Windows xp home advanced boot menu loop

Hi 4

I'm afraid that drive is so far gone that it is having errors trying to tell you it's got errors.
You should be able to get a replacement for about $50.

James
 
Since you have the "bad" XP hard drive in the laptop, I'd like to poke and prod it a little more.

Please boot UBCD > PartedMagic and open a terminal.
At the prompt, type:

badblocks -sv /dev/sda

and press <ENTER>.

You will see a running report of progress.
The process should take an hour or two.
Let us know how it goes: Copy the text in the terminal window and paste in a reply.

badblocks

badblocks is a simple program that can thoroughly test a hard drive's integrity at the sector level through software. I normally recommend one of two syntaxes, however, but feel free to view the man page (man badblocks) to see the rest of the flags and descriptions of the options.

If you know that your drive is failing, do not use badblocks -- skip ahead to ddrescue.
Non-destructive test

badblocks -sv /dev/device

-s is for showing progress (otherwise it sits there silently).

-v is for verbosity (prints out extra information).

This performs a basic read-only test which will help you find basic surface errors. Most of the time, this is all that is needed. If a bad block is encountered, its LBA address number is printed on a new line.
Click to expand...
Source: http://wiki.lunarsoft.net/wiki/Data_Recovery
=========================

UBCD > PartedMagic > GSmartControl > Perform Tests tab.
Run ("Execute") the Short Self-Test.
Then run the Extended Self-Test.
Post another smartctl ("smartctl 5.41 2011-06-09") report ... same as you did before.
 
NeverSayDie said:
Hi 4

I'm afraid that drive is so far gone that it is having errors trying to tell you it's got errors.
You should be able to get a replacement for about $50.

James
Click to expand...

LOL that is not a good sign...Actually I have located a Vista cd and I plan to use it to get the Vista hdd that I have from her other laptop up and running if I can.
 
AustrAlien said:
Since you have the "bad" XP hard drive in the laptop, I'd like to poke and prod it a little more.

Please boot UBCD > PartedMagic and open a terminal.
At the prompt, type:

badblocks -sv /dev/sda

and press <ENTER>.

You will see a running report of progress.
The process should take an hour or two.
Let us know how it goes: Copy the text in the terminal window and paste in a reply.

badblocks

badblocks is a simple program that can thoroughly test a hard drive's integrity at the sector level through software. I normally recommend one of two syntaxes, however, but feel free to view the man page (man badblocks) to see the rest of the flags and descriptions of the options.

If you know that your drive is failing, do not use badblocks -- skip ahead to ddrescue.
Non-destructive test

badblocks -sv /dev/device

-s is for showing progress (otherwise it sits there silently).

-v is for verbosity (prints out extra information).

This performs a basic read-only test which will help you find basic surface errors. Most of the time, this is all that is needed. If a bad block is encountered, its LBA address number is printed on a new line.
Click to expand...
Source: http://wiki.lunarsoft.net/wiki/Data_Recovery
=========================

UBCD > PartedMagic > GSmartControl > Perform Tests tab.
Run ("Execute") the Short Self-Test.
Then run the Extended Self-Test.
Post another smartctl ("smartctl 5.41 2011-06-09") report ... same as you did before.
Click to expand...

Just got back in from my night shift. Will run this when I get up.
 
Crap, it is not going to finish before I got to run to work. I will have to run it again tomorrow after I get up.
 
all it is showing is for example:

18565149 done, 2:34:40 elapsed

A long list including the above..is that useful?
 
4on4off said:
... for example:

18565149 done, 2:34:40 elapsed

A long list including the above..is that useful?
Click to expand...
I am interested in that long list. Sounds like a long list of "bad sectors" &/or read errors ????

Copy all the text from the terminal and paste in a reply.
 
