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    Help. Dead Laptop = Dead Me

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by skylinedrifter432, Mar 23, 2008.

  1. skylinedrifter432

    skylinedrifter432 Notebook Enthusiast

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    My dad gave me his laptop [dv6500z] because he was complaining of all these viruses.

    IDK if they were viruses but they were annoying, they kept closing Explorer.exe

    Now, I try to do the HP recovery and I get a long error:
    "error 0x400100130000 1002"

    I try searching to no avail.

    I try to do a little hard disk check, but I quit midway into it.

    Now when I boot it up I get "BOOTMGR IS MISSING" and I know that "I'm screwed" I don't know how to fix this besides reinstalling Vista.

    Not having a Vista CD, or willing to buy one, I try downloading a pirated copy.
    Will the pirated copy do as much as to repair? Or should I tell my dad to take it to a repair shop.
     
    skylinedrifter432, Mar 23, 2008
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  2. McGrady

    McGrady Notebook Virtuoso

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    Don't do ANYTHING with pirated OS's.
    Reformat.
     
    McGrady, Mar 23, 2008
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  3. lordhidetora

    lordhidetora Notebook Consultant

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    Yeah, reformating would be your best bet, especially if there are viruses.

    Just tell your dad that you have to reformat, and he should back up what he has , and that the only way to get rid of the viruses and have a clean comp would be to reformat.


    Good luck man, I know the feeling. Haha.
     
    lordhidetora, Mar 23, 2008
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  4. Matt is Pro

    Matt is Pro I'm a PC, so?

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    Talk of pirated software is illegal here.

    But yeah, a clean install is your best bet.
     
    Matt is Pro, Mar 23, 2008
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  5. skylinedrifter432

    skylinedrifter432 Notebook Enthusiast

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    How can I reformat when the recovery program doesn't work?
    and I have little clue on how to completely reformat the hard drive when I have no OS cd to install.
     
    skylinedrifter432, Mar 23, 2008
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  6. gengerald

    gengerald Technofile Extraordinaire

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    A very good option is to contact HP and buy a Vista Recovery disk, I can't see it costing more than fifty bucks, and its legal and will allow you to do a full reformat and reinstall. Do not use pirated dvds, can cause more problems, ie more viruses, lawsuits,...Pay HP the money and you will be glad once your back up and running. GL
     
    gengerald, Mar 23, 2008
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  7. skylinedrifter432

    skylinedrifter432 Notebook Enthusiast

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    There's a difference between HP Recovery Disks and Vista Recovery Disks?

    If I get the vista recovery disk, it will completely fix the missing BOOTMGR problem?
     
    skylinedrifter432, Mar 23, 2008
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  8. gengerald

    gengerald Technofile Extraordinaire

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    You can get Vista Repair disks legally offline, as it only enables a thin version of os for repairs, I have found it to not be too useful. A HP recovery disk will be cheaper than buying any vista disk, as you already have an oem license that HP will honor and only charge you their inflated cost for a dvd. It will allow you to completely reinstall vista, without anything else but that dvd. When you reinstall, you will be allowed to reformat, and ...
     
    gengerald, Mar 23, 2008
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  9. Amol

    Amol APH! NBR Reviewer

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    Yeah, there is a difference between the HP Recovery Disk and the Vista recovery thing inside a Vista disk. The HP disk will have all the needed drivers and all the unneeded crap so that it will seem like it is booting up for the first time.
     
    Amol, Mar 23, 2008
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  10. Awesome laptops

    Awesome laptops Notebook Evangelist

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    yeah get the hp recovery disk its gurranteed to work
     
    Awesome laptops, Mar 23, 2008
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  11. Fittersman

    Fittersman Wanna trade?

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    wouldnt an alternate boot loader fix the "BOOTMGR IS MISSING" error? Personally, when stuff like that happens to me (not quite the same thing happend to me though, GRUB loader failed on me before, not bootmgr) i like to use GAG boot loader, its free and it does the job.

    this might also help you out:
    http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=120228
    Its a guide on how to get a LEGAL copy of vista. If you could get past the bootmgr error and get the product key used to install vista on your system this guide could be very handy.
     
    Fittersman, Mar 23, 2008
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  12. INCSlayer

    INCSlayer Notebook Consultant

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    nope that dont work since for example grub chainloads the windows bootmgr i dont know how GAG works i would guess it works in the same or atleast a similiar way
     
    INCSlayer, Mar 23, 2008
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  13. bmwrob

    bmwrob Notebook Virtuoso

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    GAG Booloader. Just downloaded this app myself. Thanks, Fittersman.
     
    bmwrob, Mar 23, 2008
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  14. skylinedrifter432

    skylinedrifter432 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Isnt the HP Recovery Disk the same thing already partitioned in the hard drive?

    Like I said before, I tried using the HP Recovery tool that used the one loaded on the HD and I get that ugly error.

    I'm guessing the hd is corrupted right?
     
    skylinedrifter432, Mar 23, 2008
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  15. Fittersman

    Fittersman Wanna trade?

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    alright, since the GAG boot loader wont work, i thought of another idea.

    use that guide in my previous post to get the Vista DVD, then boot with it and repair your bootmgr. Now boot into windows and follow the guide from the start to get the code used to install vista on your machine. Then use that code to do a fresh install.

    You might want to backup your data or whatever before you do that. My favorite way to get important data off a machine in this situation is to use a linux live cd, then copy the data off your hard drive onto a flash drive (or some other removable medium)
     
    Fittersman, Mar 23, 2008
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  16. skylinedrifter432

    skylinedrifter432 Notebook Enthusiast

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    arighh Fittersman,

    I got the laptop back up and running
    reinstalled a couple drivers and such and now its good to go.

    Thanks to all that contributed.
     
    skylinedrifter432, Mar 23, 2008
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  17. Fittersman

    Fittersman Wanna trade?

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    you were able to do all that in 5 hours? impressive internet connection you must have :)
     
    Fittersman, Mar 23, 2008
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