Computer help

[Dave Lehnert]

Hey,

I am having an issue with my laptop. I was using it today, set it down to do something for 5 min. When I came back it was all locked up. Had to power it down, then back up again.
When powering up It get the Gateway computer screen, but that is all the farther it will go. I can put it in safe mode, it will say Building file, will get a bunch of file names scroll across the screen. The screen will turn black with only the mouse arrow present. I can move that arrow around the black screen with the mouse.
Looks like the computer is working, just wont boot up to windows.

Any help what to do next or try. Not willing to take anyplace because of all my records that are on the computer.

[Sean Troy]

If you have the install disc, you may just as well try and reformat the hard drive.

[Dave Lehnert]

Yes, I do have the "operating system" disk.

Never done a restall. What can I expect? Will it give me step by step directions on what to do?

At this point my computer does nothing to boot up. Can't mess too much up.

[Rick Gibson]

If you use the install disk you will likely lose all your data. Depending on what you set it on it may have overheated. Let it sit for an hour so so unplugged and see if it will restart. Providing your hard drive is still good any reputable shop should be able to pull the drive and save your data to another drive at least.

[Chuck Wintle]

Hey,

I am having an issue with my laptop. I was using it today, set it down to do something for 5 min. When I came back it was all locked up. Had to power it down, then back up again.
When powering up It get the Gateway computer screen, but that is all the farther it will go. I can put it in safe mode, it will say Building file, will get a bunch of file names scroll across the screen. The screen will turn black with only the mouse arrow present. I can move that arrow around the black screen with the mouse.
Looks like the computer is working, just wont boot up to windows.

Any help what to do next or try. Not willing to take anyplace because of all my records that are on the computer.

One thing you can try is to boot into the "live" version of Ubuntu. If you don't know what i am talking about simply download the .iso file of ubuntu, burn this to a cd, and place into DVD rom of the laptop. Once you have selected to "try" ubuntu, nothing is written to the hard drive, then you can retrieve your files to a usb drive. It sounds like something has dies in the laptop. good luck!

[Scott Donley]

If you boot to your install disk it should give you an option to REPAIR also, try that first and you should not have a loss of your files.

[Kevin W Johnson]

Take Chucks advice and try the Ubuntu live version. If the laptop boots up on the live disk, you can try copying off your MOST IMPORTANT data first. I do have to say though, if it boots to the Ubuntu live disk ok, its likely your hard drive failed. I've seen this many, many times in my years of computer repair. If it doesnt boot the live disk, then you may be lucky enough to only have a bad memory module. The Ubuntu live disk also has a memory test feature that you can select to run rather than booting to Ubuntu.

http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/get-ubuntu/download

There also diagnostics software provided by the actual manufacturer of the hard drive in your laptop. If you can determine who made it (Western Digital, Seagate, Toshiba, Samsung, etc), you can download the proper utility to test the drive for proper function. You may have to remove the drive to determine this, or you can access the BIOS and usually find this out.

[Bill Huber]

A little more info would help.

What is the laptop, brand and model?
Does the laptop have a CD/DVD installed?
What operating system was it running, XP, Vista, Windows 7 ?
Do you have another computer, like a desktop computer?

It sounds like the operating system is corrupted and needs to be reloaded or the hard drive is bad.

If you have another computer you can get an adapter that will connect the laptop drive to the USB and check to see if the drive is ok. You could then copy data from the laptop drive to the desktop then redo the laptop.

[Dave Lehnert]

The Unbuntu would not load. I had to reinstall windows.
Would not let me do a repair. Said something about I had to remove hardware that was just connected to proceed. ?????? When I reinstalled Vista it gave me an option to do the uninstall hardware in F drive. That would have been my wireless mouse I was using at the time. Why would my Mouse make my windows crash to the point I had to do a reinstall? I have used the same mouse (Microsoft) for 3 years.

Also in my file of back up Cd's I had the Vista disk (factory), A restore disk I made, And an ISO disk I made. All at the time the computer was new.

What is the ISO disk for and why and when would I use it?

