Posted: 12/27/2004 3:07:47 AM EDT
|
ARGH! I hate HP Pavillion computers. I knew it was and always has been a piece o' crap, but I think it has finally died, and taken all my files, settings, etc. with it. Lately it has been going through a Scandisk/DiskCheck every time I boot up. Well, now it won't continue past it. When I hit a key to cancel the check, it freezes up and won't continue past it. I even tried to start it in SAFE mode and it shows a string of "multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS\System32\Drivers\" files, but then stops altogether on the AGP440.sys file. Any ideas or things I can try to do to at least get into my hard drive? I do have two computers networked (using the older Dell right now - thank god it still works) but I need to get into my other one for some files, et. al. Luckily I backed up MOST of my important files last week. But there are still a lot of things on the other computer that I need to get to. |
| Well you might Might have to change a jumper to make it a slave Hard Drive. Or remove the jumper and connect it to the slave part of your ribon cable. I'd Take it out of the old case and find the manufaturer info. Then search for it online to figure out where you need to change the jumper too. If you have any orginal documentation for it you could look there too. It realy isn't very complex. You could probably just trial and error it. |
|
Well, I tried to start the other computer up again and it started going through the blue screen of checking the disk. It started going through files and folders, like my Start Menu Programs, game files, music playlists, etc. and saying the folder is "entirely unreadable" and then said "Folder entry removed" - it did this to three different folders, then locked up entirely. WTF? |
| You know what is really fucking ood is my lptop did the same exact thing two weeks ago. got to the same exact point with the AGP440. I wonder if someone has blessed us with a new fafled virus. You have the benifit of connecting your HD to another computer. I don't know how to do that with a laptop HD, maybe someone makes an adapter? You have to make sure that when you are doeing it you are booting from the right drive. When you put it in the other computer it seems that you are still trying to boot from the bad one. |
|
How old is it? If the battery on the motherboard wears out (it's used to keep the BIOS memory going, I think), it can cause hard drive "errors" -- replacing the battery makes everything work again, like magic. Otherwise, look, I realize I sound like a broken record, but try using Knoppix (or Morphix, if you have nVidia chipset/graphics) to get in and recover your data. Since it boots off the CD, it will still load up even if the drive is fried. You'll probably need a friend who knows UNIX/Linux to help on the commands, but basically, you'll have a folder in the /mnt directory, probably named /mnt/hda1, which is your whole hard drive. If you have multiple partitions on it, they'll be /mnt/hda1, /mnt/hda2, and so on. (Could be hda1, hdb1, hdc1, hdd1 for primary master, primary slave, secondary master, secondary slave respectively.) Anything of the pattern /mnt/hdXN is one of your IDE hard drive partitions. To make the drive available, open a command window and type "mount /mnt/hda1" (no quotes). Instead of "dir", use "ls". "cp" instead of "copy". If you want to save your data onto a new drive, then format the new drive in FAT32 (NOT in NTFS! Microsoft's proprietary format has meant that Linux can't safely write to an NTFS drive because they don't know the structure) on another machine, plug it into the machine with the dying hard drive (being sure to either put it on another IDE bus or to make it a slave if the other drive is a master), mount both drives, and use (for example) "cp -r /mnt/hdb1/* /mnt/hda1" to copy everything over. This assumes that the old drive shows up as hda1 (primary bus, master drive) and the new one as hdb1 (primary bus, slave drive). To find out what the drive names are, "ls /mnt" and it will show directories for both (as well as some others you can ignore). It's easy, it's free, and it will save your data's ass when nothing else can. http://www.knoppix.net/ http://www.morphix.org/ If you don't have another machine, you can always remove your old drive (for safety), plug in the new drive and install Windows on it, and go from there. BTW, if you've used Microsoft's encrypted NTFS on your drive, you're hosed -- my understanding, perhaps wrong, is that nothing else can read it except the version of NT/XP/2K/2K3 that you installed on that machine. But check that with someone who knows Microsoft's amateurducts (they're not products). |
|
I wonder if I can take the drive from my Dell (that works) and install it as the main drive in the HP, using the old drive that isn't working as the Slave drive? Or just take the HP drive that doesn't work and install it on the Dell as the slave drive. Is there anything I must do to get the other drive recognized by the Dell computer as a secondary drive? Or is it all plug-n-play? Do I need to set anything up in the BIOS? |
|
