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#11
Uhhhh, without an O.S. you cannot install anything!
So if i insert the recovery disc, the f9 function works. i hit the memory diagnostic and it says the whole windows failed to start, etc. then it says
File: \boot\memtest.exe
Status: 0xc000000f
Info: The selected entry could not be loaded because the application is missing or corrupt.
But if i hit the Windows Setup [EMS Enabled], it takes me back to the whole blue background, countell restart scenario.
No, the whole point to a restore partition is to not need restore discs, that's why manufacturers started using them in the first place! I cant count the number of clients who have lost, misplaced, or thrown out their restore discs! Most end users have no idea what they are for in the first place!
You are hitting F9 @ boot, right? At the first signs of life from the screen?
You mentioned that you hear some clicking noise when you press F9 (without any disc in the CD/DVD drive).
If it's what I think it is, then your harddrive has suffered a catastrophic failure known as a head crash and may possibly be damaged to the point that even professional data recovery is now impossible, at least partially.
Once this has happened, HDs will typically start clicking as they try to repeatedly load and unload the heads in order to realign themselves and read data. But the damage is done and they'll just click and then give up.
You could download a hard drive diagnostic tool and burn it to a CD to boot from, then confirm my suspicion. I actually hope I'm wrong, but you may have to accept a complete loss of all data that wasn't backed up - plus spending money on a new HD.
Hi runorgun, here is my bit of help. Bookmark Recover files from Windows 7 hard disk using Puppy Linux | help.artaro.eu and use it if need be.
Runorgun:
Corazon may be on to something... however diagnosing things like this second hand are difficult and dangerous.
Can you get into the BIOS? If so, look for something labled SMART and check that. SMART is a built in diagnostics utility included with some HDD's and built into many newer BIOS. SMART (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) if there should give you a health status of your HDD. While in the BIOS also check for something like recovery or restore, some BIOS let this feature be disabled. Make sure it is on!
Something else to consider is pulling the "bad" HDD and placing it into another PC as a second HDD to check if you can access and backup your data.
Corazon has only expressed his worst fears and also wishes that it is not true. Right, a distant diagnosis is always difficult and we can only express the possibilities which if confirmed go into remedial measures.
Your suggestion to pull out the bad HDD , may not be possible for an ordinary user more so when the OP says it is a laptop. Therein goes my suggestion to try Puppy Linux on a USB and check whether the hard disk is accessible and recoverable without any disassembly. I chose that exhaustive tutorial that is easy to execute even by a novice.