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    Allergic laptop

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by John B, Oct 21, 2008.

  1. John B

    John B Notebook Prophet

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    I think my laptop has developed an allergy....to Windows.

    A couple of days ago I booted into Windows and it freezed while loading the desktop. I tried to reboot but nothing changed so I tried safe mode, system restore,Windows installation repair,etc...without success.

    When I booted into Linux to backup my files everything was working so I told myself that 1) the problem was probably not hardware-related, 2) it was time to do a fresh install of Windows

    But now, even after a format of my Windows partition, the laptop freezes during the installation. :confused:
     
    John B, Oct 21, 2008
    #1
  2. potentv

    potentv Notebook Evangelist

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    have you tried resetting the BIOS?
     
    potentv, Oct 21, 2008
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  3. Bog

    Bog Losing it...

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    What kind of error do you get? How exactly does it fail to start?
     
    Bog, Oct 21, 2008
    #3
  4. Budding

    Budding Notebook Virtuoso

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    Have you tried running some diagnostics on your HD in Linux? Perhaps a cluster containing some vital Windows boot files has become damaged.
     
    Budding, Oct 21, 2008
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  5. John B

    John B Notebook Prophet

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    That kind of check is a good idea but now I'm not even able to boot a Linux LiveCD!!??? (getting seg fault and other error messages in the console)

    Does it mean that the problem is in the RAM?

    Edit: I'll try to boot the Ultimate BootCD
     
    John B, Oct 21, 2008
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  6. SYS

    SYS Notebook Guru

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    Possibly be a hard drive issue? Maybe you should get it replaced or something. I have a feeling it might be a sector problem.

    --
    Also, sorry about receiving an infraction. I didn't see it listed under the rules.
     
    SYS, Oct 21, 2008
    #6
  7. strjms72

    strjms72 Notebook Enthusiast

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    this means the problem is in the hardware somewhere, could be a bad sector... i don't think it's ram
     
    strjms72, Oct 21, 2008
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  8. SYS

    SYS Notebook Guru

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    That is what I thought at the first place. I was thinking about RAMs but I was like, that can't be it.
     
    SYS, Oct 21, 2008
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  9. Pitabred

    Pitabred Linux geek con rat flail!

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    If he can't boot a LiveCD, it's definitely not the hard drive. Linux Live CD's don't read anything off the hard drive. Heck, you can boot them without a hard drive even installed. Run Memtest86+ if you can boot into a CD at all. If not, take one stick of RAM out and try again (if that's an option). If that still doesn't work, swap the sticks that are installed and try yet again. The other thing it may be is that you may have some dust or something shorting out some connections in your mobo... has anything been spilled on the laptop lately, or have you cleaned it out recently?
     
    Pitabred, Oct 21, 2008
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  10. John B

    John B Notebook Prophet

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    1- Nothing has been spilled/cleaned
    2- I was able to boot with the Ultimate BootCD so I'm doing memory tests right now
     
    John B, Oct 21, 2008
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  11. Pitabred

    Pitabred Linux geek con rat flail!

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    Check for vicious dust-bunnies ;) I've had a few of those appear in my machine, and they'll cause all kinds of havoc when the temps creep up.
     
    Pitabred, Oct 21, 2008
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  12. John B

    John B Notebook Prophet

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    OK it seems to be working now! There are no bad sectors and no memory errors but it seems that just reinstalling the memory sticks did the job. Thank you to everyone. :)
     
    John B, Oct 21, 2008
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  13. Vehement

    Vehement Notebook Consultant

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    Allergic eh? =) I saw a video of this guy showing his poltergeist PC. He had someone filming him from behind and when he was working as usual, when he got up the computer poped up one of those blue screens. Funny...
     
    Vehement, Oct 21, 2008
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  14. John B

    John B Notebook Prophet

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    The problem is back...The installation of XP went fine but now it still freezes while loading the desktop. I've tried to remove the sticks one by one but it still doesn't work.
     
    John B, Oct 21, 2008
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  15. John B

    John B Notebook Prophet

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    I think I've found the real problem! It now works when I remove my battery (which is dead anyway).
     
    John B, Oct 21, 2008
    #15