[Dmon1Unlimited]

Been trying to look like a cool dope by trying to dual boot my laptop with Linux mint on top of windows 7 (I like windows but thought Linux would be good for uni computing module)... Unlike what most of the tutorial videos on YouTube would have me believe, installing Linux has been a pain in the ass for my laptop, mainly regarding partitioning and it failing to do so or atleast tell me why

...anyway, something happened and I'm now stuck at the windows is starting screen which stays on there, pulsating indefinitely

I put in an old vista recovery disk, but it seems it can't fix the problem. The repair option was prevented from finding the problem, and that sfc scan now function didn't work

So I got a few questions

1) if I reinstall windows 7, will it remove the partitions made already? There are drivers (such as finger scanning) on my laptop that while probably replaceable are a pain in the ass to find given I know the names of only two ( for finger scanning, and managing heat distribution). I don't know for sure but I think the 200mb partition on my laptop has these drivers.

2) I have access to command line, other than the scan now function is there anything else I can enter that may resolve this?

3) I booted Linux from a USB, Is there much risk of making this worse if I do it again? I wouldnt know what to do, but Id start by making sure my hard drive is clear of Linux and check if the partitioning may be at fault...

4) I used an old vista recovery disk, will trying to get a windows 7 disk resolve the other problem of why it was uncle to resolve the main problem?

Currently, I want to do 3) first, but it would be great if I could resolve this with 2) or 1) or 4).

[Vulpes]

Hi,

Are you able to start your computer via a clean boot or safe mode?

You can try checking individual disk errors by going into Advanced Boot Options > Repair Your Computer > System Recovery Options > Command Prompt, then typing:

chkdsk /r c:
chkdsk /r d:

And any other partitions / drives you may have ^

Why are you trying to restore Windows 7 via a Windows Vista disk?

[Dmon1Unlimited]

(Original post by Vulpes)
Hi,

Are you able to start your computer via a clean boot or safe mode?

You can try checking individual disk errors by going into Advanced Boot Options > Repair Your Computer > System Recovery Options > Command Prompt, then typing:

chkdsk /r c:
chkdsk /r d:

And any other partitions / drives you may have ^

Why are you trying to restore Windows 7 via a Windows Vista disk?

I'll try them out now. Thanks

Regarding the disk, would have thought apart from the OS, the recovery tools would have been similar (that and I don't have a windows 7 disk ) the disk is the reason why I even have command access

Regarding check disk in command, I get "cannot open volume for direct access"

Its interesting that on a regular pc, an elevated command would start from system32 (C:\windows\system32>), here it's x:\sources>
Substituting for x (not sure where that comes from), I get a message that the file system is ntfs, that it cannot lock the current drive and that check disk cannot be run on this volume because of write protection

[Iqbal007]

(Original post by Dmon1Unlimited)
Been trying to look like a cool dope by trying to dual boot my laptop with Linux mint on top of windows 7 (I like windows but thought Linux would be good for uni computing module)... Unlike what most of the tutorial videos on YouTube would have me believe, installing Linux has been a pain in the ass for my laptop, mainly regarding partitioning and it failing to do so or atleast tell me why

...anyway, something happened and I'm now stuck at the windows is starting screen which stays on there, pulsating indefinitely

I put in an old vista recovery disk, but it seems it can't fix the problem. The repair option was prevented from finding the problem, and that sfc scan now function didn't work

So I got a few questions

1) if I reinstall windows 7, will it remove the partitions made already? There are drivers (such as finger scanning) on my laptop that while probably replaceable are a pain in the ass to find given I know the names of only two ( for finger scanning, and managing heat distribution). I don't know for sure but I think the 200mb partition on my laptop has these drivers.

2) I have access to command line, other than the scan now function is there anything else I can enter that may resolve this?

3) I booted Linux from a USB, Is there much risk of making this worse if I do it again? I wouldnt know what to do, but Id start by making sure my hard drive is clear of Linux and check if the partitioning may be at fault...

4) I used an old vista recovery disk, will trying to get a windows 7 disk resolve the other problem of why it was uncle to resolve the main problem?

Currently, I want to do 3) first, but it would be great if I could resolve this with 2) or 1) or 4).

In my old desktop, I just downloaded linux from the site and ran in Daemons tools, it created its own partition with about 27 GB, though on my new desktop it doesn't work

[Dmon1Unlimited]

(Original post by Iqbal007)
In my old desktop, I just downloaded linux from the site and ran in Daemons tools, it created its own partition with about 27 GB, though on my new desktop it doesn't work

Slightly opposite for me. With my old laptop, I tried both using poweriso and just making a USB bootable installer. Both failed.