Welcome - Parted Magic (Linux 3.0.0-pmagic)

root@PartedMagic:~# badblocks -sv /dev/sda
Checking blocks 0 to 117220823
Checking for bad blocks (read-only test): 227840% done, 0:48 elapsed
227868% done, 2:15 elapsed
227869% done, 2:43 elapsed
227870% done, 3:12 elapsed
227871% done, 3:41 elapsed
227872% done, 4:08 elapsed
227873% done, 4:34 elapsed
227874% done, 5:00 elapsed
227875% done, 5:26 elapsed
402648% done, 5:59 elapsed
402652% done, 6:55 elapsed
402653% done, 7:23 elapsed
402654% done, 7:51 elapsed
402655% done, 8:19 elapsed
402656% done, 8:47 elapsed
402657% done, 9:15 elapsed
402658% done, 9:43 elapsed
402659% done, 10:11 elapsed
402660% done, 10:36 elapsed
402661% done, 11:02 elapsed
402662% done, 11:27 elapsed
402663% done, 11:52 elapsed
402668% done, 12:50 elapsed
402669% done, 13:18 elapsed
402670% done, 13:46 elapsed
402671% done, 14:15 elapsed
1324960 done, 15:43 elapsed
1325012 done, 16:40 elapsed
1325013 done, 17:09 elapsed
1325014 done, 17:38 elapsed
1325015 done, 18:06 elapsed
1325124 done, 21:07 elapsed
1325125 done, 21:36 elapsed
1325126 done, 22:04 elapsed
1325127 done, 22:33 elapsed
1325128 done, 23:03 elapsed
1325129 done, 23:31 elapsed
1325130 done, 24:00 elapsed
1325131 done, 24:27 elapsed
1325132 done, 24:56 elapsed
1325133 done, 25:24 elapsed
1325134 done, 25:53 elapsed
1325135 done, 26:22 elapsed
1325160 done, 27:36 elapsed
1325161 done, 28:05 elapsed
1325162 done, 28:34 elapsed
1325163 done, 29:02 elapsed
1325216 done, 30:24 elapsed
1325217 done, 30:52 elapsed
1325218 done, 31:21 elapsed
1325219 done, 31:50 elapsed
1375768 done, 33:59 elapsed
1375780 done, 34:56 elapsed
1375781 done, 35:24 elapsed
1375782 done, 35:53 elapsed
1375783 done, 36:21 elapsed
1375784 done, 36:49 elapsed
1375785 done, 37:17 elapsed
1375786 done, 37:45 elapsed
1375787 done, 38:13 elapsed
1375788 done, 38:42 elapsed
1375789 done, 39:10 elapsed
1375790 done, 39:38 elapsed
1375791 done, 40:06 elapsed
1375792 done, 40:35 elapsed
1375793 done, 41:03 elapsed
1375794 done, 41:31 elapsed
1375795 done, 41:59 elapsed
1375796 done, 42:27 elapsed
1375797 done, 42:55 elapsed
1375798 done, 43:23 elapsed
1375799 done, 43:51 elapsed
1375800 done, 44:18 elapsed
1375801 done, 44:46 elapsed
1375802 done, 45:14 elapsed
1375803 done, 45:41 elapsed
1375804 done, 46:10 elapsed
1375805 done, 46:39 elapsed
1375806 done, 47:08 elapsed
1375807 done, 47:37 elapsed
1375808 done, 48:06 elapsed
1375809 done, 48:35 elapsed
1375810 done, 49:04 elapsed
1375811 done, 49:33 elapsed
1375812 done, 50:01 elapsed
1375813 done, 50:30 elapsed
1375814 done, 50:58 elapsed
1375815 done, 51:27 elapsed
1375816 done, 51:56 elapsed
1375817 done, 52:26 elapsed
1375818 done, 52:55 elapsed
