto the memory stick, of which I have three, one for costing worksheets and invoices etc, one for photographs, one for documents and drawings (saved off my CAD software as jpg files). The Linux software runs programs that are compatible with Windows stuff. And if you're in an open WiFi network area (or can log onto the customer's wireless network, you need their WEP key) you can get onto the internet as well. The Asus can be loaded with Windows XP, but I'll keep the Linux system because it runs faster - and anyway, that compatibility with Windows stuff makes it unnecessary. |
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Title: Re: laptop HELP! Post by Lectrician on Jan 15th, 2009, 6:11pm Memory sticks can fail, especially cheap ones. They also get lost. I hope you keep a compy of the data on the memory stick an your PC at home too. I would be more inclined to correctly network and setup shared files between your PC and your laptop, and then you could transfer files directly from your PC to your laptop. You could even look at synconisation software which ensures that your "My Documents" folder (and other folders you wish) remain the same when you return your laptop "to base". |
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Title: Re: laptop HELP! Post by Joiner on Jan 15th, 2009, 7:59pm 120 gig portable hard drive backs up all important files once a week (Sunday morning chore after walking the dog). Only ever use sticks for carrying info around, transferring stuff from home PC to workshop PC and, as I said, to the notebook. You can't carry a laptop around in your pocket. At £147 a throw, that Asus was the best buy I've had in a long while. Just another tool in the van. |
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Title: Re: laptop HELP! Post by wozzy on Jan 15th, 2009, 8:20pm to answer your question yes it is a toshiba satellite, strangely enough i thought toshiba was meant to be a hardy laptop |
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Title: Re: laptop HELP! Post by Joiner on Jan 16th, 2009, 2:38pm We both know different now! Mine was the same model. I won't go within a mile of another Toshiba. Like you I bought mine because I thought it was a good make, it certainly had good reviews. |
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Title: Re: laptop HELP! Post by wozzy on Jan 16th, 2009, 3:02pm mine did seem to go out of date very quickly, although i feel this is always true to be fair this is the second time mine has had to be formatted and the first time was completely my fault and its approaching three years old i think, ive spoken to other people whos laptop has gone up the creek after a year and a half and PC world wouldnt touch it even with their service contract thing it did survive a fall that was bad enough to smash out the clip that keeps the hard drive in place, and dislodge the hard drive. so that said i cant moan too much about it i just wish it wudnt happen at a time when cash flow is so crap because of customers not paying and im trying to save to go on holiday! |
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Title: Re: laptop HELP! Post by Lectrician on Jan 16th, 2009, 4:28pm I am still using my HP Pavillion laptop which is now 5 years old, and still running on the as delivered install. I must admit it is currently running very slowly, and I have been thinking about doing a re-install, but am also weighing up a replacement as the spec is very dated! It is only a 900Mhz or so processor! God knows what the RAM is, can't recall. I would most definitely go for an HP again. Dell are also high on the list, and oddly the budget Acer gets very good reviews and I rarely hear people complaining of breakdowns. It's a little like LG - If your going to buy a large plasma TV, do you want an LG logo standing proud in your living room? I have found the LG kit to be the easiest to use, with the clearest of menus and remote controls. The quality is also excellent. It is still a budget manufacturer, but in my opinion it out does some of the leading brands. |
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Title: Re: laptop HELP! Post by thescruff on Mar 22nd, 2009, 12:00am Lec, I have the Hp Pavilion as well and lost the screen, anyway to cut a long story short, I got a Dell 21" monitor from Pcworld plug it in and away we go ;D Also years ago I got an Integral (brand name) external hard drive case, and stuck a 500G hard drive innit, took everything off the computer on to the remote, so all that's left is the operating system, the speed increased at least double. What I do now is open the program in the remote and work from that. Another trick which seems to works well is I laid 12" floor tiles on the desk and it acts as a heat sink, it runs much cooler now. |
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Title: Re: laptop HELP! Post by Cobra on Apr 10th, 2009, 4:49pm I have just bought an LG 50" TV from [Link Removed] The picture quality is fantastic. I am really happy with the TV |
