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Thread ID: 112997 2010-09-30 09:32:00 Urgent fix (I've done it this time) The Error Guy (14052) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
1140707 2010-09-30 11:03:00 testdisk fred_fish (15241)
1140708 2010-09-30 11:29:00 I recently had issues with the HDD in my brothers laptop, which seems kinda similar.

From his perspective it was simply failing to load Windows. What I saw was a deterioration from getting part way into loading down to not even getting to the point of booting at all.

Took the drive out and attached it via an adapter to my Desktop. Drive data was fine apart from a FAT area error. Backed it all up and scandisc reported all ok.

Put it back into the laptop and still no go.
Anyway, long story short, it seems to have been an issue with the HDD/IDE controller within the laptop. Data is fine. Laptop is history. Arguably a better outcome than a dead drive as far as data is concerned.
Paul.Cov (425)
1140709 2010-09-30 11:47:00 I always use Puppy Linux to recover from boot errors. DeSade (984)
1140710 2010-09-30 17:45:00 Ah did it change it to a dynamic disk?? Because that will make one partition bootable only. And you wont be able to install on any other partition. I did that once by formatting a part of the hdd (with Win7). And stuffed things up. I could only use 200GB of a 1 TB hdd !

Only way I could fix it, I had to delete all of the partitions (and start all over again, so I could install on more than 1 partition)
Speedy Gonzales (78)
1140711 2010-09-30 19:03:00 ...that's what happens when you play with fire and make a Hackintosh ;)

As DeSade mentioned, try a bootable Linux CD. Specifically, this one: www.sysresccd.org

There's software on there which scans your HDD and guesses your partitions based on the data and other things. It's brilliant.

After that, no more software piracy, yeah? The phrase "slow learner" comes to mind, yet I also find myself wanting to congratulate you for being a tinkerer, and trying new things...
Chilling_Silence (9)
1140712 2010-09-30 20:08:00 Thanks, Chill, looks like a keeper for the disaster recovery library! Downloading as we speak.

Good luck, Error Guy.
linw (53)
1140713 2010-09-30 20:37:00 There's software on there which scans your HDD and guesses your partitions based on the data and other things. It's brilliant.

Yep, that's Testdisk.
It's on most rescue cd's of note and is available separately for Linux & Windows.
fred_fish (15241)
1140714 2010-09-30 21:26:00 I'm currently recovering most of what I can from the drive, ill try the linux version when thats done. When the HDD was still in my laptop I tried a linux live CD but got a never ending stream of I/0 errors, i had no idea what was actually wrong with the drive so I thought that the drive must be damaged and linux couldn't read write to it, now its in my desktop I can have a good prod around.

As for why, well I wanted to learn how to use a mac without destroying it and write some programs, as with most people i'm not that keen to part with $2000 for an entry level computer so the not so legal side was a better option :devil (or so it seemed) I guess steve and bill just don't want to play nice

or as steve would say, just don't use it that way. I think its time I got my old test rig working, or rather stop testing this stuff on my "good" computers:rolleyes:

Cheers for the help and suggestions

Also, how would I recover the registry from the HDD? getdataback seems to have found pretty much all my files but would the reg be in there? I can't remember much about the registry except it was good for removing values that relate to "rundll32", good old days of seeing how much you could put win98 through before it gave up and BSOD itself
The Error Guy (14052)
1140715 2010-09-30 22:01:00 Not on Windows at the mo but have a look in the directory for recovery and the files will be there although with a different file name. mikebartnz (21)
1140716 2010-09-30 23:22:00 Turns out the recovery wasn't needted (athough helpful if i had needed it) test disk and a few terminal prompts have fixed it up quick-sharp.

Thanks for your help, won't do it again for at least a month ( i won't lie and say i never will because I can't stop tweaking and mucking around)

Now, to make a back up and tidy up the bootloader (12 entries, no grub)
The Error Guy (14052)
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