Laptop turned off during SP update now blinking cursor on boot.

Hi guys,

I have a Thinkpad r61i running windows 7 64-bit, and all was merry until it decided to run some updates while it was running on battery. Short story, the battery died during the installation and now when I boot it just goes to the black screen with the blinking cursor.

I removed all peripherals, tried to boot from DVD all with no such luck. I really don't care about the files on the dive at this point and am more than happy to reformat and start anew. If the hdd is bad I have a known good one from an old Mac mini.

Barring any suggestions that I haven't tried, how can I go about installing a new copy of windows successfully on either of the drives. I have a Mac mini, the laptop in question and an older dell dimension ( i think dimension 2350desktop running XP.

I'm thinking if somehow I can connect one of these drives to my dell desktop and format/install windows that way...am I totally off there? If that is a workable solution, how do you connect a laptop hdd to a desktop? When I tried using it as an external, it said I couldn't install windows via USB or FireWire. Is a sata to IDE cable what I need to accomplish this?

Again, unable to boot from disks in the current state.

Thanks in advance for all the help.

Not entirely sure, but I doubt the optical drives in that machine are sata, thing is ancient.

Yea it turns on fine, I can get into bios fine. Checked and changed the boot order. Tried HDD first, tried DVD first. Tried to boot from DVD, no dice. Bios does recognize the hard drive. Also odd that I can't boot into safe mode or anything. I've even tried to put that formatted good hard drive into the laptop to see if it would ask to install OS but no. I'm just confused as to why I can't boot from the DVD, I know the disks are good (can boot from them on the desktop)

Alot of those steps seem to require me to be able to boot from disks, right?

If the HD is not detected in BIOS setup then make sure it's seated firmly, try running maker's HD Diagnostic extended CD scan (Seatools if necessary) which will boot itself to determine the true HD condition. If not detected in either PC when plugged in alone, then replace it.

If you can't boot a disk the cause is 90% user failure, but if you're sure you tried correctly to Boot A Computer from CD or DVD - YouTube then reset the BIOS to defaults taking note of any SATA controller setting in BIOS setup first. It should be at AHCI for an optimal install but may be set otherwise. Clear CMOS - 3 Ways to Clear the CMOS - Reset BIOS

Try booting the disk with HD both plugged and unplugged. Bad HD boot code can block DVD boot.

The solution to unbootable failed Updates is try run System Restore or Startup Repairs from System Recovery Options. If you can't access Recovery Options via F8 menu or disk then you can boot self-booting Paragon Rescue Kit Free Edition 11.0 Free CD to rescue any files, then boot self-booting Partition Wizard CD to attempt the repairs using it in Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Start or just use it to wipe the HD Partition Wizard Wipe Disk Video Help.

This will in turn force the installer to auto-start to Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 . Take note of the preparatory steps as you may need to rescue some Program data using the boot disk suggested above.

Ill try some of these steps when I get home. So you think the method I mentioned in the op I'd useless (install windows on the good hdd) and put it into the laptop.)?