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Title: Re: laptop HELP! Post by Zambezi on Apr 10th, 2009, 5:00pm wrote on Apr 10th, 2009, 4:49pm:
What has that got to do with the price of eggs? |
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Title: Re: laptop HELP! Post by scotspark on Apr 10th, 2009, 5:03pm spam????????????? |
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Title: Re: laptop HELP! Post by Zambezi on Apr 10th, 2009, 5:43pm scotspark wrote on Apr 10th, 2009, 5:03pm:
That would be my guess ::) |
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Title: Re: laptop HELP! Post by woodsmith on Apr 10th, 2009, 6:22pm Mine too, so he can spam off ;D |
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Title: Re: laptop HELP! Post by wozzy on Apr 12th, 2009, 12:06pm a bit off subject now, but i thought i would give u a up date. the laptop corrupted again after a couple of months. decided i could not put up with it anymore, went for the most bullet proof one as possible and everyone suggested apple mac book. expensive to buy, but all the software cost £55 from agros and i was off and running again. still getting used to it at the moment but on first impression it is very slick. |
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Title: Re: laptop HELP! Post by Joiner on Apr 13th, 2009, 10:28am As a postscript to earlier post... I've just bought a mobile internet USB stick at £35 which plugs into the Asus Eee PC and gives internet access anywhere. PAYG it costs £2 a day (you buy your credit and it only costs according to use, so theoretically that credit can last forever) and is brilliant. I've gone with T-mobile and found their coverage excellent, even when I can't get a signal on my mobile with Vodafone. Well impressed. |
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Title: Re: laptop HELP! Post by Twobarrows on Apr 15th, 2009, 1:03pm Joiner wrote on Apr 13th, 2009, 10:28am:
It wants to be impressive for £60 a month! |
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Title: Re: laptop HELP! Post by Twobarrows on Apr 15th, 2009, 1:03pm scotspark wrote on Apr 10th, 2009, 5:03pm:
spam & Eggs apparently |
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Title: Re: laptop HELP! Post by Zambezi on May 24th, 2009, 11:21pm Message for Joiner, I sent you a PM about your EEE PC. Does it get warm/hot when in use? Is yours the one with the solid state drive or a standard hard drive? Which model? I am getting a EEE PC 901 in a few days to replace my old nut-roasting laptop, hoping the new one will not be as effecting at family planning :o |
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Title: Re: laptop HELP! Post by Joiner on May 25th, 2009, 7:31am Have just PM'd you Z. Twobarrows, the point of going PAYG at £2 a day was because of the infrequent use of the notebook online. Paying a monthly contract price for the USB mobile internet access made no sense just to get internet access whilst away from home or the workshop. And as stated elsewhere on this forum I've found that I can actually access the internet via the WiFi using other people's networks, which is a bonus! I actually did a lot of asking around. 3-Mobile had a deal (don't know whether it's still current) for unlimited web access for £98 a YEAR. Trouble is, their coverage is crap unless you're in a conurbation, whereas T-mobile seems to have better coverage (because of their technology) than my Vodafone cellphone. When you go for any mobile deal (or any tool deal, come to that) you always research whether what's available closely meets your needs. Like anything else, only a fool (or rich people) bases their decision on price alone. |
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Title: Re: laptop HELP! Post by Twobarrows on May 25th, 2009, 10:55am Point taken, it just seemed extremely expensive, but if you are that much of an infrequent user then I understand. |
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Title: Re: laptop HELP! Post by londonman on Jul 23rd, 2009, 1:46pm Lectrician wrote on Jan 16th, 2009, 4:28pm:
[smug mode] I too have an elderly computer. It also is 5 years old. It also runs at 867MHz but everytime an upgrade of the OS comes out, it runs faster. S'true - not a windup. It really does. That's because it's a Mac [/exit smug mode] |