Just FYI- Before the re-install of windows I COULD reboot with the Vista disk. But could only go so far because of the uninstall hardware issue. Had no use of the computer to do the uninstall till after the re-install of Vista.

[Kevin W Johnson]

Dave, before you go too far, you may want to determine the brand of hard drive and run the proper diagnostic software on it. If it tests ok, then test the memory. The vast majority of the times i see the "locked up and wont reboot", its a bad/failing hard drive, or a memory module that is corrupting files.

The memory test is on the Ubuntu disk, and the hard drive diagnostics can be downloaded from the manufacturer in .iso form and burnt to cd. Simply boot from the cd, and they are easy to figure out how run the proper tests.

[Dave Lehnert]

I was able to run some test and everything looks to be ok. I am on the net now with the laptop in question. But hardwired.

My laptop now will not connect wireless. The little wireless icon is on. I have rebooted my router many times. Am I missing a driver for my laptop wireless??? How do I get it and find out what I need? Is that something that is on my restore disk or my ISO disk? How do I run the restore or ISO disk if needed?

Sorry for all the questions. You guys are a huge help in this. I can often figure it all out if I am pointed in the right way to look.

I have a Gateway model ML6720 running Vista Home Premium. I do have a desk top that is hardwired into the DSL router. I have the laptop hardwired now to the net so the computer is working. Just need to get the laptop to find my network.

[Kevin W Johnson]

What brand and model number is the laptop?

If you right click on the "My Computer" icon and click properties, and open the device manager, it will show you what hardware items are missing their drivers.

edit: i see the addition of that info in your post. i'll have a look for ya and see what i can find out.

[Kevin W Johnson]

http://global-download.gateway.com/GDFiles/Driver/Lan/Lan_Realtek_6.1090.0608.2007_Vistax64Vistax86_A.zi p?acerid=634165034773530798&Step1=NOTEBOOK&Step2=ML SERIES&Step3=ML6720&OS=ALL&LC=en&BC=GATEWAY&SC=PA_6G

This should the wireless driver for your laptop. Its a zip file from Gateway, open it and run the setup.exe.

Heres the link to the driver page for your laptop.

http://support.gateway.com/us/en/product/default.aspx?tab=1&modelId=3083

[Dave Lehnert]

Thanks for the link. My wireless just started working on it's own. My guess after hard wiring it it must done an auto download of drivers needed. All I saw was a notice of a video card driver downloading. Nothing about wireless. But hey, It's working.
Man do I feel smart right now with help from all of the group.

[Curt Harms]

One thing you can try is to boot into the "live" version of Ubuntu. If you don't know what i am talking about simply download the .iso file of ubuntu, burn this to a cd, and place into DVD rom of the laptop. Once you have selected to "try" ubuntu, nothing is written to the hard drive, then you can retrieve your files to a usb drive. It sounds like something has dies in the laptop. good luck!

I was having the exact same thought. Unless the H.D. has failed mechanically, Ubuntu will likely see the Windows and data files. Copy over what's important.

edit: I see you got it working. I'd still recommend having a live CD of a Linux distro for the reason mentioned. Windows can be totally inoperative from a virus or whatever and you can probably still get what matters off the hard drive if you know where to find it. The only thing is when a live CD starts, select "try" not "install" then it won't make any changes to your hard drive.

[David G Baker]

Dave,
When I boot my computer using Vista I have the option of restoring my computer to an earlier date. If you have this option give it a try, it has worked for me many times and no files are lost.

[Dave Ogren]

Go to system restore and reset the time to a point when it worked well. This also works to get rid of viruses.

Good Luck,

Dave

[Jim Rimmer]

Go to system restore and reset the time to a point when it worked well. This also works to get rid of viruses.

Good Luck,

Dave
On a previous PC I didn't set the option for setting a restore whatever so now that you are up and running, make sure you have that option st. I'm sure some of these other guys can tell you how to do that. I found out the hard way that I didn't have a restore date set. Somehow you can set it so it sets restore configuration ever so often to save you grief when you need it.

[Dave Lehnert]

My problem was the computer would not boot up enough to do much with it. With the Vista disk I could boot up but a restore or fix just did nothing.