Error loading operating system on boot

[Placehold]

Ok so I'll keep this simple, Sony Vaio Windows 7 OEM laptop.

So for about 2 days I was receiving 'I/O device errors' and couldn't find what was causing the errors, I performed a chkdsk which took a full day to get to about 80% then the laptop died on me, it switched off and that was that.

After rebooting the machine I was presented with 'Error Loading Operating System' and the machine just sits there doing nothing.

I tried booting to the hidden recovery partition however the function buttons don't appear to work properly and the only thing I can get into is the Bios.

I booted into the Bios, changed the arrangement to boot from optical disk, created a Win7 recovery disk on my home pc and rebooted with the disk in the drive.

Booted to disk, it runs, 'loading files' appears and then I'm left on a blank screen with a large white cursor, waited about 6hrs but still no change.

I discovered that if I reboot a few times I get a 'failed to read disk, press ctrl + alt + del to restart' error.

Tried booting from an external device with a recovery disk on the device, doesn't even recognise it.

Any idea's?

If possible I would like to keep all the data on the disk, if not then as long as I can trigger the Hidden recovery partition I'm happy.

Kindest Regards





Craig

 

[Placehold]

Bump

I've been looking into the bios a little more and I can't help but feel that this might be a simple boot loader issue, if anyone has a 'Win7 Premium' boot.ini file to spare so I can test this, please let me know.

Kindest Regards




Craig

 

[Hopalong X]

Tried booting from an external device with a recovery disk on the device, doesn't even recognise it.

This tutorial should help to rebuild MBR.> http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/20864-mbr-restore-windows-7-master-boot-record.html
That may be the problem.
Just a guess from your description.

The boot order in bios is probably set to DVD/CD drive then the hard drive.

If it is hard drive first change it to CD then hard drive if necessary. Then it will find the DVD/CD and boot from it.

If you can get into bios and change the boot order you should be able to make the Flash/thumb drive first boot option.

Other than that I'll see if I can find more expert help to assist.
Mike

Anyone with better or different ideas please post.

 

[TVeblen]

Sorry to say but from those symptoms it seems clear that the hard drive has dropped off the system.

This could be because the hard drive has failed (mechanical/electrical failure), or the controller on the motherboard has failed (and the hard drive is OK), or the connection between hard drive and motherboard is loose (drive not plugged all the way in).

While in your BIOS check to see if the hard drive and DVD drive is recognized. You may need to have a disk in the DVD drive for it to show up. If the DVD shows and the hard drive doesn't that would be important information.

If the hard drive is listed in BIOS then I recommend burning a copy of the hard drive diagnostic utility from your hard drive manufacturer's website and running that. If you do not know the brand of hard drive then just use the Hitachi Drive Fitness Test. That seems to work on all drives.

If the drive is not listed in BIOS then you could open up the laptop and remove/re-seat the drive and test again.

Keep in mind that not all laptop BIOS list the drives at all. That's why you look for the (known working) DVD.

Finally, you can remove the hard drive from the laptop and connect it to a spare SATA connector and SATA power connector on a desktop PC. See if the drive can be recognized there. And if it can then take the time to recover your data.

Hope that helps

 

[karlsnooks]

Placehold,
First there is never a need to "bump" and such action is considered to be inappropriate.

We are all volunteers with full time lives.

Now with that out of the way--

Are both of your systems 32 bit systems OR
both 64 bit systems?

If the answer is YES, THEN:
on the good system Make a SYSTEM REPAIR DISC.

A System Repair Disc is NOT a Recovery Disc.
A System Repair Disc is a repair disc which also installs, to ram, a mini-version of Win 7.

Here is how to make a SYSTEM REPAIR DISC--

​

CREATE A SYSTEM REPAIR DISC

START | type System Repair | Enter key | Create Disc button

​

================================================================

Boot from the SYSTEM REPAIR DISC.
Go to a command prompt--here's how:
GO TO A COMMAND PROMPT USING A SYSTEM REPAIR DISC

1) Insert System Repair Disc into optical reader.
2) Shutdown computer.
3) Boot up computer from the System Repair Disc
4) A SYSTEM RECOVERY OPTIONS dialog appears.
5) NEXT button
6) select Use recovery tools that can help fix problems starting Windows
7) NEXT | Choose Command Prompt

Run desired commands and type EXIT when finished.
Remove the System Repair Disc.
Shutdown computer.
Power on computer.

NOTE:
If your computer doesn’t boot from the optical drive, then
Immediately after pushing your Power ON button,
start tapping the F2 key to get to the BIOS to change the boot order

On some computers, Immediately after pushing the Power ON button,
start tapping the F12 key and choose CD/DVD to change the boot order
only for this time.

==================================================================

Now run CHkDSK over each of the "drives" on your hard drive.
The command is:
CHKDSK C: /R
here I've used C: as an example. The colon following the drive letter is required.

Let us know the result.

 

[gregrocker]

Test your HD with maker's HD Diagnostic extended CD scan, followed by Disk Check run from System Recovery Options Command line.

