Win vista home basic can't load.
A friend ask me to fix his laptop. Its a toshiba satellite L305-S5919. Vista won't load and trying to do a start up repair won't do any good because it is running very very slow and I think it can't even finish a task. I decided to install an xp to so that i can recover the important files but many errors pop up and xp installation was not successful adding more start up problems. Do you have any other alternative?
June 30th, 2010 9:55am

Loading XP is not going to solve any Vista problems."xp installation was not successful adding more start up problems."We don't know what you have done through doing that.You don't give EXACT error messages for anyone to work with.Recover the Data and then reinstall Vista:Data Recovery: 1. Slave your Hard Drive in another computer, and read/save your Data from there. 2. Put your Hard drive in a USB Hard Drive Enclosure, plug into another computer, and read/save from there. 3. Or, use Knoppix Live CD to recover your Data: http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html Download/Save the above Knoppix Live CD ISO file.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/isorecorder.htm Download the Vista Burning software from the above link. After installing above ISO burning software, right-click on Knoppix ISO file > Copy Image to CD. Knoppix does not install on your PC; just uses your PC's resources, RAM, Graphics, etc. Change the Boot Order in YOUR computer/laptop to make the CD/DVD Drive 1<sup>st</sup> in the Boot Order. Plug in a Flash Drive/Memory Stick, BOOT with the Live CD, and you should be able to read your Hard Drive.When the desktop loads, you will see at least two hard drive icons on the desktop (one for your hard drive and one for the USB drive). Click on the hard drive icons to open them up and figure out which drive is which. Right-click the USB drive icon and choose "Actions > Change read/write mode" so you can write to the drive (it's read-only by default for security reasons). Now find the files you want to back up and drag and drop them to the USB drive. When you are finished, shut down the system and remove the USB drive. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ How to obtain Vista Recovery Media and/or use the Vista Recovery Partition on your Computer to put it back to Factory Settings. There is no legal free Vista download available.Contact your Computer Manufacturer and ask them to send you a set of Vista Recovery disk/s. They normally do that for a small $ cost. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Also, ask them if you have a Recovery Partition on your Computer/Laptop to restore it to Factory settings.See if a Manual came with the computer, or go to the Manufacturer's website, email or phone them for info on how to do a Recovery. Normally, you would press F10 or F11 at Startup to commence the Recovery Process.. Another way I have seen on some models is to tap F8, and go to a list of Startup options, and start a Factory Standards Recovery from in there, by selecting the Repair computer option. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Also ask them if it is possible to make Recovery Disk/s from the Recovery Partition in case of Hard Drive failure or System Crash.They will tell you how to do that. Each Computer Manufacturer has their own way of making Recovery Disk/s. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Or borrow a proper Microsoft Vista DVD (not Dell, HP, Acer, etc Recovery Disk/s).A proper Vista DVD contains all Vista versions.The Product Key determines which Vista version gets installed.There are 2 Vista disks: one for 32bit Operating System, and one for 64bit Operating System. If a clean install is required with a proper Vista DVD (not HP, Dell Recovery Disks): At startup/power on you should see at the bottom of the screen either F2 or DELETE, to go into Bios/Setup, or F12 for the Boot Menu Go into your Bios/Setup, or Boot Menu, at startup, and change the Boot Order to make the DVD/CD drive 1st in the Boot Order, then reboot with the disk in the Drive. http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/918884MS advice on doing clean install.http://www.theeldergeekvista.com/vista_clean_installation.htmA Tutorial on doing a clean install http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winvista_install_03.asp Windows Vista Installation Super Guide After installation >Go to your Laptop/Computer Manufacturer's website > Drivers and Downloads Section > Key in your Model number > Look for latest Vista Drivers for it > Download/install them. Save all Data, as it will be lost during a clean install. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/326246"How to replace Microsoft software or hardware, order service packs and product upgrades, and replace product manuals"Cheers. Mick Murphy - Microsoft Partner
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June 30th, 2010 11:05am

After a long time of patience, i had found out that the hdd of the laptop has multiple bad sectors. I was able to run the chkdsk with /f/r option from the vista starup repair. It did some repair but nothing to the unreadable sections.This is very greate! I tried to connect it to another pc with xp os, but every time i connect the defective hdd, it also wont start. Im still downloading the live cd.
July 2nd, 2010 11:04am

OK.Good luck with recovering the Data.Mick Murphy - Microsoft Partner
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July 2nd, 2010 11:22am

Thanks for the live cd, i had recovered the file. But now the hd is corrupt. Even deleting all partitions and reformatting, it is still very slow. I decided to use a lighter os xp to make the unit faster but it cannot complete the reformatting due to disk corruption. How can i completely erase the disk including the corrupted/bad sectors?
July 3rd, 2010 9:57pm

For XP questions, repost your questions in the XP Forums:XP Forums:http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/category/windowsxpAbove link is to XP Forums.There is a list of the various XP Forums at above link to help you.You will get the assistance that you need there.These are Vista Forums. You might have to buy a NEW Hard Drive, if you have problems with it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Vista reinstall information is in my 1st reply to you. Cheers. Mick Murphy - Microsoft Partner
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July 3rd, 2010 10:03pm

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