[Mr Nelson]

Hello,

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

I've been trying to fix my laptop (Acer Aspire) for about 2 months, and it's been a bit of a saga. I've tried lots of things, and have persisted because it's seemed like I've been gradually honing in on a solution, rather than chasing a lost cause.

I was on Vista, which came with the laptop, but then the laptop got very ill, to the point where I wanted to do the Acer factory restore, but this didn't work, nor did any of the various recovery options in Windows. I was worried that the hard drive was physically damaged, so I wanted to try formatting it, which I decided to try and do in the course of installing Windows 7. This didn't work, so instead I formatted the hard drive using Ubuntu, and then tried Windows 7 again. That didn't work, because the hard drive needed to be NTFS, so I re-formatted it as NTFS using GParted.

However, Windows 7 install still isn't working: it goes most of the way but then just hangs indefinitely on a black screen with 'Setup is updating registry files' written on it. I've googled this and it seems that this is quite a common problem when installing W7. However, the problem that I have is that all of the solutions offered are to do with booting up as normal and changing things in Control Panel etc, which obviously I can't do.

I can go into more details about what has happened if needed, but basically the state of play now is:


I need to install Windows 7 from a cd-rom I have, but it's not working.

I have no OS on my computer, and the hard drive is clean and formatted as NTFS. As such, I can't boot to a Windows desktop to try and apply a solution.

Tools I have at my disposal: 1 x Windows 7 install CD, 1 x Ubuntu 10.04 CD which I can boot from or install on the hard drive, 1 x Knoppix CD which I can boot from, 1 x GParted CD which I can boot from.


So basically, does anybody know of a way to fix whatever is preventing Windows 7 from installing, without being able to boot to a windows desktop?

Many thanks,

Chris

 

[joeten]

Hi i think I would be testing the hdd for issues try downloading and burning this to a disc or if you know the maker go to their support site and get their diagnostic tool
SeaTools | Seagate ask a friend to burn it for you use imgburn The Official ImgBurn Website
and read the tutorial on seatools for dos

 

[Mr Nelson]

Hi joeten, thanks for the reply. I'm trying that right now - I'll post the results when it's done.

Chris

 

[Mr Nelson]

Hello again, it seems that that was fairly simple, but actually I'm a little confused: I selected 'Long Test', but Test Progress didn't make it past 0%, I just got a message after about 15 seconds saying 'Sector Repair Failure' ... 'Please save this code if you are planning a warranty exchange.' ... 'Unfortunately your Seagate hard drive has failed an important diagnostic test, possibly caused by problem sectors which are difficult to read.' ... 'Repair was unsuccessful on the hard drive. For more information on this subject see our help topic "Bad Sector Found" '.

Under 'Test Information and Results' it says 'The drive is not responding to commands. Check cables and power connection.'

The reason I'm confused is that all of this would seem to suggest that the hard drive is just completely dead, right? But when I booted in Ubuntu or Knoppix back before I formatted, I was able to read the drive and see all of my files and folders.

Thanks,

Chris

 

[micgerste]

Hi try downloading a copy of this and boot from the cd.It has worked for me when a drive is not being recognised.
I hope it helps you out,it writes 0 bits across the whole drive after you have done this then try installing Windows 7.

http://www.dban.org/download

 

[Mr Nelson]

Hi micgerste, just to check, is there any risk in doing that to my hard drive? Should it only be used as a very last resort or would I be able to re-format as NTFS or whatever later?

Thanks,

Chris

 

[joeten]

Hi it seems the hdd has failed in which case it is better to replace it no amount of formatting will resolve it

 

[Mr Nelson]

Ok, in that case I'll try what micgerste suggests and if it doesn't work get myself a new hard drive. It shouldn't be too expensive, or at least not compared to getting a new laptop.

Thanks very much for all the kind help, really appreciated.

Chris

 

[micgerste]

Very sorry for late reply Mr Nelson.Iv had drives that have failed the manufacturers diagnostics so have tried formatting with dban and then installed OS after formatting as NTFS.
I'm not saying it will work for you 100% but you can give it a try anyhow and here's hoping
Best of luck

 

[micgerste]

Sorry Chris (Mr Nelson) I meant to say in last post that Joeten is most probably right you will need new hdd especially if there is clicking from your hdd but at least the dban is something to try as I suppose you have nothing to lose

Ben from Ireland

 

[joeten]

You may want to try geting any data you need off of there first Use Ubuntu Live CD to Backup Files from Your Dead Windows Computer - How-To Geek

 

[Mr Nelson]

Ok thanks guys. Joeten I got pretty much everything off back at the start of the process, and have formatted a couple of times since then anyhow. I'll try dban in a bit and then most likely go hard drive shopping.

Cheers!

 

[joeten]

Have you checked wjat make it is and if there is a warranty if it has you may be able to RMA