Hi, I am new to this site. I hope somebody can help me. I have a Toshiba equium laptop with intel pentium dual-core inside (not that that makes any sense to me, I just really know how to turn it on and get online lol) Over the last week, I can be doing anything on the laptop and all of a sudden it freezes and will not do anything. I try ctrl alt del but even that wont work, the only way I can turn it off is by holding down the power button. When I turn it back on it says 'disk needs to be checked for consistency' and that it is strongly recommended which I allow it to do. During the tests I notice that it says 'recovering aborted file' on numerous occasions. Then the laptop takes around 5 mins to restart and all seems well until this whole process happens again, which could be at any time.
Is my laptop beyond repair or is there something I can do myself to sort this problem out?
I must point out that I am really not very computer savvy so if there is anything I need to do, I need step by step simple instructions. Sorry to be a pain in the backside.
Many thanks
Sarah

Hi Sarah

This sounds like the hard drive is on it's way out.

Reboot in Safe Mode if you can and run Command Prompt and type chkdsk /f

It will say the volume is locked and would you like to run this on the next system restart, press Y (yes)

Have a look in the log provided after the disk check and see if there are any bad sectors.

Even better post that log back here.

I would also make sure the notebook is clean of heat trapping dust - a primary cause for sudden crashes - which may be corrupting your disk, triggering the chkdsk.

Remove all covers, drives, and batteries and make sure all cavities and vents are clean. I recommend using a Notebook Cooling Pad w/ext. power supply too.

Originally Posted by Wolfeymole

Hi Sarah

This sounds like the hard drive is on it's way out.

Reboot in Safe Mode if you can and run Command Prompt and type chkdsk /f

It will say the volume is locked and would you like to run this on the next system restart, press Y (yes)

Have a look in the log provided after the disk check and see if there are any bad sectors.

Even better post that log back here.

Hi, thanks for that.
How do I retrieve the log to post it on here? I tried to write it all down as it was doing but all of a sudden it went really fast then restarded the laptop before I had chance to write things down. Im sorry if Im being a pain in the backside but as I said, Im really not very good with computers. If not, is there anywhere that would do a free of charge remote assistance and look for me? I am told that that is when someone takes over my computer from their computer? Although I would have no idea how to do that either. Im totally lost when it comes to anything other than surfing the internet reading whats going on in the world lol
Thanks again, I really do appreciate it.
Sarah

Start> Run> then type CMD

Then type fsutil dirty query c:

This queries the drive, and more than likely it will tell you that it is dirty.

Next type CHKNTFS /X C:

The X tells Windows to NOT check that particular drive (C) on the next reboot. At this time, manually reboot your computer, it should not do a Chkdsk and take you directly to Windows.

Once Windows has fully loaded, bring up another CMD prompt and type and now you want to do a Chkdsk manually by typing Chkdsk /f /r c:

This should take you through 5 stages of the scan and will unset that dirty bit.

Finally type fsutil dirty query c: and Windows should confirm that the dirty bit is not set on that drive.

Thanks for your help, sorry I have not replied. My laptop finally gave up jst as I was following your instructions. As you said, the hard drive packed up. All repaired now though. Thank you again.
Sarah

Thanks for the update.

Let us know if we can help further in the future.