Is my harddrive borked or just vista

I can't repair my any part of my vista OS and I've tried everything.
can't even install Vista or return to the Dell factory options

Is it my harddrive just broken?

I can run Ubuntu by the boot disk and can see the partitions but no wa
will windows work and I can't get the command prompt to do anything

And is there anyway to get files off my windows folders before I sen
this back to Dell

Thank
Willi

--
Williewonka

Williewonka wrote:

>
> I can't repair my any part of my vista OS and I've tried everything. I
> can't even install Vista or return to the Dell factory options.
>
> Is it my harddrive just broken?.
>
> I can run Ubuntu by the boot disk and can see the partitions but no way
> will windows work and I can't get the command prompt to do anything.
>
> And is there anyway to get files off my windows folders before I send
> this back to Dell?

As I said to you in my reply in your other thread - and it would have been
better if you'd kept to that thread - you need to test your hard drive. It
does indeed sound like it is failing but there's no way I can give you a
definitive answer without having the machine here. As I also said, being
able to run Ubuntu off the Live CD proves nothing about your hard drive's
viability.

To test the hard drive:

Test the hard drive with a diagnostic utility downloaded from the drive
mftr.'s website. You will create a bootable CD with the file you download.
You will need third-party burning software to do this such as Roxio, Nero,
or the free CDBurnerXP Pro. Burn as an image, not as data.

http://www.cdburnerxp.se/

Boot with the CD you made and do a thorough test of the drive. If it fails
any physical tests, replace it.

Use your Ubuntu Live CD to get the data off the hard drive. Here is general
information about doing that. I use Knoppix so there may be differences but
you should be able to figure it out.

You will need a computer with two cd drives, one of which is a cd/dvd-rw OR
a usb thumb drive with enough capacity to hold your data OR an external
usb/firewire hard drive formatted FAT32 (not NTFS)*. Boot with the Linux
Live CD and it will be able to see the Windows files. If you are using the
usb thumb drive or the external hard drive, right-click on its icon (on the
Desktop) to get its properties and uncheck the box that says "Read Only".
Then click on it to open it. If you want to burn CD/DVDs, I use the K3b
program. Since Ubuntu uses Gnome, find the Gnome burning program and use
that instead.

*My understanding is that you can now write to an NTFS partition from Linux.
If you wish to do this, Google for instructions.

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ

Try posting your inquiry in the Dell Forum:
http://en.community.dell.com/forums/3524.aspx


"Williewonka" <> wrote in message
news:...
>
> I can't repair my any part of my vista OS and I've tried everything. I
> can't even install Vista or return to the Dell factory options.
>
> Is it my harddrive just broken?.
>
> I can run Ubuntu by the boot disk and can see the partitions but no way
> will windows work and I can't get the command prompt to do anything.
>
> And is there anyway to get files off my windows folders before I send
> this back to Dell?
>
> Thanks
> Willie
>
>
> --
> Williewonka

since you boot with the ubuntu cd, why don't you put a flash thumbnail drive
and copy the data
from the windows disks onto the flash drive to save your data?



"Williewonka" <> wrote in message
news:...
>
> I can't repair my any part of my vista OS and I've tried everything. I
> can't even install Vista or return to the Dell factory options.
>
> Is it my harddrive just broken?.
>
> I can run Ubuntu by the boot disk and can see the partitions but no way
> will windows work and I can't get the command prompt to do anything.
>
> And is there anyway to get files off my windows folders before I send
> this back to Dell?
>
> Thanks
> Willie
>
>
> --
> Williewonka

That's one way to get rid of him. My Dell has an onboard diagnostic to find
out if a drive is "borked" or not. I haven't used it myself. Press the
function key at boot time.

Earle

"Carey Frisch {MVP]" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Try posting your inquiry in the Dell Forum:
> http://en.community.dell.com/forums/3524.aspx
>
>
> "Williewonka" <> wrote in message
> news:...
>>
>> I can't repair my any part of my vista OS and I've tried everything. I
>> can't even install Vista or return to the Dell factory options.
>>
>> Is it my harddrive just broken?.
>>
>> I can run Ubuntu by the boot disk and can see the partitions but no way
>> will windows work and I can't get the command prompt to do anything.
>>
>> And is there anyway to get files off my windows folders before I send
>> this back to Dell?
>>
>> Thanks
>> Willie
>>
>>
>> --
>> Williewonka
>

"Williewonka" <> wrote in message
news:...
>
> I can't repair my any part of my vista OS and I've tried everything. I
> can't even install Vista or return to the Dell factory options.
>
> Is it my harddrive just broken?.
>
> I can run Ubuntu by the boot disk and can see the partitions but no way
> will windows work and I can't get the command prompt to do anything.
>

So you can run Ubuntu. Then what the hell are you doing here? Better head
over to the Ubuntu forum and help those sorry assholes trying to get their
piece of **** OS working. Just FYI.


> And is there anyway to get files off my windows folders before I send
> this back to Dell?
>
> Thanks
> Willie
>
>
> --
> Williewonka

My Sheep was "borked" and he didn't say a thing. Then I rubbed Da Baboon
with Da Lamb Chop.


"Williewonka" <> wrote in message
news:...
>
> I can't repair my any part of my vista OS and I've tried everything. I
> can't even install Vista or return to the Dell factory options.
>
> Is it my harddrive just broken?.
>
> I can run Ubuntu by the boot disk and can see the partitions but no way
> will windows work and I can't get the command prompt to do anything.
>
> And is there anyway to get files off my windows folders before I send
> this back to Dell?
>
> Thanks
> Willie
>
>
> --
> Williewonka

On Sun, 04 Jan 2009 17:50:58 -0600, Williewonka wrote:

> I can't repair my any part of my vista OS and I've tried everything. I
> can't even install Vista or return to the Dell factory options.
>
> Is it my harddrive just broken?.
>
> I can run Ubuntu by the boot disk and can see the partitions but no way
> will windows work and I can't get the command prompt to do anything.
>
> And is there anyway to get files off my windows folders before I send
> this back to Dell?

Sure - boot a Linux live CD and copy to a USB flash drive or external
drive (or even another machine on the network).


>
> Thanks
> Willie

On Sun, 04 Jan 2009 16:14:29 -0800, Malke wrote:

> Williewonka wrote:
>
>
>> I can't repair my any part of my vista OS and I've tried everything. I
>> can't even install Vista or return to the Dell factory options.
>>
>> Is it my harddrive just broken?.
>>
>> I can run Ubuntu by the boot disk and can see the partitions but no way
>> will windows work and I can't get the command prompt to do anything.
>>
>> And is there anyway to get files off my windows folders before I send
>> this back to Dell?
>
> As I said to you in my reply in your other thread - and it would have
> been better if you'd kept to that thread - you need to test your hard
> drive. It does indeed sound like it is failing but there's no way I can
> give you a definitive answer without having the machine here. As I also
> said, being able to run Ubuntu off the Live CD proves nothing about your
> hard drive's viability.
>
> To test the hard drive:
>
> Test the hard drive with a diagnostic utility downloaded from the drive
> mftr.'s website. You will create a bootable CD with the file you
> download. You will need third-party burning software to do this such as
> Roxio, Nero, or the free CDBurnerXP Pro. Burn as an image, not as data.
>
> http://www.cdburnerxp.se/
>
> Boot with the CD you made and do a thorough test of the drive. If it
> fails any physical tests, replace it.
>

Another option would be to boot a Linux live CD and run 'badblocks' on
the partition and maybe on the whole drive.