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Title: Re: laptop HELP! Post by Lectrician on Jul 23rd, 2009, 5:34pm I had a similar smug git just the other day. I went to quote to move some phone points around, as the home office was being done away with due to retirement, and the additional business lines where being dropped and wanted to be made live from the home line. While there, the customer mentioned that the ADSL was not reliable and the line was very noisey. I took a quick look and noticed that no microfilters where in use at all - even the routers lead had been changed for one with a BT style plug in it which I guess was robbed from an old phone. I said I would sort that there and then, and fitted a couple filters. I said to wait a few minutes for the ADSL to sync, and then try the internet. The twit said "I dont need to wait, I have a MAC and the internet is instant, not like sluggish PC's". I tried to explain that it was the router that needed time to sync to the line, and it didn't matter which type of computer was being used. He wouldn't have it, and told me to "watch". I did, and he went very red faced when nothing would work for him. I have used macs before, and can say they are very good for graphics and do appear stable. However, as 99% of people use PC's, with an even higher percentage of businesses, I find it is best to consentrate on them. I do a large amount of data cabling and networking, and in all the time I have done this it has always been for PC's. The only time I see macs is when graphics are of importance (for speed and not a lot else). This is mainly is newspaper and magazine offices etc. For a bit of web surfing, any old machine will do! |
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Title: Re: laptop HELP! Post by londonman on Jul 23rd, 2009, 5:55pm wozzy wrote on Apr 12th, 2009, 12:06pm:
Well done. mate, you won't regret it. If I can be of any help Mac wise then feel free. |
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Title: Re: laptop HELP! Post by londonman on Jul 24th, 2009, 7:22am Lectrician wrote on Jul 23rd, 2009, 5:34pm:
Don't agree with you 100% there as the number of businesses switching to Macs is increasing as they have realised the Total Cost of Ownership of running virus-ridden PCs of indeterminate build quality and reliability. They'd rather focus their staff on running the business rather than worrying whether the reason their PC is running slow is because they've caught a virus! |
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Title: Re: laptop HELP! Post by Lectrician on Jul 24th, 2009, 4:01pm londonman wrote on Jul 24th, 2009, 7:22am:
I can't see all businesses swapping to macs. All the IT guys are trained up on windows with windows server 2003 and 2007, they wouldn't be able to trade their skills across easily. The infrastructure change for organisations would also just not be financially viable - a site with 40 PC's, a domain server, email server, resources server etc. Look at any network printer of any manufacturer - It is always geared up ready to network for a PC, and to network it for an apple always takes extra steps because the printer manufacturers know where the products are more likely to be used. |
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Title: Re: laptop HELP! Post by londonman on Jul 24th, 2009, 4:12pm I agree. Not all but some are ;) |
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Title: Re: laptop HELP! Post by BigClick on Nov 2nd, 2009, 11:13am londonman wrote on Jul 24th, 2009, 4:12pm:
I know some people that are using MAC notebooks because of their elegant design and multi-media capabilities, however, many recent Apple users just run a Fusion program so it essentially windows in any case. The application provider end of things (servers, cloud computing etc) is 99% powered by virtualised windows, with the exception of network application appliances such as firewalls IPS probes etc, these tend to run a version of Linux as the hardened OS. I like Apple but not particularly for the business software. As regards to virus, there is a rise in the number of Apple specific viruses and Apple is now pushing AV software. Email frauds are likely to catch out either user. |
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Title: Re: laptop HELP! Post by londonman on Nov 2nd, 2009, 10:05pm wrote on Nov 2nd, 2009, 11:13am:
Such as? wrote on Nov 2nd, 2009, 11:13am:
Some folk will do anything to turn a penny. wrote on Nov 2nd, 2009, 11:13am:
Email frauds will catch the gullible irrespective of whatever computer they are using. I know many many people who simply use and like using their Macs because they just want to get on and do something. True..some people might use Fusion but then the OS is essentially retarded back to Microsoft along with all the crud, viruses etc that goes along with PCs. |
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Title: Re: laptop HELP! Post by BigClick on Nov 3rd, 2009, 7:48pm londonman wrote on Nov 2nd, 2009, 10:05pm:
http://www.t3.com/news/apple-hints-at-mac-virus-threat?=37437 or http://switchtoamac.com/site/apple-recognizes-virus-and-malware-threat-to-mac-os-x-and-once-again-recommends-antivirus-software.html maybe http://news.softpedia.com/news/Apple-Admits-Virus-Threat-Recommends-Antivirus-Utilities-98982.shtml Isn't google marvelous :-) |
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