Boot in safe mode, then remove the drivers for your Nvidia card, reboot into regular mode, and reinstall them. If you can't remove them in safe mode (sometimes it won't let you) then change the Start->Settings-Control Panel->Display (Settings) (Advanced) (Adapter) display type to "VGA" , and that should get you back in long enough to replace the corrupted file in your video driver. |
|
Jon, when I start up the computer it goes to a blue screen saying it needs to check the disk drive. If I hit a key to stop it, it then gives me a black screen and starts giving a string of files, then stops at the AGP440.sys file. How can I bypass all this? Is there some way of hitting a key or stroke combination at the startup of the computer and bypassing this? Is there some way of using a disk or CD to reinstall the OS, or drivers, etc? |
|
EDIT: looks like MS has finally acknowledged this bug: support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;324764 Follow those instructions and you should be fixed. |
|
Those . . . those . . . BASTARDS! WTF, over? I get in a tizzy, I'm about to shoot my damn computer, all because of Microsoft not having their collective shit together? I feel . . . violated! I'll try this out tonight - thanks, Jon3 - hopefully this will work. If it does, I owe you an alcoholic beverage of your choice. |
|
Tried this solution - was (and still am) having EXACT problem as described. But when hitting F12 it would not give me the option of running from CD drive. And so, I am stil having the problem. ARGH! How can I get it to allow me to run from the CD drive? Options it gives are: Safe Mode, Safe Mode with Networking, Safe Mode with Command Prompt, Last Known Good Configuration, and Start Normally. Using anything BUT the Last Known Good Config gives me the black screen with the eventual hang up on the AGP.sys But when doing the Last Known, it makes me run Scan Disk again. |
|
When you just start your computer you will get a screeen that says you can enter setup by pressing some button. Push that and fiddle around in the setup menus till youcome accross the screen that says you can change the boot order. Put your cd rom on topof the list, save and exit. There are instructions in there to tell you how to get around. NOW SOMEONE HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!! |
Usually f8 I belive |
|
The boot sequence is in the BIOS - usually you need to hit 'DEL' for bios during start up. Make sure CDROM id before HDD or HD 0 in the boot sequence list. If you put in the XP cd and restart-by whatever means needed- it should prompt you to "hiy any key to boot from CD"... but moving the iffy drive to another box - and making it the slave drive- will allow you to recover you files. Then you can reformat and reinstall the OS when you move the sdrive back to it's original box. XP hard drives will usually choke/lock up / go T.U. if you move them between boxes as the PRIMARY or boot drive. so make sure it's a slave in the second box. |
|
This is not a WINDOWS bug, it is a DRIVER bug. The only reason it ended up on the KB is because it is a such a problem with the Pavilions (a.k.a. Oblivions) - HP paid Microsoft for the Support Request and the "Workaround". Knoppix is GREAT for those with Linux/Unix knowledge, or those with a good feel for KDE GUI (I use a slightly customized Knoppix build for working on offline Linux file systems, read on for why I prefer not to use it for NTFS File Systems). Otherwise, I highly recommend BartPE coupled with UBCD For Windows add-on. I prefer using just BartPE with my own plugin suite, but for the layman, BartPE with UBCD4WIN is pretty much all you will ever need for restoring/recovering files from a downed machine. It includes a Registry editor, Two different Virus Scanners, Adaware Personal, and native NTFS Support (I've run into a few issues with Knoppix and NTFS Volumes created with WinXP: Knoppix 3.6 does not use the most current/advanced NTFS module for Linux - this can lead to problems on memory-strapped systems). |
Depends on the computer. To clarify, I didn't mean the motherboard battery had anything to do with the hard drive, I wrote that when the battery dies, machines can spit out errors that claim to be about the hard drive. My grandfather thought his computer's hard drive had fried itself because the machine kept announcing drive errors and wouldn't boot, and all it took was replacing a two-dollar battery. |
What's the laptop, and why won't it boot from CD? Is it a design limitation, or has the drive gone bad? Can you still boot from a floppy, and then run the setup.exe program from the CD?
+1 
|
|
Wonderful, just fucking wonderful - tried all these solutions, no workee. So, I pulled the HD from the HP and slaved it to the DELL that WAS working. Note, the past tense. When I booted it up, IT went tits up. It worked at first, but wasn't recognizing the other HD. So I turned it off, tried another power plug, checked that the ribbon cord was plugged in right, and started it up again. This time, I get a black screen after the DELL screen at start up, and it says: "Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \windows\system32\config\system You can attempt to repair this file by starting windows setup using the original setup CD-Rom. Select 'r' at the first screen to start repair" No go - I try pushing differet F keys, the R key, you name it - no luck. I take out the HP HD and still I get this error. WHAT THE FUCK? Am I cursed? Why me, God - why me? |