1375819 done, 53:24 elapsed
1375820 done, 53:52 elapsed
1375821 done, 54:21 elapsed
1375822 done, 54:49 elapsed
1375823 done, 55:17 elapsed
1375824 done, 55:43 elapsed
1375825 done, 56:09 elapsed
1375826 done, 56:36 elapsed
1375827 done, 57:02 elapsed
1375828 done, 57:27 elapsed
1375829 done, 57:52 elapsed
1375830 done, 58:17 elapsed
1375831 done, 58:42 elapsed
1375832 done, 59:11 elapsed
1375844 done, 1:00:23 elapsed
1375845 done, 1:00:51 elapsed
1375846 done, 1:01:20 elapsed
1375847 done, 1:01:49 elapsed
1376984 done, 1:02:17 elapsed
1377044 done, 1:02:43 elapsed
1377045 done, 1:03:08 elapsed
1377046 done, 1:03:33 elapsed
1377047 done, 1:03:59 elapsed
1377048 done, 1:04:29 elapsed
1377049 done, 1:04:57 elapsed
1377050 done, 1:05:26 elapsed
1377051 done, 1:05:55 elapsed
1377076 done, 1:06:51 elapsed
1377077 done, 1:07:19 elapsed
1377078 done, 1:07:47 elapsed
1377079 done, 1:08:15 elapsed
1378024 done, 1:08:44 elapsed
1378084 done, 1:09:10 elapsed
1378085 done, 1:09:36 elapsed
1378086 done, 1:10:02 elapsed
1378087 done, 1:10:28 elapsed
1379224 done, 1:10:53 elapsed
1379272 done, 1:11:44 elapsed
1379273 done, 1:12:09 elapsed
1379274 done, 1:12:34 elapsed
1379275 done, 1:12:59 elapsed
1379276 done, 1:13:27 elapsed
1379277 done, 1:13:55 elapsed
1379278 done, 1:14:23 elapsed
1379279 done, 1:14:50 elapsed
1379280 done, 1:15:15 elapsed
1379281 done, 1:15:40 elapsed
1379282 done, 1:16:06 elapsed
1379283 done, 1:16:31 elapsed
1379284 done, 1:16:56 elapsed
1379285 done, 1:17:21 elapsed
1379286 done, 1:17:46 elapsed
1379287 done, 1:18:11 elapsed
1379288 done, 1:18:39 elapsed
1379289 done, 1:19:07 elapsed
1379290 done, 1:19:35 elapsed
1379291 done, 1:20:03 elapsed
1379292 done, 1:20:28 elapsed
1379293 done, 1:20:53 elapsed
1379294 done, 1:21:18 elapsed
1379295 done, 1:21:43 elapsed
1379296 done, 1:22:12 elapsed
1379297 done, 1:22:40 elapsed
1379298 done, 1:23:09 elapsed
1379299 done, 1:23:37 elapsed
1379300 done, 1:24:06 elapsed
1379301 done, 1:24:34 elapsed
1379302 done, 1:25:02 elapsed
1379303 done, 1:25:31 elapsed
1379304 done, 1:25:59 elapsed
1379305 done, 1:26:27 elapsed
1379306 done, 1:26:55 elapsed
1379307 done, 1:27:23 elapsed
1379308 done, 1:27:52 elapsed
1379309 done, 1:28:21 elapsed
1379310 done, 1:28:50 elapsed
1379311 done, 1:29:19 elapsed
1379744 done, 1:29:57 elapsed
1379792 done, 1:30:53 elapsed
1379793 done, 1:31:21 elapsed
1379794 done, 1:31:49 elapsed
1379795 done, 1:32:17 elapsed
1525960 done, 1:32:52 elapsed
1525961 done, 1:33:20 elapsed
1525962 done, 1:33:48 elapsed
1525963 done, 1:34:16 elapsed
2719168 done, 1:35:14 elapsed
2719224 done, 1:36:11 elapsed
2719225 done, 1:36:40 elapsed
2719226 done, 1:37:09 elapsed
2719227 done, 1:37:37 elapsed
