Help! Why won't my laptop start Windows?

Hello! Can you help me figure out what's wrong with my computer? I have a hunch that it's the hard drive, but I want to make sure. My laptop is a Samsung RV520.

I was playing Solitare when my laptop BSOD. I shut it down and turned it back on. It doesn't load Windows; it freezes on the Samsung screen. If I hit F2 I can load BIOS, but if I hit F4 the system recovery tool does not load. I tried to repair Windows using the system recovery CD, but it says no hard drive can be found.

This computer is only two years old, and I'd really like to avoid having to send it in for repairs! Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

First. does the hard drive appear in the BIOS? if possible remove the hard drive and reseat it. Also If you know what brand hard drive you have go to another computer and see if there is a tool you can download to check the hard drive.

 

Thanks for your help, Josea. The hard drive does appear in the BIOS. I reseated the hard drive but still no luck. How would I check the hard drive - do I have to connect it to another computer?

 

at the moment its all guess work so we try the easiest remedies first.

remove battery and mains and hold power button down for 15 seconds. plug in mains without the battery and try a boot up.
no joy,
do the same again but only use battery this time.
no joy,
try and find the cmos battery and remove it/put it back and try all again.

also have you tried to boot into safe mode (normally F8) keep hitting F8 until hopefully safe mode will boot.

as the hard drive shows in bios it could have a bad sector. 2 or more and it can cause all hell of problems. me been there and got the tee shirt.

try above and post back

 

Hi Mr. DJ. I tried your above steps and still cannot load Windows. It's not a power issue; the computer turns on without a problem. Safe Mode does not work. Thoughts?

 

Means your O/S is corrupted if you can't get into safe mode....this is something all good working Windows machine should be able to do when you "F8" to get to safe mode. Or your keyboard is not working properly to be functional anymore. I never had problem getting into Safe Mode....So I think this is more systematic problem if you can't get into Safe Mode...

 

This looks like it is a HDD problem.

Remove the HDD and attach it to a desktop system to see if your data is recoverable - I would then run a thorough disk scan (chkdsk /f) on it and see if it comes back to life.

If this doesn't help - or even if it does: I would still be buying a new HDD and reloading your O/S and programs on it (this will let you test if the M/B is faulty or not...).


Good luck.

 

Regarding the OS - I tried to repair/install Windows using the CD, but it does not recognize my hard drive. Keyboard works for getting into BIOS, if that's any indicator.

How can I connect my HDD to a desktop system? What cables would I need for that? I have a SATA hard drive on my laptop, and I think my desktops have IDE.

 

Just a thought, maybe CMOS was reset or corrupted, do you have option of RAID and AHCI in your BIOS? maybe it reverted to the wrong one?

 

cmos reset was going to be my next suggestion.
it does sound like a bad hard drive from what weve heard so far.
for external hard drive i use a ide converter. something like > DIGIFLEX 2.5/3.5 SATA IDE to USB Adapter Cable for Hard Disk HDD: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories but im not sure its the same for a laptop hard drive. can anyone confirm

 

You have to get something like this example I have a link for the item so you can see what it is and looks like.

Kingwin EZ-Connect USB to SATA/IDE Adapter USI-2535 - Micro Center