On my new laptop (which this thread is for), I was able to boot from the USB, I could use Linux (e.g. Use Firefox browser and google stuff), but I had a problem with wanting to install on a separate 20gb partition away from windows during the Linux installation ... So far I can only create partitions in windows, I get an error if I do it in Linux

Despite losing the will to live, it looks like an interesting OS

[Vulpes]

(Original post by Dmon1Unlimited)
I'll try them out now. Thanks

Regarding the disk, would have thought apart from the OS, the recovery tools would have been similar (that and I don't have a windows 7 disk ) the disk is the reason why I even have command access

Regarding check disk in command, I get "cannot open volume for direct access"

Its interesting that on a regular pc, an elevated command would start from system32 (C:\windows\system32>), here it's x:\sources>
Substituting for x (not sure where that comes from), I get a message that the file system is ntfs, that it cannot lock the current drive and that check disk cannot be run on this volume because of write protection

Hmm.. I admit I'm not sure whats wrong. Perhaps you should try booting from the windows 7 disk and then repairing your drives. If all else fails, you can always wipe your harddrives clean and reinstall everything, though your data will be lost.

[Dmon1Unlimited]

(Original post by Vulpes)
Hmm.. I admit I'm not sure whats wrong. Perhaps you should try booting from the windows 7 disk and then repairing your drives. If all else fails, you can always wipe your harddrives clean and reinstall everything, though your data will be lost.

I was afraid of that :/
No data should be on there I think. I was busy trying to make the perfect system image (oh the irony, it's killing me) so just the bare necessary programs will be on there. Worst comes to worst, reinstalling the whole OS will mean everything from the previous installation will be put into a 'windows.old' so any files I forgot about or whatever will be recoverable

I'll check with the USB first, then go onto windows 7 recovery tools, then if those fail, the reinstallation of windows 7.

Spoiler:

Show

Just to add, I back up all my files on a 2tb network external hard disk (back up by wifi). I can create a system image on windows backed up onto this drive with the version of windows on my old laptop. This feature would have saved me a lot of trouble, and I wouldn't have to have made this thread...
Surprisingly, my new laptop lacks this function to back up on the network specifically, because it runs windows 7 "home premium" (used quotations because it seems that it is only this version of windows that doesn't have it).
Not really that important for this thread, but thought I'd mention it for any other home premium users who have a network drive

[Vulpes]

(Original post by Dmon1Unlimited)
I was afraid of that :/
No data should be on there I think. I was busy trying to make the perfect system image (oh the irony, it's killing me) so just the bare necessary programs will be on there. Worst comes to worst, reinstalling the whole OS will mean everything from the previous installation will be put into a 'windows.old' so any files I forgot about or whatever will be recoverable

I'll check with the USB first, then go onto windows 7 recovery tools, then if those fail, the reinstallation of windows 7.

Spoiler:

Show

Just to add, I back up all my files on a 2tb network external hard disk (back up by wifi). I can create a system image on windows backed up onto this drive with the version of windows on my old laptop. This feature would have saved me a lot of trouble, and I wouldn't have to have made this thread...
Surprisingly, my new laptop lacks this function to back up on the network specifically, because it runs windows 7 "home premium" (used quotations because it seems that it is only this version of windows that doesn't have it).
Not really that important for this thread, but thought I'd mention it for any other home premium users who have a network drive

Sounds like a plan. Good luck!

[Iqbal007]

(Original post by Dmon1Unlimited)
Slightly opposite for me. With my old laptop, I tried both using poweriso and just making a USB bootable installer. Both failed.

On my new laptop (which this thread is for), I was able to boot from the USB, I could use Linux (e.g. Use Firefox browser and google stuff), but I had a problem with wanting to install on a separate 20gb partition away from windows during the Linux installation ... So far I can only create partitions in windows, I get an error if I do it in Linux

Despite losing the will to live, it looks like an interesting OS

I would say make sure you got the right version and just keep trying...........my partition was done automatically

[Dmon1Unlimited]

(Original post by Iqbal007)
I would say make sure you got the right version and just keep trying...........my partition was done automatically

Is there anything wrong with dual booting Linux onto a mid ranged media laptop? While trying to fix this, I happened to be at pc world, where I was strongly suggested not to install Linux on it...
While i know linux isnt an os for gaming (hence a reason for only dual booting) The impression i got from the person was it was like buying a £3000 gaming computer to use Microsoft word... I.e. a waste of money, where I should have just got a cheap £50 notebook laptop to put Linux on...

I don't understand what is so wrong.... It's not like I'm removing windows or anything... Have you had any significant problems withlinux on your desktop computer?

