Compaq computer just crashed!

Alright right now im pretty mad. I've spent all night loading apps onto my new compaq c502us laptop, and after installing the last one, the whole time it was installing the hardrive or w/e was making a lot of noise like the thinking type noise it makes. Once the application finished installing the noise suddenly just completely stopped. Then the computer blinked some blue screen, and said somthing like memory dump or i dont know.. then it just whent black, and started booting back up. Then it just started sitting for like 5 minutes on the "Compaq" startup screen. Just know i rebooted started in safe mode, and got it loaded up , the hardrive started going loud thinking again, then just stopped when it got to my desktop. and rebooted and whent back to sitting at the compaq screen. WHY DOES THIS CRAP HAVE TO HAPPEN. . help would be greatly appreciated

 

i believed you have a failing HD! buy a new one.

 

are you sure, i just baught it... i can't balive this....

 

I think your hard drive just died. It can't read/load the operating system. You might have to call hp customer support and ask to send a hard drive replacement if you know how to replace it or send your laptop back. They will send the replacement as priority mail via fedex(overnight shipping). I'd rather replace it myself hehehe. I think it will take a week to have your laptop back to you after they receive the laptop.

 

Don't worry it happens to anyone..

did you just buy the laptop or the HD?

 

yeh like 2 days ago and have spent the past 2 days installing my stuff onto it. i thought it was running fine to, but obviously not.

 

i think i actualy got into safe mod but im not really sure if it will stay in it for to long. Is there anything i can do to fix it while it is in safe mode?

 

yeh i got it into safe mode, and the buzzing has gone away for the time being it seems anyone know what i should do know?

 

Whoa...chill out of the language buddy. If you just got the laptop, I'd take it back and demand a replacement (be nice though). If you've had it for more than two weeks you'll need to call HP and get that drive replaced.

If you bought it at Costco less than 6 months ago you're entitled to a replacement, otherwise most stores do it within two weeks.

It does sound like your HDD is failing though...every once in a while they don't make it past the first few boot ups. That probably is few and far between, but it sounds like you got one of those drives.

If you can get the thing to work more than a few minutes with Intenet access (or get a buddy to download it), check out Everest Home Edition. I can tell you the SMART status (self monitoring and reporting tool) of the drive. Most likely those results will indicate failure.

 

sorry about the language just frustrated. It seems to be working in safe mode right now though is there anything i can do to try to resolve the problem here?

 

I recommend to get your HD replaced.

 

the thing is i baught it from www.FRYS.com, and it came with a 1 year warentee i just dont want to go through the pain the butt to get a new computer sent and sending this one back as ive been waiting so long to get a laptop.

 

how can i tell if the hardrive is really bad? is there like a way to check. It seems to make that thinking noise quite alot, much louder than other desktops and stuff that i have, and its kind of squeeky. Its been doing that since i got it for the most part though.

 

The only real thing you can do is to run a utility and see if the drive is bad. If something is physically wrong with it there's no software out there that can help.

Hard drives suck...I had one fail on me about two weeks ago. Fortunately HP sent out a replacement real quick.

 

You can download the manfs diag software to create a cd to boot to and test the drive (seagate/maxtor www.seageate.com, western digital drives www.westerndigital.com ect. ect.) Who is the manf. of the drive?

 

alright well.. it wont start back up at all, so it looks like im going to have to send it back for a new one, which is very frustrating after spending so much time on it seting things up. would this falty hardrive have made my computer slow for a while now before the crash? because for a 512ram it was running even slower than my dads 256ram old desktop, i assumed it was vista but maybe not. the blue screen said.. something about crash dump before it shuts off to the compaq screen.

 

I would definitely run a couple of hard disk checks before assuming the drive is bad. Boot into safe mode and run "chkdsk /v" at a command prompt. You can also run a "chkdsk /f" to fix most errors, though it won't matter if the drive is failing. Another diagnostic tool is DiskCheckup available for free from http://www.passmark.com/products/diskcheckup.htm . That will read the SMART information provided by hard drive and report if any attribute appears to be failing.

If the disk passes both tests, it's not a guaruntee that the hard disk is defect-free, but it means you'll definitely want to investigate other causes of your problem. Since you can get into safe mode, it could very well be a program you tried installing K.O.'d your system. You can backup your data (from safe mode) and then use the restore partition (by pressing F10 at boot) to restore your system to its factory settings. That's really a last resort kind of thing, and you should try other options first (booting using last known good configuration, using Windows System Restore to restore to a working point, etc) but, if your hard drive is good, it will work, though you'll have to start installing software all over again.

Hope that helps.

