The Cellar  

Go Back   The Cellar > Main > Technology
FAQ Community Calendar Today's Posts Search

Technology Computing, programming, science, electronics, telecommunications, etc.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 02-25-2010, 11:22 PM   #1
lumberjim
I can hear my ears
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 25,571
computer problem

jinx's vaio is effed up. it was going round and round trying to reboot, but failing. I ran the ultimate boot cd, and got it up, but there does not appear to be a C drive.

help!
__________________
This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality
Embrace this moment, remember
We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion ~MJKeenan
lumberjim is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-25-2010, 11:25 PM   #2
BigV
Goon Squad Leader
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Seattle
Posts: 27,063
does it show up in the bios setup screen?

being able to boot from cd is promising, but if you have no c drive, you definintely have a problem.

were there any symptoms leading up to the failure?

is it under warranty?

What is on the c drive that you really really want to keep? pics/docs/music/ etc. programs are replaceable, more or less, your data... less.
__________________
Be Just and Fear Not.
BigV is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-25-2010, 11:48 PM   #3
tw
Read? I only know how to write.
 
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 11,933
Quote:
Originally Posted by lumberjim View Post
jinx's vaio is effed up. it was going round and round trying to reboot, but failing. I ran the ultimate boot cd, and got it up, but there does not appear to be a C drive.
Only better computer provide the hardware diagnostics on the hard drive, on a CD, and on their web site ... for free.

I you can boot the machine from a CD, then the diagnostics will load and test all hardware ... without the complications of Windows.

All manufacturers have these diagnostics. Your problem is exactly why better manufacturers provide these diagnostics. If not provided, then use another machine to burn a bootable CD (or USB stick) with the diagnostic from the disk drive manufacturer. Idea is to learn what is wrong long before trying to fix anything ... so that data is not lost and so that the problem is not made exponentially more complex.


Also available are other boot functions enabled by pressing various keys as the machine boots. Sometimes F2, F5, F8 or Del key provides a list of booting options. One possible option is verbose - to list each step the BIOS goes through to load Windows.

I have never run a Vaio so I do not know which keys enable which booting functions. Could be defective hardware. Could be a trashed boot file. Confirm the hardware is good (use diagnostics) before executing repair software such as Fixboot.
tw is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-26-2010, 08:43 AM   #4
lumberjim
I can hear my ears
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 25,571
I did get it to boot using the Ultimate Boot Disc. But, when I click my computer, it only shows a B drive(952MB) and the disc..... It's like it can't see the C drive....

I assume the diagnostics are on a partition of that like they are on my HP. If I can't see the hard drive, how can I run those self diagnostics?
__________________
This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality
Embrace this moment, remember
We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion ~MJKeenan
lumberjim is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-26-2010, 10:01 AM   #5
zippyt
LONG LIVE KING ZIPPY! per Feetz
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Arkansas
Posts: 7,661
Jim , Recently I did a BUTT Load of updates from windows on Carols laptop ,
After it got done rebooting for the 11'dth time there was NO Dvd/Cd drive ,
I reloaded the drivers , nope , de installed the drivers , re installed them , nope ,
I thought Oh no you didnt !!!!! so a grabbed an External Dvd/cd drive I have for work , "I Know this works !!!!" thinking that the internal drive its self May have just Fell the fuck down , guess what the external drive didnt work eather,
Looking in the admin/tools/puter mangmt /device mngr
it showed that the drives were there but Neather worked , error 39 (?) and error 19
I googled this and found that there was a registry problem , some thing about Hi filters, and Low filters or sume such ,
I sorted thru the sites that wanted to charge for to fix this , and Finaly came to a concensis from posts on help forums that I needed to go into the reg edditer and eddit the settings , I googled the settings for these parts of the reg , again came to a concensis for the Equipment type, brand, Model etc,,, What My reg settings needed to be and Lo and behold it WORKED !!!!!!!

