System Repair with Installation CD

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BobH
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System Repair with Installation CD

Post by BobH »

As you might recall, my laptop has gone on the fritz wrt connecting to the Internet, although it can 'see' my router and others in the neighborhood. I appreciate all the responses and advice on that thread, but I've pretty much run the string out for recovery. My last step before taking it in to the repair shop is to create a fresh backup and to try a Windows repair.

As I understand it, I have to be sure that the BIOS boots from the CD first, then insert the CD and boot from it. This is a WinXP Pro Cd that predates SP2. I understand that I can use it to attempt a repair.

Can anyone confirm this or disabuse me of the notion?

As I said this is kind of a last resort Windows Repair) before the last resort (taking it to the hardware guy) before the last resort (to reinstall Windows from a fresh start; I think I'd rather save shekels and buy a new, cheap laptop with Win7).

Any other advice will be much appreciated. That iPad keyboard has been driving me nuts!!!
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BobH
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Re: System Repair with Installation CD

Post by BobH »

Bad form, I know, but I have to share this, as they say, Justin Case!

Before doing the Windows repair, I decided to go back - one more time - and reinstall the drivers for my wifi network adapter devices. This is about the umpteenth time I've done this.

Wonder of wonders . . . IT WORKED!

I'm back on my laptop.

Again thanks for all your help (and apologies for the static and bandwidth wastage).
Bob's yer Uncle
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Intel Core i5, 3570K, 3.40 GHz, 16 GB RAM, ECS Z77 H2-A3 Mobo, Windows 10 >HPE 64-bit, MS Office 2016

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BobH
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Re: System Repair with Installation CD

Post by BobH »

And yet another breach of forum etiquette . . .

The return to normalcy lasted less than 10 minutes. I deduce from this that there is a hardware malfunction.

Anyone know of sources of good laptops under $400US?
Bob's yer Uncle
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Intel Core i5, 3570K, 3.40 GHz, 16 GB RAM, ECS Z77 H2-A3 Mobo, Windows 10 >HPE 64-bit, MS Office 2016

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Timelord
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Re: System Repair with Installation CD

Post by Timelord »

I noticed this on Dell just the other day.

http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-15-in ... f=aInspN1T" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Not powerful, but not bad....
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Timelord
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Re: System Repair with Installation CD

Post by Timelord »

and I just found
http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSale ... l=en&s=dfh" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
If you do not mind scratch and dent
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ChrisGreaves
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Re: System Repair with Installation CD

Post by ChrisGreaves »

Timelord wrote:Not powerful, but not bad....
True.
I see a 500GB SATA drive can be had.
It seems only a week last Thursday that a 500MB was a monster.
That's a 1,000-fold increase in capacity.

I remember Gordon Campbell telling me "Get the biggest hard drive you can afford, and clip a motherboard and monitor to it".
Good advice still, I think.
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Timelord
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Re: System Repair with Installation CD

Post by Timelord »

I remember Gordon Campbell telling me "Get the biggest hard drive you can afford, and clip a motherboard and monitor to it".
Good advice still, I think.
I don't think this is so valid anymore. I have a 2 TB Raid at home and I do not use even half. Even the 500 GB I have on my laptop is not getting used. Using a fast laptop is more important to me, I can always carry a small external drive if needed.
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ChrisGreaves
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Re: System Repair with Installation CD

Post by ChrisGreaves »

Timelord wrote:I don't think this is so valid anymore. I have a 2 TB Raid at home and I do not use even half.
Well, Timelord, I hate to argue :laugh: but ...

The advice is not for everyone, but I rather suspect that armed with a 2TB drive I'd seriously consider some form of virtual machines.
Either VMs as most people see them, or successive incarnations on Windows on the HD.

For example, right now my Win7Home appears to consume 40GB of the 50GB I gave it last weekend.
I think it'd be rather nice to have a series of Win7Home installations on successive 50GB partitions:
Partition 1: As recovered from the recovery partition
Partition 2: Less the crapware that arrives with the OEM
Partition 3: Plus the updates as at this date
Partition 4: Plus the MSOffice suite
Partition 5: The Office suite tweaked and customized
Partition 6: Plus all my favorite utilities
etc etc etc

Instead of dumping images to an external drive, I'd have each one at my fingertips.
("Let's see what happens if I repeat that on the earlier installation ...")
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BobH
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Re: System Repair with Installation CD

Post by BobH »

Thanks for the leads, Timelord.
Bob's yer Uncle
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Intel Core i5, 3570K, 3.40 GHz, 16 GB RAM, ECS Z77 H2-A3 Mobo, Windows 10 >HPE 64-bit, MS Office 2016