If the HD tests okay then work through these steps for Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Boot

 

[Britton30]

'I/O device errors' and the long chkdsk times certainly seems to point to a likely drive failure. Please run the drive diagnostics and get back to us.

 

[Placehold]

Hello,

Apologies for the bump, my laptop is a Sony Vaio VPCF11M1E/H 64x with Win7 OEM.

I got my friend to run me a new repair disk and recovery disk, tried running both but it comes up 'loading windows' and then sits with the blank screen and white icon.

I tried running ubuntu but that displays the message 'unable to resolve issue: unable to run installation on SDA1' then another batch of random digits after it.

I tried removing the harddrive, reconnecting and reseting the cmod however nothing appears to work.

In the BIOS it till shows me stats for the harddrive and the Sony Vaio badge still displays on startup.

I'm thinking part of the hardrive is corrupt

Might need to replace the harddrive, connect the initial harddrive as an external device and transfer everything over, the thing I'm trying to avoid is losing the recovery partition, it's handy having that.

Thanks again for the suggestions and support.

Kindest Regards





Craig

 

[karlsnooks]

Craig,
You have received three separate requests to run a hard disk diagnostic.

You have received those requests from very experienced and respected persons.

Do you plan to run the hard disk diagnostic?

If no, then you probably want to look into taking your computer to a repair shop where less experienced people will charge you good money for the advice that you get here for free.

 

[Placehold]

Sorry, forgot to mention the diagnostics,

I can't get anything to run, everything goes to a black screen with a white icon however I'm getting a hold of a win7 laptop tomorrow so going to try and get a diagnostic at that point.

It's been a bit hectic with this laptop dying on me,

Anything I can grab from this laptop I'll post tomorrow,

Kindest Regards





Craig

 

[F5ing]

Have you tried clearing the BIOS?

 

[gregrocker]

Clear CMOS - 3 Ways to Clear the CMOS - Reset BIOS

Make sure the Win7 HD is set first to boot.

Try booting disk from one-time BIOS Boot Menu key given on first screen which I believe is F2 on Sony.

 

[Placehold]

Hey guys,

Thanks for all the suggestions and assistance, unable to get anything to appear, unable to get diagnostics running properly and the new repair and recovery discs run but after it loads the windows files just sit with the blank screen and white cursor.

Tried reseting the CMOS and reseting the BIOS, made no difference unfortunately.

The last thing I'm going to try is an fresh install disk, there should be an option to repair from that disk but failing that I might just call sony and pay the few hundred they want to get it up and running.

Spoke to one of the agents on the phone and they said they could hook it up to their system, re-format the entire harddrive and then add the recovery partition back onto it, so that is my last resort.

They said they would also give me the diagnostic report they create so might be able to figure what damage was caused and how,

Thanks again for the support.

Kindest Regards




Craig

 

[F5ing]

Might be cheaper if you can determine whether or not that HD was causing fits.

Remove it, connect it to another machine and see if you can run the diagnostics on it. If still problematic it might mean all you need is a new drive.

 

[gregrocker]

After running the HD Diagnostics extended CD scan in another computer with only that HD plugged in, you can even install Win7 then SysPrep to move HD to another computer before moving back to Sony.

There are many more troubleshooting steps to try before paying more to repair it than a new laptop costs. We have a 100% install rate for those who stick it out.

 

[Placehold]

Hello,

Using the installation disk failed to work however a friend recommended I give 'spinrite' a try so giving it a try now.

I tried hooking the hd up to another laptop after the failed attempt with the installation disk, the most information that it would give me without crashing was 'bad sectors' hahaha which was a given

I was however able to move the recovery partition to another computer, had to do it with EASEUS Disk Copy which for the first 20 minutes couldn't actually see anything.

So spinrite, once done should yield some interesting results, thanks again for the support,

Kindest Regards





Craig

 

[gregrocker]

Did you try the extended CD scan with the HD maker's HD diagnostics as advised days ago?

Test your HD with maker's HD Diagnostic extended CD scan, followed by Disk Check run from System Recovery Options Command line.

If the HD tests okay then work through these steps for Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Boot

 

[Placehold]

Hello,

I tried running that scan unfortunately I an't get anything to run on this laptop.

The spinrite disc failed to run properly and I was presented with a series of errors relating to the HD.

Don't think I have many options now, it seems that it boots initially ... fine, then stops working when it tries to connect to the HD, so I might just connect it to a friends laptop and try wiping it from there and then reinstalling the partition I was able to grab off it.

Thanks again for the support guys

Kindest Regards





Craig

 

[gregrocker]

I would replace the HD, unless you are running the tests wrong.

What exactly happens when you boot the maker's extended CD scan? Which one are you using?

 

[F5ing]

Sounds like HD replacement to me too.

But it's hard to understand exactly how you're going about doing these tests. One of your later posts indicated you connected the HD to another laptop. You should be doing all further testing of that suspect HD with that other laptop (if it's a known working laptop that's available for you to use).

You mention in your very last post connecting it to a friend's laptop. Is that now a third laptop in the picture? And all three have problems with that drive? You're connecting it properly and haven't changed any jumper settings (if they exist)? Again, sounds like bad hard drive.