Laptop Error

[phlip67]

I have no idea which forum to put this in but i need help.

I have a Compaq Presario 1500 Notebook (i think its a 2003 or 2004 model im not sure) and it was working great until a few hours ago. I was playing Halo Custom Edition, with some friends, and my laptop froze up. This had happened before, and it had something to do with my graphics card (ATI radeon IGP 340M). However, nothing had gone wrong the other times, so I felt sure that if i rebooted, it would be fine, like all the other times. Once I rebooted, a Blue Screen came up. It said something like ***Stop: [a bunch of numbers] *** then UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME then it told me i should try booting in safe mode. However, every single type of windows boot (safe mode, safe mode with networking, debug mode, etc.) are all teh same error

If anyone could provide me with a way to fix this, it would be greatly appreciated:

Tools available to me:

-toshiba 4090XDVD (the one i am on now) wit a Floppy Drive and a Wireless connection.
-Screwdriver to open up my compaq presario notebook (if required)
-8 Gig USB Drive *both laptops do not support boot from USB though*
-a crap load of floppy disks
-A friend's laptop with a CD drive *Both my laptops' cd drive are unable to read CD's*

thats about it

-Info about the Compaq Presario
Intel Pentium 4 processor @ 2 Ghz
ATI RADEON IGP 340M Graphics Card
256 MB RAM
NO CD drive
Floppy Drive working perfectly
Access to windows XP CD contents

-------------
If anyone could tell me how to network boot, it would be helpfull, as this could be an option

 

[raybay]

Likely, your hard drive has gone bad.
Find a new ATA hard drive by Toshiba, Seagate, or Western Digital on one of the websites... for $40 to $80. The 7200 rpm drives are faster but do not last as long as the 5400 drives.
Then boot to your Compaq recover disk set to install the hard drive... see the other support comments on Compaq 2500 above for more details.

 

[phlip67]

would it be possible to take the HD out of the computer im using right now and swap them? Only problem I see is my mom killing me when she sees me "ripping apart a perfectly good laptop thats only 11 years old"

and about the Compaq recovery CD i dun have a CD drive

ty for ur quick reply

 

[Tedster]

you can use the HD, but you will need to format and install the OS on the computer you intend to use it on. You cannot use windows installed and configured for 1 system on another. 1. It's illegal 2. It won't work.

 

[ronnyron99]

tedster is right, just have to get a new hard drive and reload the OS, i had those errors before and it is not pretty when you have data you really need to get off

 

[lamo]

phlip67, don't replace the drive. this error more often means file system error. you'll have to boot from winXP install CD, and run chkdsk from recovering console, or connect the HDD to desktop and run chkdsk. i repaired 10-15 laptops with this error and there's no HDD changing.

 

[raybay]

Describe how that would work, Llamo. You cannot use Chkdsk in that drive, because it will not boot. The drive is old, likely the highly unreliable Hitachi 20 or 30 GB You can use Chkdsk from a Windows XP disc, and that drive as a slave... but then you must have a system on which you can do that.
You will likely need an adapter to run chkdsk in a desktop, and he does not report having access to a desktop or the adapter to connect a laptop drive to a desktop computer. Two drives will not run together in the laptops he describes.
So please tell us what we have missed, by describing in more detail what Phlip67 should do with the equipment he has.
Remember that neither laptop reads CD's.

 

[lamo]

raybay, that's easy if you have WindowsXP install CD. if you want i can describe the process completely, but i suspect, that you know it
anyway, 40-to-44 pin adapter for laptop HDD costs not so much, so it can be done this way. of course, he can replace the drive, but then he'll meet another problem, how to insatll OS.

 

[raybay]

Yep, we keep a stock of the adapters. They are easily available geeks.com or the cable guys or Frys... $2.85 to $12 depending on where... but still not easily used by beginners.
The correspondent does have a few problems to overcome... but do-able.

 

[ronnyron99]

that is true he can't install the OS cause the laptop don't read CDs or he just have to purchase a new cd romm.