Need help with neighbors laptop

BWR1953 · Apr 29, 2009

My young neighbor brought his laptop over for me to check out. It's an Acer with Vista operating system. Won't restart.

He was fiddling around installing a wireless router, got mixed up and disconnected both of them. Now the computer won't come up other than in repair mode.

No, he doesn't have the original OS disk or the router disk either.

I did a CHKDSK from the command prompt and it says the volume is in use by another process. Probably the router, I reckon, eh?

I'm a super-user, not a computer wiz. Tell me what else you need to help me diagnose the issue.

Thanks!

v1_0 · Apr 29, 2009

Re: Need help with neighbors laptop

BWR1953 said:
My young neighbor brought his laptop over for me to check out. It's an Acer with Vista operating system. Won't restart.

He was fiddling around installing a wireless router, got mixed up and disconnected both of them. Now the computer won't come up other than in repair mode.

No, he doesn't have the original OS disk or the router disk either.

I did a CHKDSK from the command prompt and it says the volume is in use by another process. Probably the router, I reckon, eh?

I'm a super-user, not a computer wiz. Tell me what else you need to help me diagnose the issue.

Thanks!

Please clarify "won't restart". I am guessing that, if you can run the chkdsk, that the OS is running. Does this mean that it won't shutdown when you tell it to? (It accepts the shutdown command, then just does nothing?)

You could try the shutdown command "shutdown /?" - for a list of options.

Sometimes a program is running and windows is waiting for it to complete before shutting down. Use the task manager to find out what is going on.

An important note on what follows. It's a last resort type of procedure - there is the possibility of file corruption.

If worst comes to best in that sort of situation, use the "hardware override" and press the power button for about 5 seconds. Most laptops *hardware* will shut down the computer at that point. Every once in a while I actually have to disconnect the laptop from power and remove the batteries. I let it sit for a minute, (reconnect power and batteries if I did that) and power the computer up normally.

Again, this is what I consider a 'brute force' solution to a hung computer.

BWR1953 · Apr 29, 2009

Re: Need help with neighbors laptop

Sorry, I should have been more clear. Windows is NOT running.

I've done all the usual things like power-off reset, removing the battery, etc.

The computer has not been used for 9 months now. Fortunately, the battery IS charging.

I took pix of the screens as Windows tries to boot up.

The first prompt is to startup in repair mode, which doesn't work. The only other option given is to start normally, which also doesn't work.

The second screen simply says to pick keyboard type and is defaulted to US type.

The third screen says to select the operating system from the window, but no OS is listed.

Clicking Next brings up the fourth window, which has options for startup recovery, system restore, complete restore, memory diagnostic tool and finally the command prompt.

I can only get the command prompt to work. All the other automated features can't make repairs and/or there are no restores demarcated in the volume.

That's all I've got.

What else to try?

Thanks again!

Bob_VT · Apr 29, 2009

Re: Need help with neighbors laptop

First I would try the System Restore. It should present you with a calendar and you need to pick a date that is pre-router install and keep your fingers crossed. I would do that step first.

BWR1953 · Apr 29, 2009

Re: Need help with neighbors laptop

Bob_VT said:
First I would try the System Restore. It should present you with a calendar and you need to pick a date that is pre-router install and keep your fingers crossed. I would do that step first.

Um, as I said above, there are no system restore points. The kid never set them up. Nor had his sister, from whom he got the computer.

The easy stuff, like restores, I already know how to do. LOL

Bob_VT · Apr 29, 2009

Re: Need help with neighbors laptop

Well..... I would seek out some system discs or even better some win xp disks

Or

How are your DOS skills? Can you get a c promt? Then you can run the DIR and see if the auto exec bat file is there...... I am not vista smart so who knows what you will see......

BWR1953 · Apr 29, 2009

Re: Need help with neighbors laptop

Bob_VT said:
Well..... I would seek out some system discs or even better some win xp disks

Or

How are your DOS skills? Can you get a c promt? Then you can run the DIR and see if the auto exec bat file is there...... I am not vista smart so who knows what you will see......

Yes, I can get a command prompt but I'm no DOS user by any means. He doesn't have the original Vista disks (they're in Kansas or something) and it's been 11 years since I messed with DOS, when I last built a system from scratch. I've slept since then, so I've forgotten everything. (Volatile RAM!)

I do have a W2K disk, which is what I run on my personal machine. As a last ditch resort effort, I can attempt to wipe his hard drive and install W2K, but that brings up other issues. Might not be able to get all the drivers for his hardware since W2K is so old. Ran into that issue with my daughter's laptop some 4 years ago when I had to wipe her machine.

If I DO have to try the W2K route, it means HOURS and HOURS of work and the loss of his data, so I'm very reluctant to go that way. Not to mention that there will be 2 copies of my OS registered with Microsoft, which may bring additional issues.

Bob_VT · Apr 29, 2009

Re: Need help with neighbors laptop

You have a pm

i386 · Apr 29, 2009

Re: Need help with neighbors laptop

Acer laptops have a recovery partition from the factory. Google the laptop model and boot recovery partition. You'll be able to restore it easily.

