Problem with laptop

[sonnetpete]

Hi,

My stepdaughter's Acer laptop, new at Xmas, has developed a fault which is preventing it booting up. She gets a BSOD, saying 'bad pool caller', then it tried to restart, but further messages said 'broadcom pxe rom isn't responding. No boot filename received' It exits broadcom and then tells her 'operating system not found.'

From what I've found on the internet, it's either a bios virus or a hardware failure.

Problem is, she lives in Southampton and has severe hearing loss which makes it difficult to communicate over the phone. I live in France so can't just pop round and sort it out for her. I texted her the tech support number which she rang, and they've told her to get a local tech to backup her pc details before sending it back to Acer for repair. I don't actually think she has a great many details to back up but nontheless!!

If it's under guarantee why should she have to pay for a tech to back it up? And how will he do this if it won't boot? Any suggestions either for solving the original fault or what to do next gratefully received. Otherwise she can bring it here at Easter and I'll contact an engineer here. But I'm reluctant to do so as it's under warranty.

Pete

 

[Analoguesat]

Possibly hard drive failure:

-http://www.computing.net/answers/hardware/operating-system-not-found/59088.html

It may be worthwhile reseating the hard drive - its often fairly obvious where the hdd is if you pop the bottom access panels off. Make sure the power is disconnected & maybe pull the battery out first as well.

 

[Mickha]

All her details are stored on the hard drive which can easily be removed, usually remove 1 screw from the bottom panel of the laptop and remove the hard drive.
New hard drives have a SATA connection so can be put into a PC and accessed using that Operating System.
What Operating System is it using, Vista or Windows 7?
Have you got a DVD with the Operating System on it, if so you can boot from that and use the repair option.
If there are no disks supplied then it will be on a different partition, which can be accessed on boot up by pressing a key, on the keyboard, check the manufacturers websit, and FAQ's as different manufacturers use different key combinations.

 

[sonnetpete]

Thanks both AS and Mickha, I'll follow up on both of those but probably have to wait until she comes over, either Monday or Tuesday the week after next. Obviously I can't email her instructions and texting something as complex as fiddling about with the hard drive isn't going to be easy. Phoning isn't an option either as you can't always be sure she has heard everything.

Mickha, it's running Vista but I can't remember if it had the OS DVD included. I'll have a look on Acer website for faq's and text her to see if there is an OS included

 

[hexah]

When I get a new laptop I always take a look at the hard drive before turning it on for the first time.

The one I have now had one screw holding the drive in the caddy and the caddy was not properly seated. Morons. :mad:

When I use a laptop, I make sure it does not move when in operation. I treat it with great care when moving it around, just to be on the safe side.

 

[sonnetpete]

I've often chatted to Sarah (stepdaughter) via messenger and webcam. She frequently has it balanced on her lap (think laptop is a slightly misleading term), eating pizza and fending off her two cats...................Maybe this has something to do with the problem??

 

[Analoguesat]

Possibly yes - my old laptop crashes if I pick it up with my fingers under the base - I think it dislodges the drive slightly!

Works much better sitting on one of those "padded lap trays" as it then sits level with no odd strains on it.

 

[PaulR]

I was called in to look at a laptop that wasn't working after falling on the floor from a lap.

The laptop must have fallen on one of the ends as all that had happened was that the hard drive had jumped inside its caddy and come off the connectors. I say "all" but the shock had broken the bit of plastic that was supposed to hold the drive in place. I packed out the space in the HD bay with some folded over cardboard and the replaced the cover. Perfect!

 

[sonnetpete]

Just to follow up and ask another question....or two!!

Now have the laptop here, stepdaughter is back in UK with a new laptop (in red and black, which is what she wanted at Xmas and running Windows 7 )

I tried reseating the hard drive and I'm now convinced it's failed. Under questioning I found out that she unplugged her MP4 player while it was shutting down, though I really don't know if that would cause a problem.

I'll keep it here and use it myself as it's better spec than the one I'm using.

I have two possible solutions in mind: I've tried to dowload Ubuntu and boot from a USB stick (so I can check the hard drive and possibly repair it) I'm not having a lot of success with this but think the download may have failed last time I tried. Is there a disk repair/recovery program for Ubuntu?

The other solution it to simply change the hard drive. Does anyone sell a 2.5" hard drive with Windows 7 preloaded? The one I'd be replacing is a 500gb.

 

[Mickha]

You can't get a hard drive with a pre-loaded operating system, as it will not work correctly, different laptops have different components.
You can buy a new, or used, hard drive and load an operating system.
Just load the original Operating System onto any new hard drive, or a free linux Operating system, you should find the product key on the base of the laptop so all you need is a copy of the original Operating System and once done go to the manufacturers web site and download any required drivers and updates.

 

[sonnetpete]

Thanks for the advice Mickha, sadly the "old" laptop only came with preinstalled Windows Vista. Had we had the foresight (do I hear a stable door slamming??) we would have made a recovery disc or something along those lines.

I've bought a nice new shiny set of screwdrivers to fit the tiny screws in the laptop, and will look again at it tomorrow. Perhaps removing the hard drive and re-seating it in case it is slightly out of place. I'll also persist with Ubuntu as, if I am keeping it, I quite fancy trying a Linux operating system.

If all else fails, it's a new hard drive and a proper copy of Windows 7.

 

[Channel Hopper]

Thanks for the advice Mickha, sadly the "old" laptop only came with preinstalled Windows Vista.

Probably the best thing for it then.

 

[Mickha]

You will still have the genuine Vista key and thus can load the correct Vista Operating System on it, you can either borrow a disk or download one.

 

[sonnetpete]

Thanks, didn't know you could download Vista. Could I download it to the hard drive on my current computer, burn it to a disk, and boot up the faulty one from that disc? (assuming the hard drive on the newer one is ok)

 

[Mickha]

Yes, but make sure you get the correct version, most computers/laptops came with Vista Home Premium, 32 bit, but there are other versions.
I just had to carry out a fresh install of Windows Vista Home Premium and it only takes a few minutes, it's all the updates that take forever !!!!!!!
The download might take some time as my DVD version is about 2.5 GB, so see if a friend has a copy first.

 

[sonnetpete]

Before I try that, I've salvaged a 2.5" drive from a redundant laptop here (it was never the same after a cat peed on the keyboard, don't ask lol) It's only a 40gb with Windows XP.

Could I just swap out the 'faulty' hard drive and see if it boots from this one or will it involve fiddling about with the bios settings?

 

[Mickha]

You can swap it over but you'll have to boot up in safe mode, as XP will have different drivers, as it was loaded on a different laptop.

 

[sonnetpete]

Well, that didn't work!! Pin arrangement of the 40gb drive is totally different to the 500gb I was trying to replace. I think I'll try and locate a 'friend' with a copy of Vista I can 'borrow'.

 

[Mickha]

Sounds like your newer hard drive is SATA and the older one will be IDE:

 

[sonnetpete]

Yes, spot on! It's over 10 years since I tinkered about with pc's (in a very amateur way) so didn't realise the physical differences. I could remove the one from the laptop I'm using but am reluctant to in case it all goes Pete Tong! Would creating a MS DOS rescue disk on this laptop and then trying it in the faulty one do any good? I'm just wondering if I can try to check and repair the hard drive with a program before buying a new one.