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Thread ID: 61389	2005-09-03 05:54:00	laptop non-system disk error	jonp (7517)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
385618	2005-09-03 05:54:00	i have an old compaq laptop and every time i attempt to start it up these days it comes up with the following message. "non-system disk or disk error replace and strike any key when ready" i strike the kets and nothing happens. there are no disks in either the floppy or cd drives, and there is a funny clunking noise coming from inside the machine before this message appears. Is it as i fear and time to bury the old girl or is there a simple solution that anybody could suggest - even temporary enough to retrieve some of the non backed up data on there ? thanks	jonp (7517)
385619	2005-09-03 06:08:00	Hi, the error you are referring to can occur when the boot file for either the floppy disk or cd-rom are either missing or corrupted. You can fix this quite easily by following the instructions supplied by Microsoft on the following page: Non System Disk errors (support.microsoft.com) Regards, Timothy	AlphabetSoup (8128)
385620	2005-09-03 06:16:00	thanks tim but i don't think that is the answer because when i turn the machine on i cannot do any of the things offered ny ms support. the boot up gives that size message and then goes straight to the error message nothing else.	jonp (7517)
385621	2005-09-03 06:22:00	Perhaps AlphabetSoup failed to notice that you clearly stated "there are no disks in either the floppy or cd drives" when posting that advice, which is not likely to fix your problem. Sadly it sounds like the Hard Drive has bitten the dust. You could try the deep freeze trick on the hard drive. (take out the drive, put it in a freezer bag and into the freezer for 20 or 30 minutes, then immediately refit and retry). If it works get the data off it immediately, it will fail again as it warms. And probably will only work once in this manner, if at all. It depends on the nature of the failure.	godfather (25)
385622	2005-09-04 02:08:00	It might be worth a look in the BIOS (press F10 early in the startup. If that doesn't work, try F12). However, my oldest Compaq (with a dead lithium backup cell) just complains that the BIOS settings are wrong, then carries on to boot normally after that.	Graham L (2)
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