advent hdd failure imminent

terryuk

terryuk

Suspended / Banned
Messages
1,344
Name
Terry
Edit My Images
Yes
got a advent laptop that is coming up with hard drive failure is imminent
if i put a new hard drive in it how will i be able to reinstall the operating system
its not my laptop its the mother in law's and she has not created a backup disc
cheers guys
 
You will need the OS install disk plus the serial code (which should be stuck to the laptop somewhere) to reinstall. If you can boot into windows, the first thing to do is try and get all your data off onto a USB drive or similar...
 
You could use an imaging software (Acronis) to create an image of the drive and use that to get up and running immediately with a new drive ... everything in tact, as was.
 
unfortunately i cant get it to boot into windows in any mode at all
it has vista on it and there is no install disk
is there a way to disabling the smart detection so i can then save anything on there before getting a hard drive
 
Get the drive out and try it in a PC? (edit as an extra drive, don't try and boot from it) no need to screw it in just leave it dangling on the wires.

Also means you can try putting the drive in the freezer before connecting it. Usually does nothing to help but just sometimes it does let it run long enough to get data off.
 
Last edited:
gramps said:
You could use an imaging software (Acronis) to create an image of the drive and use that to get up and running immediately with a new drive ... everything in tact, as was.
Click to expand...
The only problem with a drive image is that if the data is corrupt due to failing blocks, the drive image will be corrupt too...
 
Indeed, if that is the case ... overdue time for o/p's MIL to sort a backup/image solution.
 
A cursory check indicates Advent laptops have a restore partition that can be accessed by turning it on and repeatedly tapping a function key (F10?) until the BIOS restore system boots.
I'm not sure what options (assuming the restore partition is still intact) are offered but you may be able to burn a restore CD/DVD, from which you can reinstall to the new drive. Then, you can plug the old drive in as a second drive and see if your MIL's data is recoverable.

If you can't burn a CD, then you could try combine Robert and Gramps suggestion by plugging in the dying drive to another system and using imaging s/w to grab the restore partition (it'll be the smaller one, maybe of an "unknown" type) for copying to the new drive, which then (hopefully) should allow you to perform the restore operation once installed.

If the restore partition is also corrupted/unreadable, then I'd say you're looking at having to get an OEM Win7 along with your new HDD. :(
 
The OP said it's a Vista machine. Are the ISO's for that available?
 
robertp >>>> i can take the hard drive out but i have nothing to connect it to inside my desktop pc as it is from a laptop and i asume different connectors

tori t >>>> i can access the bios but the partition is on the knackered drive i think

i have the serial key on the laptop base

looks like it will have to go in to a pc place for repair as it looks out of my league now

thanks for your help
 
it is not allowing me to access the repair option at all, just coming up with a shut down message and unmountable_boot_volume
 
terryuk said:
robertp >>>> i can take the hard drive out but i have nothing to connect it to inside my desktop pc as it is from a laptop and i asume different connectors
Click to expand...

assuming a SATA drive the connectors should be the same on a 2.5" disk (as probably in the laptop) and a 3.5" disk as in your desktop. You should be able to leave it hanging on the wires
 
^^
What he said :)

If the DVD drive in your PC has sata connection you could just pull the leads off of it and plug them into the laptop drive if you don't have a cable to use - just for seeing if the drive can work.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top