So i am not very good with computers so please provide any help you can....

my laptop uses windows xp and about a month ago after running a virus scan when i turned the computer back on it went to the Gateway start up screen and would show loading forever. i left it on over night and with 30 hours nothing would change.

so i did an little looking around and i think i have a boot-sector virus. because my computer would hang on cpq.sys when i would try and start it in safe mode. and never reach the desk top.

it seems like getting a windows xp set-up disk is what might help so i got that and when i ran the computers cd-dvd drive and run the cd it begins set-up. some time is says computer doesnt recognize a hard drive on the laptop.

(oh and because i dont have a floppy disk on my computer i used a program to create a copy of my start-up disk with an integrated gateway hard drive driver.)

so when i use the new cd with the hard drive driver it begins setup and progresses to the message:

To continue setup press ENTER

when i push enter it hangs on "Examining 12341 mb disk...."

what could my problem be?? i know i could probably do a clean install but i want to keep all of my files on the laptop if possible.....


HELP HELP HELP

Hi IanD Welcome to D-A-L

I suspect you could have a faulty hard drive.

Could you give us the make and model of your laptop so
we can recommend the correct software to test your hard drive.

Jim

the make is gateway and the model is MP6954, thanks for your help!!

and can you get the data off of a faulty hard drive at all??

-IanD

Originally Posted by IanD

the make is gateway and the model is MP6954, thanks for your help!!

and can you get the data off of a faulty hard drive at all??

-IanD

Unfortunately the gateway mp6954 specs do not say what make of drive they install in your laptop.
Only That its a 120 GB HDD (5400 RPM) SATA
http://support.gateway.com/s/Mobile/...09031sp2.shtml
In order to check the make and model of your drive you need to remove the case cover.
If the laptop is under some sort of warranty. It would be advisable that you contact the warranty provider.
If not Gateways explanation of how to remove the case cover is supplied here : -
http://support.gateway.com/s/Profile...1738faq5.shtml
There's no need to Observe all electrostatic discharge (ESD) handling precautions.
because we are only going to make notes of the make and model of the hard drive.
Then replace the cover.
Once the covers off you will be able to see the hard drive look at the label
for the make and model of you hard drive example here http://www.hardwarezone.com/img/data.../694/label.jpg
The example gives makers name Hitachi
Drive name Deskstar Model IC35L180AVV207-1 and drive type as ATA/IDE
Once you have the details you can replace the Cover and post details here or
Go to here Ultimate Boot CD - Overview
Go down to the section called Hard Disk Diagnostic Tools and look for the link to the
diagnostic tool for your hard drive download and burn it to a cd/dvd.
Then you will be able to start your PC with the Hard Disk Diagnostic Tools and test your hard drive.
If you need help or advice with this please post back.
In answer to your second question.
It is possible to get data off a faulty hard drive but it usually involves a specialist.
So it depends how important the files ect are to you.
Because you may have to pay to recover the files.
But first you need to Know if its a faulty hard drive and using the correct test tool from
the list above will help to prove that.

Jim

I tried to figure out which it was to burn on the cd but i cant

my hard drive is a Western Digital WD1200BEVS and then it also says WDScorpio

does that tell you which one i should use?? thank you so much for the help again.

You need this one: Western Digital Data Lifeguard