 

ok, well i just ran disk check up and when i go to smart info everything says ok. I then ran chkdsk /v and it said... it looked like most things are ok but these things caught my eye..

The Master file table's (MFT) BITMAP attribute is incorrect.
The Volume Bitmap is incorrect
Windows found problems with the file system.
Run CHKDSK with the /F (fix) option to correct these

I tried to run chkdsk /f and it said.

Cannot Lock current drive.
Chckdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be checked the next time the system restarts (Y/N)

im not really sure what to do. i dont want to risk resarting and having it not be able to restart again.

 

You should put "y" for yes and restart - then after chkdsk, defrag that HD - then test it out with the manf. diag software - otherwise just send er back -

 

how do i defrag?

 

Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmentor

 

everytime i restart i go bck to the comand promp and it says

Cannot Lock current drive.
Chckdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be checked the next time the system restarts (Y/N)

when i restart do i restart to regular? or safe mode? im just not getting it. i click y for yes and then i restart and nothing happens to show me that its running chkdsk /f.

 

you put in *type* 'y', press enter - then type exit to get out of CMD, reboot your pc into normal mode - it will auto initialize the chkdsk slightly after loading the xp splash screen - it will be a blue screen - dont push any keys otherwise it will cancel out -

 

alright it ran like it was supposed to and said somthing like no problems found. Now it restarted and seems to be starting correctly. how can i tell if everything is fixed??? after doing all that stuff.

 

i'm sure it's HD problem. Replace it now.

I think it's working in safe mode because safemode doesn't require much in computer the same way in LINUX. i have a failing HD before and it did not work in xp. But i used linux (for web surfing and word processing tasks) for a while while i'm waiting for the replacement since linux worked pretty good in a failing drive.LOL

 

my friend you betta replaced it now or regret that you never did later... you may come again through the pain that you said while buying this comp but it will be worth it!

 

You're running Vista with 512MB of RAM? Not recommended. You should probably be thinking of upgrading that thing to at least 1GB.

I hope your hard drive problems are cleared up, but it definitely sounds like a hard drive failure. Your hard drive isn't going to last very long with Vista and 512MB of RAM anyway cause Vista's going to have to be constantly caching the hard drive instead of using physical memory.

 

i know i can't stand vista, im pretty mad they put it on obviously a not qualified machine for vista, and i've looked and theres no way to go back to xp.

 

could anyone tell me how to upgrade the ram on this computer http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=343924&pfp=hpf1 . I baught it from frys and eather way i was going to buy 512 more of memory so im wondering if someone can give me eather a link to instructions or tell me how clearly , that would be great. thankyou

 

alright well i talked to hp online and they arranged for them to send a box to me and im going to send the laptop to them and there going to do a full diagnostics and fix whatever's wrong for free

 

If memory serves, it should take approx. 3 weeks for them to diagnose and repair the problem, then send it back to you.

 

sheesh i hope not. i wouldn't mind if they through in extra crap for my troubles though, but i dont think they'l do that

 

Yeah, I wouldn't count on it.

As for the memory, you can upgrade, and it should be pretty easy. Although, you can't just buy 512MB of memory to get to 1GB. You'll have to buy two 512MB sticks of RAM, because your computer (probably) currently comes with two 256MB sticks of RAM, and laptops only have two slots for RAM. Therefore, if you bought a 512MB stick, you would have to take out one of your 256MB sticks, and thus you would only have 768MB of RAM. It sucks, but that's the way it is...

As for removing it, there may be a service manual on HP's site that tells you how to change the RAM. But in case there isn't, it really isn't a hard process. Basically, there should be a cover on the bottom of your laptop (and it should have vents on it, but maybe not). It's generally going to be a big cover with a few screws in it somewhere around the middle. All you have to do is remove that and replace the RAM... simple as that. Once you decide whether or not you want to replace the RAM, I'll do some more research on your computer and help you out if you wish...

 

yeh that'd be cool if you could. its the presario C502US . Im pretty sure it comes with one 512 because after reading reviews most people said just add a 512 to get a gig of memory and you'll be all set. so im assuming it comes with one 512 but maybe im wrong.

 

alright guys, i just sent my laptop into hp to be repaired free of charge, as they sent me a box to send it in and everything. Once i get it back im planning on upgrading to 1g ram, and im wondering if that will give me enough to play cs source or doom 3. My imac 2ghz 1g ram runs both perfectly but i think its video card is a little better but this laptop wil have 1.8ghz and 1g ram and im pretty sure that cs source would run ok if i had my setup but with xp but im not sure if i'll be able to run cs source "averagely" on this vista machine. thanks

 

anyone????

 

comon anyone?