advice needed urgent

stumac

stumac

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stuart
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about 3 months ago i bought a laptop off pc world,i payed the £30.00!!!!! setup fee as im not great at the best of times with computers.tonight upon starting up the laptop a message appeared on the screen saying i need to insert the installation disc and click repair as there is a problem with hard or software.it also gives me a choice to start up windows normally?but this does not do anything?problem is when i went to get the disc from the box its not in it,the box has not been touched from the day i brought it home so im 100% they never put it in.where do i stand with this and will any disc do as long as its windows 7 or does it have to be the exact disc from the day i bought it.
im lost without it as im supposed to be showing my portfolio to a potential customer on sunday.
thanks in advance
 
many new laptops don't come with operating system installation CDs any more, unfortunately... it's down to you to create the recovery disks yourself - there is often an icon on the desktop to do it.

nevertheless, try just typing in/browsing to the C:\ drive when prompted for the install disk - i've seen many new laptops have copy of the install CD just dumped in the root of the C drive.

BUT... the easiest way for you to fix this yourself is just to use 'System Restore' to go back to a restore point back in time where you laptop didn't show the error. Just type 'System Restore' in the 'search' box on the start menu and go from there.

Once your laptop is working properly, have a look around for that create recovery media icon and follow the procedure as if your laptop's hard disk dies or gets wiped, you can end up down that well known creek.
 
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i cant get the laptop to work at all it just shows the message on the screen,i cant even shut it down,
 
ah, misread that.

does your laptop have a 'PRESS F1 FOR RECOVERY' or similar message when you first turn it on? the key might be different, but this is the common place for it to happen and it will be at the VERY start when the laptop logo appears as soon as you press the power button.

if it does, then you might be able to get your laptop recovered and bootable... but

you might lose any data that you have not backed up. often the recovery process is destructive and basically it formats your hard drive and reinstalls a fresh copy of the operating system.

you do have a backup of your data?

if your laptop doesn't have a hard disk recovery option on start up and you don't have a disk, then i'm afraid it might be due a trip down PC world.

if it's only 3 months old then it will still be under warranty, but if it goes back to their repair centre then there is a grave risk you'll loose the contents of your hard disk.
 
i just turned it off at the power and back on again the only thing i get before the usual message comes up is a _ at the top left of the screen at that point i hit f1 and it brought up info on serial numbers etc
 
ive no backup but i have a number of system restore points on it
 
its a hp pavilion dv6 dv6-2114sa(thats whats on the box)
 
oh ferk. when you start it does it have an option to 'start in last known good configuration'
 
the only options it gives me is
1-hit esc then hit f11 for recovery
2-insert recovery cd
3-start windows up normaly
BUT when i choose any of these it always bring me back to a black screen saying insert cd,restart your computer and click repair
 
HP lappies usually have a recovery partition BUT in may delete everything on it....

Start it up and hold F11 and see if it gives you any options
 
the exact wording is
"windows failed to start.a recent hardware or software change might be the cause to fix the problem
1-insert instalition cd 2- choose language 3- click repair to your computer
status-oxc000000f
the boot selection failed because a required device is inaccessible
 
if i hit esc on start up it does give me a choise of selecting f11 for recovery but when i hit it i get the black screen saying (see above post)
 
unfortunately I'm a bit drunk at the mo.. sorry :) why are you pressing escape?

just start it up and hold f11
 
holding f11 doesnt do anything but by hitting esc 1st brings up the start up menu
i have just downlaoded 2 repair discs one is x32 and one is x64 what ever that means,dont know if im doing the right thing
 
just found out one is 32 bit and other 64 bit but still dont know what that means
 
Wow that was quick :lol: If you have downloaded them all you need to do is burn one to disc then do a recovery. I'd guess you had 32bit installed but it's just that, a guess
 
disc is not working just getting the usual screen.dont know if it helps but i just ran a mamory test and its 100% and im now in the middle of a hard disc test results in a mo
 
hmm, need to burn as a disc image maybe. anyway sorry, some young lady is calling....;)
 
no probs thanks for your time,if i have no luck
ill head to pc world
 
If it's 3 month old, don't lose any sleep get it back to PC world and let them sort it. Looks like it can't access the Hard drive.
 
Knowing PC world well, they will as you to call the helpline, and do diagnostics. Sounds like a hard drive on the way out. If you choose to go down the service route, you will get a right royal runarround, and you wont have a working laptop when you need it for your clinets
. I would personally take it back to the store, and if the instore tech cant sort it in a hour
(they wont be able to) ask for a refund. Ask the instore tech to run a hard drive diagnostic

Whatever the agreement PCW have with HP is none of your problem. while they will want to go down one route, that doenst effect your statutotory rights
 
hi, I know exactly the sort of run around pc world gives you!!! got a dell lappie from them and within two day's it was giving memory problems.
their "tech guy's" (what a joke) wanted to charge me for a windows reload, and would not except that it was a faulty memory module, even when confronted with microscope confirming what i was telling them.
never again buying from them.
 
It's not trying to boot from a usb stick/memory card is it? Make sure there is nothing plugged in the usb ports and try again? Else, it sounds like it needs to go back to have a tech look at it.
 
Definitely take it back and give PC World grief. However, get a copy of Knppix -the Linux version that runs from a CD. It is a very useful get of jail free card if you are having booting up problems and even if you buy it, it is cheap and can also be downloaded for free.

Put it in the CD/DVD drive and switch on. You will then be able to get to your hard drive - assuming it has died - and save any important files to a USB pen or better still an external hard drive.

Then let PC World put it right and if they reformat it, your important stuff is safe.

Dave
 
found the problem!!!when i loaded the recovery disc the laptop tried to start windows but was not looking for a disc someway a friend of mine set it so it would read the disc 1st on start up and hey presto it ran the disc and now all is well
 
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