PCA Forums

Well, I recently downloaded a lot of stuff and I think my laptop's HDD was full before it crashed with this message.



I tried booting in safe mode but I got the same message. What can I do now? It's a fairly old Vaio laptop running XP.

You could try doing a repair install, but if the HD is full, you might also try getting into the recovery console and deleting some of the stuff you downloaded. Or slave the drive into a PC using an adapter and delete it that way..

GL!

A full HDD is not going to cause a BSOD on boot. It will just run very slow.

That is an extremely generic BSOD message. It basically means Windows has no idea why it crashed.

Likeliest culprit is a weak/bad sector on the drive (or the drive crashed). If you have a copy run Spinrite on the drive. Level 2 if you're in a hurry, level 4 if you don't mind running it all night. If you don't have Spinrite then run a sector scan on it (chkdsk /r). If it's a weak sector then it may boot after that. You may also need to perform a chkdsk /f afterward to repair any corrupt file structures.

Bad memory or memory poorly seated in it's socket can also be a culprit, but less likely.

The problem is I can't get into Windows at all so I can't access the command prompt. Is there another way of running a chkdsk?

Yes. Boot with XP CD into the recovery console.

The thing is, I don't have the XP recovery CD for my Vaio laptop. I doubt this is possible, but can I use the XP recovery CD from my Vaio desktop to do this?

Yes. Any XP CD will work. You're not doing a repair install, just using the disc to boot to the recovery console.

Wait.. A RECOVERY CD won't work.. Those are designed to wipe out the laptop and put it back to the way it was when you took it out of the Box.. If it's an XP Install CD (any flavor) that will work for what we're recommending..

GL!

eGo

eGoCeNTRoNiX wrote:Wait.. A RECOVERY CD won't work.. Those are designed to wipe out the laptop and put it back to the way it was when you took it out of the Box.. If it's an XP Install CD (any flavor) that will work for what we're recommending..

GL!

eGo

I don't think I have an XP install disc. :-(

You don't have any XP install CD? You know anyone who has one? All you need is a copy.

FlyingPenguin wrote:You don't have any XP install CD? You know anyone who has one? All you need is a copy.

I've honestly never had the need for one. All of my computers are OEMs. I've never built a custom rig from scratch. I'll see if people I know have a copy. If I can't find one, is there another alternative? Could I maybe download the repair utility and burn it to a CD? If that's not possible, I guess I'll just order an XP install CD online.

A win2k cd will work as well, last I checked.

A BartPE windows live CD will work also. Boots into a mini-Windows desktop that loads entirely from the CD. You can then open a DOS command prompt window and do your thing: http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/

The latest Hiren's Boot CD (9.8 or later) also has a very fast BartPE loader on it called Mini PE. That one is only distributed on torrents though. Real useful disc to have around.

could always try this portable app one too:

http://fcportables.blogspot.com/2010/01 ... .html#more

i've never used it...so YMMV

FlyingPenguin wrote:A BartPE windows live CD will work also. Boots into a mini-Windows desktop that loads entirely from the CD. You can then open a DOS command prompt window and do your thing: http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/

The latest Hiren's Boot CD (9.8 or later) also has a very fast BartPE loader on it called Mini PE. That one is only distributed on torrents though. Real useful disc to have around.

I tried Hiren's Boot CD and I'm having trouble getting my laptop to run it. The laptop just runs and goes to the same error message with no effect. Is there something I'm supposed to do to get it to load the CD?