[Iqbal007]

(Original post by Dmon1Unlimited)
Is there anything wrong with dual booting Linux onto a mid ranged media laptop? While trying to fix this, I happened to be at pc world, where I was strongly suggested not to install Linux on it...
While i know linux isnt an os for gaming (hence a reason for only dual booting) The impression i got from the person was it was like buying a £3000 gaming computer to use Microsoft word... I.e. a waste of money, where I should have just got a cheap £50 notebook laptop to put Linux on...

I don't understand what is so wrong.... It's not like I'm removing windows or anything... Have you had any significant problems withlinux on your desktop computer?

I wouldn't trust people at PCworld, they just try to sell and rip you off in my view.
Well nothing wrong with dual OS's,you best of both worlds, i prefer linux for programming and even general use sometimes, but does in some cases require more power to run compared to Windows.

My current one doesn't let it work,my old one did :/

[Dmon1Unlimited]

As an update, couldn't fix it, went to a shop, told them I couldn't boot it.... They couldn't boot it. Long story short, managed to get a new laptop (same model), a battery and a lot of recovery disks (in parts it seems) and 8 quid after leaving the shop

[Iqbal007]

(Original post by Dmon1Unlimited)
As an update, couldn't fix it, went to a shop, told them I couldn't boot it.... They couldn't boot it. Long story short, managed to get a new laptop (same model), a battery and a lot of recovery disks (in parts it seems) and 8 quid after leaving the shop

u got free money

[Dmon1Unlimited]

(Original post by Iqbal007)
u got free money

Never underestimate the power value of 'last one' in stock display models... Cheaper than regular models! Despite the risk of possibly not being perfect, mine seems to not be that bad, fingerprints here and there though unlike the first one, all the stickers (showing its windows 7, I core, blah blah) are aligned better. Keyboard seems a little weird though I'm sure it'll get better as I use it more

[Iqbal007]

(Original post by Dmon1Unlimited)
Never underestimate the power value of 'last one' in stock display models... Cheaper than regular models! Despite the risk of possibly not being perfect, mine seems to not be that bad, fingerprints here and there though unlike the first one, all the stickers (showing its windows 7, I core, blah blah) are aligned better. Keyboard seems a little weird though I'm sure it'll get better as I use it more

don't think £8's is worth it.........if its those ones which are touched, I expect the battery to die more easily than a brand new one.

[tooosh]

You can put Windows 7 on without touching your other partitions in setup.

Depending on what ****ed up, you can try setting the Windows partition active and bootable. http://thpc.info/how/make_active.html#dpart

[Dmon1Unlimited]

(Original post by Iqbal007)
don't think £8's is worth it.........if its those ones which are touched, I expect the battery to die more easily than a brand new one.

I admit, it was more of an impulsive action (to finding out its the last one then and there) to get the display model as I'm quite picky about having everything clean, working and such but regarding the battery, they gave me an extra. I assume its the displays models own battery + a new battery, so I'm not complaining.
Guy said its only a couple weeks old. While they did give me the chance to browse for other laptops, I couldn't really compare anything without access to the Internet. E.g. Laptop review sites like tech radar/cnet, comparing processors via the notebook site etc, while trying not to over spend. To add on top, they've made recovery disks for me which is quite nice because I like having a permanent copy somewhere rather than fashion a temporary one from a USB (I lost my disks)

Regarding Linux, my plan was to put it on both my laptops, but I'll forget about the new one, and just concentrate on getting it on my old one that has two hard drives. Should be a lot safer. Sadly it seems to be more difficult to. With the other laptop, atleast I could boot Linux from the USB, I can't seem to do it on the old one. Just get a black screen no matter how long I wait

[Iqbal007]

(Original post by Dmon1Unlimited)

I admit, it was more of an impulsive action (to finding out its the last one then and there) to get the display model as I'm quite picky about having everything clean, working and such but regarding the battery, they gave me an extra. I assume its the displays models own battery + a new battery, so I'm not complaining.
Guy said its only a couple weeks old. While they did give me the chance to browse for other laptops, I couldn't really compare anything without access to the Internet. E.g. Laptop review sites like tech radar/cnet, comparing processors via the notebook site etc, while trying not to over spend. To add on top, they've made recovery disks for me which is quite nice because I like having a permanent copy somewhere rather than fashion a temporary one from a USB (I lost my disks)

Regarding Linux, my plan was to put it on both my laptops, but I'll forget about the new one, and just concentrate on getting it on my old one that has two hard drives. Should be a lot safer. Sadly it seems to be more difficult to. With the other laptop, atleast I could boot Linux from the USB, I can't seem to do it on the old one. Just get a black screen no matter how long I wait

Oh than thats perfectly good, having 2 laptop batteries is a good deal and the extra recovery disk.

I'm not that great with linux to be fair, having my own problems with my recent build.
I would say just keep researching about your issue.