So My suggestion IS go to admin/tools/puter mangmt /device mngr
See if the drive is Present , and what error codes you have and go from there ,
OR Get a Ball bat and Let yer INNER Viking OUT !!!!!
__________________
"Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get. "
Brother Dave Gardner
zippyt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-26-2010, 10:02 AM   #6
jinx
Come on, cat.
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: general vicinity of Philadelphia area
Posts: 7,013
This makes me sad.
I don't even know what diagnostics are. Like defrag and checkdisk, or something that will help?
__________________
Crying won't help you, praying won't do you no good.
jinx is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-26-2010, 10:02 AM   #7
Pete Zicato
Turns out my CRS is a symptom of TMB.
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Chicago suburbs
Posts: 2,916
Quote:
Originally Posted by lumberjim View Post
I assume the diagnostics are on a partition of that like they are on my HP. If I can't see the hard drive, how can I run those self diagnostics?
First you need to do what BigV recommended. If the bios can't see the drive, the diagnostics are not going to see the drive either.

Reboot the computer. Go into hardware setup (by pressing some key as it boots). Look around in the hardware setup for the hard drive info. If it sees the C drive, that's good. If it doesn't, you have serious problems - likely hardware issue with the drive.
__________________


Talk nerdy to me.
Pete Zicato is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-26-2010, 10:06 AM   #8
zippyt
LONG LIVE KING ZIPPY! per Feetz
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Arkansas
Posts: 7,661
I just re read your Last post , B drive ??? WTF !!
Most laptops have a C and D( for the back up Partition ) and E drive Now days
If you have a card reader it shows F G H , etc , for the different card slots ,
Flash drives and external HDs show After that , I J K L , etc
So this B drive has me Perplexed !!??
__________________
"Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get. "
Brother Dave Gardner
zippyt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-26-2010, 10:07 AM   #9
lumberjim
I can hear my ears
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 25,571
i don't see anything when it tries to boot. it just says starting windows...then that little green bar thing going back and forth....forever

edit: jinx says the last thing that happened was that the battery died and when she plugged it back in ....no boot.
__________________
This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality
Embrace this moment, remember
We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion ~MJKeenan

Last edited by lumberjim; 02-26-2010 at 10:16 AM.
lumberjim is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-26-2010, 10:09 AM   #10
jinx
Come on, cat.
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: general vicinity of Philadelphia area
Posts: 7,013
says;
(B: ) RAMDisk
folders - PrintSpool
UBCD4 Win User Settings
(X: ) UBCD4 Windows
__________________
Crying won't help you, praying won't do you no good.
jinx is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-26-2010, 10:13 AM   #11
Pete Zicato
Turns out my CRS is a symptom of TMB.
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Chicago suburbs
Posts: 2,916
After you restart, you don't see a text screen before the windows startup screen?
__________________


Talk nerdy to me.
Pete Zicato is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-26-2010, 10:14 AM   #12
Pete Zicato
Turns out my CRS is a symptom of TMB.
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Chicago suburbs
Posts: 2,916
Quote:
Originally Posted by jinx View Post
says;
(B: ) RAMDisk
folders - PrintSpool
UBCD4 Win User Settings
(X: ) UBCD4 Windows
Have you always had a ram drive? How about the x: drive?
__________________


Talk nerdy to me.
Pete Zicato is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-26-2010, 10:15 AM   #13
Undertoad
Radical Centrist
 
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Cottage of Prussia
Posts: 31,423
Something that says hit DEL to setup? Or F2?
Undertoad is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-26-2010, 10:18 AM   #14
lumberjim
I can hear my ears
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 25,571
http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

that is what gives me B drive, zipp..

and...no no text at all when trying to reboot
__________________
This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality
Embrace this moment, remember
We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion ~MJKeenan
lumberjim is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-26-2010, 10:26 AM   #15
Pete Zicato
Turns out my CRS is a symptom of TMB.
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Chicago suburbs
Posts: 2,916
A couple of web sites say that the Vaio bios key is either F1, F2, or F3 depending on the model. Try rebooting and pressing one of those keys as it reboots. You should get into the bios setup screen.
__________________


Talk nerdy to me.
Pete Zicato is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:44 AM.


Powered by: vBulletin Version 3.8.1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.