windows won't start/can't do system repair/won't boot from CD

[narmex7]

help please all...

sony vaio PCG-71314L
on turning on, hangs at "windows is starting" for ever
F10 says "disc read error"
F8 says "no operating system found"
booting/repairing/reinstalling from CD hangs at "windows is loading" for ever

what is wrong?
how could i get it to boot/repaired/reinstalled?
really desperate, losing all data on HDD is fine, just need to make it work again.

thank you all for helping!

 

[Capt.Jack Sparrow]

Hello there!

Try this article http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/20864-mbr-restore-windows-7-master-boot-record.html

 

[narmex7]

thank you very much Capt. Jack!
very clear step by step instructions!

problem is, the form in #3 is empty, that is, no operating system shows up there, and the top radio button is grayed out as well. the bottom radio button is automatically selected, if i go with that, it hangs at "windows is loading" forever.

so i couldn't boot up the machine to any where where i could do something to it. i tried to boot from win7 CD, no matter whether repair or install new was selected, it would hang at "windows is loading" forever.

this machine has only win7 on it, and was running slower and slower, and one day it suddenly refused to boot, hanging at "windows is starting" forever. i'm not sure whether it is hardware or software problem. how should i go about investigating and discovering what the problems are?

 

[Capt.Jack Sparrow]

Hello there!

Try these two articles
How to Repair the MBR on Windows 7 | eHow.com
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/104341-bootmgr-missing-fix.html

Then try to Reinstall Windows.

 

[narmex7]

couldn't get that far.

How to Repair the MBR on Windows 7 | eHow.com
says insert installation CD, select repair, to get to the command prompt window.

i couldn't get that far, after selecting repair, it hangs at "windows is loading" forever.

maybe win7 checks for what has already been installed, and can never pass this step, because of "disc read error"?
is there anyway of bypassing this error and get to a window where repairing or reinstallation can be done?

 

[F5ing]

Try going into your machine's BIOS and see what it has to say about you hard disk. It may even a provide some testing you can do on the drive.

 

[narmex7]

thank you F5ing for the suggestion!

i looked, there is nothing about the hard disk in the BIOS, too bad.

i also tried to boot into safe mode from win7 DVD, but it hangs at "windows is loading" screen, probably just before some sort of screen where something could be done to the system.

when it was loading drivers for safe mode, it seemed to hang a little bit at...
.
.
.
disk.sys
classpnp.sys

will that provide some sort of clue?

 

[Capt.Jack Sparrow]

I'm thinking it might the Hard drive itself. Download UBCD and run Hard drive Diagnostic

 

[gregrocker]

Is the HD listed in BIOS setup?

If so reset BIOS to defaults: Clear CMOS - 3 Ways to Clear the CMOS - Reset BIOS

Then work through these steps for Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Boot starting with disinfecting OS.

Report back for more or different steps depending upon results.

 

[narmex7]

I'm thinking it might the Hard drive itself. Download UBCD and run Hard drive Diagnostic

thank you Capt. Jack, UBCD511, nice, really nice!

under HDD Diagnosis, the Fujitsu and IBM/Hitachi tools both couldn't detect the drive. the Samsong tool auto detected the HDD, but wouldn't do anything, because mine is a Toshiba.

with wiping and partitions tools, only my usb flash drive showed up. i was using a bootable usb flash stick with UBCD511.

as such, is it positive that the hard drive is dead? are there more definite ways to confirm either way?

 

[narmex7]

Is the HD listed in BIOS setup?

If so reset BIOS to defaults: Clear CMOS - 3 Ways to Clear the CMOS - Reset BIOS

Then work through these steps for Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Boot starting with disinfecting OS.

Report back for more or different steps depending upon results.

thank you gregrocker for helping!

too bad the BIOS is really a simple one, with

system time setting
system password setting
boot sequence

that's about it. didn't see any HDD listed, or options for primary/slave setting, or factory default setting, or CMOS.

 

[Brynster]

Sadly it sounds like your hard drive has failed.

Basically if in the bios its not being detected with the best will in the world you are not going to breathe life into it.

Sorry to break this to you.

 

[narmex7]

Sadly it sounds like your hard drive has failed.

Basically if in the bios its not being detected with the best will in the world you are not going to breathe life into it.

Sorry to break this to you.

thank you Brynster for the input!

bad news or good news, i just need to know the HDD's true state, so no problem.

i think it is not that the BIOS can't detect the HDD, it is the BIOS doesn't have the function of displaying the I/O devices in the system. i don't know enough to tell whether anyone ever makes machines this way, but my sony vaio appears to be like that.

 

[gregrocker]

Boot the HD maker's HD Diagnostic or boot disk suggested by Capt. Jack to test the HD, see if it responds.

 

[F5ing]

Seatools by Seagate is also on that UBCD iso. Recognized in the past as an effective diagnostics tool by quite a few manufacturers. Give it a shot.

Do you not see any reference to hard drives in the BIOS?

The only other option I can think of right now would be to check connections and/or pull the drive and connect it to another machine.

 

[karlsnooks]

narmex,

Is connecting the hard drive to another computer a possibility?

Before trying that, make sure that all cables and connections are good in your computer. Cables have been known to come loose.

 

[Brynster]

f you look in your bios at boot options it should list all bootable items fitted to the bios.
It will usually have be default CD/DVDrom HDD and it will have as options Network adapter and external usb devices.

Usually in the HDD bit it will give a description of what the drive is either a part number or a serial number. If its not listed then i do believe the drive has failed. This coupled to the message on boot up that it cannot detect a boot device strongly points towards the drive failure.