Hi.
I have a Compaq Pressario laptop which has provided troublefree computing since new (3 years old).
Last night when I switched it on, the Windows XP logo came up and stayed on for about 1 minute. The PC then switched itself off and re-started. This process continued to repeat itself untill I removed the power supply & battery.
During the routine, hard drive indicator light remains solidly illuminated but I coudn't here the hard drive spinning (although it is normally very quiet anyway).
My initial thoughts was that the Hard drive had stopped working...........
Any thoughts or suggestions.
Many thanks.

can you get into safemode? (F8 before the win xp screen) if not, do you have an XP cd?

Mike

Hi Mike, sorry for not getting back sooner, but I'm having to use a works PC to access this site......
I tried to reboot in safe mode (F8) but it still initializes in XP & then starts to loop as before. I manged to disable the auto restart feature and ended up with a blue screen which showed an error code STOP: 0X0000007b (0XFAFE3528, 0X00000341, 0X00000000, 0X00000000).
I do have the XP CD and have tried the repair & install features but to no avail. I also have the System Restore Disks (supplied with the PC). Again when I tried to use these, a series of menus and warnings appear, but eventualy when Iget to the final initialization stage, the pc does nothing for a few minutes and then ejects the CD.

ok thanks, that helps

insert + boot from your xp disk
press "R" to enter recovery console
type the following (without the quotes)

'/chkdsk'

'/fixboot' press enter

'/fixmbr' press enter

then, type '/exit' and press enter

remove the xp cd from your cd drive,
i would have thaught a repair install would have fixed it....
if your computer still does not boot, unplug any unessential hardware (printer, modem, any other usb device...) then try to boot up your computer
did you have an anti-virus installed that you ran regually?


Hope this helps
Mike

Originally Posted by madmikejt12

ok thanks, that helps

insert + boot from your xp disk
press "R" to enter recovery console
type the following (without the quotes)

'/chkdsk'

'/fixboot' press enter

'/fixmbr' press enter

then, type '/exit' and press enter

remove the xp cd from your cd drive,
i would have thaught a repair install would have fixed it....
if your computer still does not boot, unplug any unessential hardware (printer, modem, any other usb device...) then try to boot up your computer
did you have an anti-virus installed that you ran regually?


Hope this helps
Mike

Thanks Mike, will give it a try tonight when I get home.
I had already removed all the peripheral hardware.
I do have Norton Antivairus 2006 installed which I run on a regular basis. I ran it last Friday with no problems found.
Will let you know how I get on........

if the 'chkdsk' command doesnt work in recovery console, try '/chkdsk -f'
Mike

Hi Mike.

Managed to get into the recovery console then an error message came up "the path or file specified is not valid or there is no disk in the drive" this was against drive c:.
I typed in /chkdsk which promted another error message "command is not recognised".
When I typed in /fixboot another error message came up "fixboot cannot open the partition"
I also tried to load Norton 2006 from the CD but that just leads to the 'windows xp' screen and the contiuous loop sequence i described earlier.

sounds like it could be a hardware problem, how comfortable do you feel about opening your case? if you feel confident, open the case and check all connestions to the HD (4 pin molex and the ribbon cable) also, the ribbon cable to the motherboard aswell, if that doesnt work, try a new cable. If it is an IDE cable, i have a few spares, i could send you one if you like?
failing that, try the drive in a different pc as "slave", boot up windows, click start>my computer and see if your drive is detected.
Hope this helps,
Mike

I think it's a bit out of my league and a visit to the repair shop is in order. OH HUM.
But thanks very much for your time and advice which is very much appreciated.
I'll let you know the outcome......... but in the meantime take care & thanks again...

dont take it to a repair shop just yet, try a clean install 1st, good guide here: http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

Hope this helps,
Mike