BWR1953 · Apr 29, 2009

Re: Need help with neighbors laptop

i386 said:
Acer laptops have a recovery partition from the factory. Google the laptop model and boot recovery partition. You'll be able to restore it easily.

Okay, I'll look for that.

BWR1953 · Apr 29, 2009

Re: Need help with neighbors laptop

Well, at the command prompt I hit D: and got the D: partition. Did a dir/w and have a long listing of stuff.

So, I tried to switch to C: and got an error stating that the volume is corrupt.

What should I look for in the D: partition in order to do the recovery?

sportsmanphil · Apr 29, 2009

Re: Need help with neighbors laptop

Ive owned a dozen Dell's over the years (I can pure ware a computer out)

I bought my first Acer a year ago. I had a conflict with a microsoft update that conflicted with firefox and IE.

I called microsoft and they said that Acer has an agreement with them that only they (Acer) can handle their tech support. This actually pissed me off. But I call Acer and........get this...........SPOKE TO AN AMERICAN THAT SPOKE ENGLISH!!!!!!

Now you can get English support with Dell but you have to PAY MORE FOR IT!

That said, if you cant get anywhere with it, give Acer a call, you will be pleasantly suprised.

ThumbPkr · Apr 30, 2009

Re: Need help with neighbors laptop

I always keep a few "live CDs" of various Linux distros around to help streamline my troubleshooting on tough dogs like this.Knoppix,Ubuntu,Mint or whatever you can lay your hands on will quickly resolve whether you have an hardware problem or if it is software related.
I would not condemn the hardware until I tried more than one distro as I have found that not all distros will boot one computer but might boot another successfully.
You may have tried this as I reread your posts and might have missed it.
To clarify this for some who may not be current on these matters a "Live" CD is one which allows you to boot up a version (distro) of Linux to try it out without having to install it.It loads rather slow as it interogates your hardware to install the correct drivers but you will have a functioning computer with networking if it boots properly.
If in fact you get a successful boot from it you know that your hardware is working and your troubleshooting can take a new direction.Ron G

amendegw · Apr 30, 2009

Re: Need help with neighbors laptop

A couple of suggestions:

1) At the Command prompt, try a "Chkdsk /r"
2) Find an Operating system install disk, put it in the drive and type "sfc /scannow"

...Jerry

BWR1953 · Apr 30, 2009

Re: Need help with neighbors laptop

amendegw said:
A couple of suggestions:

1) At the Command prompt, try a "Chkdsk /r"
2) Find an Operating system install disk, put it in the drive and type "sfc /scannow"

...Jerry

Just tried the chkdsk/r... got an error stating that the volume was in use by another process and it couldn't run. Tried executing it from restart with the same result.

Don't have a Vista operating disk anywhere.

dolluper · Apr 30, 2009

Re: Need help with neighbors laptop

Try this boot disc it's a live cd......can be used on thumb drive {usb stick} has a light weight vista....recover files or repair files or remove them...only free for 10 days .....by the way on a stick you use the cd/dvd r/w to recover your files
link below
http://download.cnet.com/Active-Boot-Disk/3000-2094_4-10450840.html

Manual link PDF file
http://www.ntfs.com/downloads/ActiveBD.pdf

sportsmanphil · Apr 30, 2009

Re: Need help with neighbors laptop

Mad respect for you computer savy guys out there. I wish I could fix them as good as I can use them

BWR1953 · Apr 30, 2009

Re: Need help with neighbors laptop

dolluper said:
Try this boot disc it's a live cd......can be used on thumb drive {usb stick} has a light weight vista....recover files or repair files or remove them...only free for 10 days .....by the way on a stick you use the cd/dvd r/w to recover your files
link below
http://download.cnet.com/Active-Boot-Disk/3000-2094_4-10450840.html

Manual link PDF file
http://www.ntfs.com/downloads/ActiveBD.pdf

Any idea how much a USB drive would cost? I no longer have a CD writer on my machine. (It died and I replaced it with my backup CD player.)

i386 · Apr 30, 2009

Re: Need help with neighbors laptop

BWR1953 said:
Well, at the command prompt I hit D: and got the D: partition. Did a dir/w and have a long listing of stuff.

So, I tried to switch to C: and got an error stating that the volume is corrupt.

What should I look for in the D: partition in order to do the recovery?

You'll have to search like I said. There will be a key sequence you need to press right after you power on the laptop. That should bring you into the recovery program. It's not something you launch from the command prompt. If you can tell me the model of the laptop maybe I can help you find it.

BWR1953 · Apr 30, 2009

Re: Need help with neighbors laptop

i386 said:
You'll have to search like I said. There will be a key sequence you need to press right after you power on the laptop. That should bring you into the recovery program. It's not something you launch from the command prompt. If you can tell me the model of the laptop maybe I can help you find it.

It's an Aspire model 3680. Thanks again!

Need help with neighbors laptop

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