Trying to fix a laptop...

[Cutter De Blanc]

So, first off, when I plug the power cord into it, it won't start, but all the lights still light up in front. I held the power button in for thirty seconds, with the battery and cord removed, plugged the ac back in, and nothing. I put the battery in it, and unplugged the cord and it will start up, kind of. I keep getting an 0xc00000e9 error.
I tried restarting it, and hitting f8 and then I told it to repair my computer, and it gave me this:

Windows has encountered a problem communicating with a device connected to your computer.

This error can be caused by unplugging a removable storage device such as an external USB drive while this device is in use, or by faulty hardware such as a hard drive or CD-ROM drive that is failing. Make sure any removable storage is properly connected and then restart your computer.

If you continue to receive this error message, contact the hardware manufacturer.

Status: 0xc00000e9

Info: An unexpected I/O error has occurred.

The thing is a Toshiba Satellite L305-S5968.

[Cutter De Blanc]

Re: Trying to fix a laptop...

Don't everyone all rush at once to help me or anything.

[Manji]

Re: Trying to fix a laptop...

luckily mine was still under manufacturer's warranty, but i had to replace the motherboard on mine a while ago because it burnt out or something (toshiba satellite as well). do you get flicker on the screen? mine did that and not too long after it wouldn't even turn on. i was told consumer models have cheaper parts. good luck on getting it fixed!

[Cutter De Blanc]

Re: Trying to fix a laptop...

So, I managed to make a Vista recovery disc, and now I can do a startup repair.

Startup repair told me it couldn't fix the computer.

Still giving me the black screen of death. I'm running Startup repair again. It's been going for like 20 minutes so far.

Edit: Startup repair still couldn't fix the computer. These are it's "details" as to why

Problem Event Name: StartupRepairV2
Problem Signature 01: External Media
Problem Signature 02: 6.0.6000.16386.6.0.6001.18000
Problem Signature 03: 3
Problem Signature 04: 65537
Problem Signature 05: unknown
Problem Signature 06: MissingOsLoader
Problem Signature 07: 0
Problem Signature 08: 3
Problem Signature 09: FixBootConfig
Problem Signature 10: 1168
OS Version: 6.0.6000.2.0.0.256.1
Locale ID: 1033

I have no idea how much of that (if any) is relevant information.

[Stormy]

Re: Trying to fix a laptop...

Its a hardware problem Cutter. Bad hard disk methinks.

[Cutter De Blanc]

Re: Trying to fix a laptop...

Maybe so, seeing as how the command prompt is reading the C: drive as X:

I can't even do a system or complete PC restore, it tells me there are no backups.

[Cutter De Blanc]

Re: Trying to fix a laptop...

It's not even letting me reinstall windows.

It just wouldn't go past 0% when doing the expanding files thing, I waited 20 minutes.

Also I have to tap f12 and access the boot menu everytime to get it to boot from the DVD.

...After attempting to reinstall windows, it doesn't even appear to want to load to the recovery enviroment anymore.

It's telling me \Windows\system32\winload.exe is either missing or corrupt, and I get a 0xc000000f error.

Blast it all!

Trying to fix this thing is kinda fun though.

EDIT: tried again, now I get a white cursor and a black screen instead of the recovery enviroment. Awesome.

[Alzar]

Re: Trying to fix a laptop...

hardware problem

you are screwed

gl hf

[The Toecutter]

Re: Trying to fix a laptop...

Do you happen to have a voltmeter handy? If you do, you should be able to pinpoint the location of the problem with the computer plugged in and turned on, assuming that it is manufactured in such a way that you can take it apart to where you can test its components.

I would not be surprised if the servo motor controlling what portion of your hard drive is read is bad.

[JLaCroix]

Re: Trying to fix a laptop...

I agree that you have a hardware problem. First, download a memory test cd image, as well as the cd image for the support tools from the manufacturer of the hard drive. The easiest way to get a memory test is to download an Ubuntu cd image, and use it to create a CD. Ubuntu has a memory test option when you boot from the CD.

Second, use the manufacturer's tool for the hard drive. If it's Seagate, download the Seagate tools. If it's Western Digital (god forbid) download the Western Digital tools.

You download either as an ISO image. If you don't know how to use an ISO image to create a CD, google it.

Either the hard drive is bad, or the RAM is bad. Or both. You need to use the bootable CD's to scan the memory as well as the hard drive to determine what needs to be replaced.