2890032 done, 1:38:09 elapsed
2890064 done, 1:39:04 elapsed
2890065 done, 1:39:32 elapsed
2890066 done, 1:40:00 elapsed
2890067 done, 1:40:27 elapsed
2890076 done, 1:41:23 elapsed
2890077 done, 1:41:52 elapsed
2890078 done, 1:42:20 elapsed
2890079 done, 1:42:48 elapsed
3080720 done, 1:43:30 elapsed
3080721 done, 1:43:58 elapsed
3080722 done, 1:44:26 elapsed
3080723 done, 1:44:53 elapsed
3133448 done, 1:45:24 elapsed
3133500 done, 1:46:22 elapsed
3133501 done, 1:46:51 elapsed
3133502 done, 1:47:20 elapsed
3133503 done, 1:47:49 elapsed
3133504 done, 1:48:18 elapsed
3133505 done, 1:48:47 elapsed
3133506 done, 1:49:15 elapsed
3133507 done, 1:49:44 elapsed
3133508 done, 1:50:12 elapsed
3133509 done, 1:50:41 elapsed
3133510 done, 1:51:10 elapsed
3133511 done, 1:51:38 elapsed
3133512 done, 1:52:07 elapsed
3133513 done, 1:52:36 elapsed
3133514 done, 1:53:04 elapsed
3133515 done, 1:53:33 elapsed
3133516 done, 1:54:01 elapsed
3133517 done, 1:54:29 elapsed
3133518 done, 1:54:57 elapsed
3133519 done, 1:55:25 elapsed
3203328 done, 1:55:53 elapsed
3203360 done, 1:56:44 elapsed
3203361 done, 1:57:09 elapsed
3203362 done, 1:57:34 elapsed
3203363 done, 1:57:59 elapsed
3203364 done, 1:58:26 elapsed
3203365 done, 1:58:53 elapsed
17802784done, 2:04:23 elapsed
17802836done, 2:05:22 elapsed
17802837done, 2:05:51 elapsed
17802838done, 2:06:21 elapsed
17802839done, 2:06:50 elapsed
17802840done, 2:07:19 elapsed
17802841done, 2:07:49 elapsed
17802842done, 2:08:18 elapsed
17802843done, 2:08:48 elapsed
17802844done, 2:09:16 elapsed
17802845done, 2:09:45 elapsed
17802846done, 2:10:14 elapsed
17802847done, 2:10:42 elapsed
17802848done, 2:11:08 elapsed
17802849done, 2:11:34 elapsed
17802850done, 2:12:00 elapsed
17802851done, 2:12:25 elapsed
17817432done, 2:12:55 elapsed
17817484done, 2:13:54 elapsed
17817485done, 2:14:23 elapsed
17817486done, 2:14:52 elapsed
17817487done, 2:15:21 elapsed
17817488done, 2:15:51 elapsed
17817489done, 2:16:20 elapsed
17817490done, 2:16:49 elapsed
17817491done, 2:17:19 elapsed
17822600done, 2:17:46 elapsed
17822601done, 2:18:14 elapsed
17822602done, 2:18:42 elapsed
17822603done, 2:19:09 elapsed
17822604done, 2:19:38 elapsed
17822605done, 2:20:08 elapsed
17822606done, 2:20:37 elapsed
17822607done, 2:21:06 elapsed
17822608done, 2:21:35 elapsed
17822609done, 2:22:05 elapsed
17822610done, 2:22:34 elapsed
17822611done, 2:23:04 elapsed
17822612done, 2:23:32 elapsed
17822613done, 2:24:01 elapsed
17822614done, 2:24:30 elapsed
17822615done, 2:24:58 elapsed
17822616done, 2:25:24 elapsed
17822617done, 2:25:50 elapsed
17822618done, 2:26:15 elapsed
17822619done, 2:26:41 elapsed
17822724done, 2:27:38 elapsed
17822725done, 2:28:06 elapsed
17822726done, 2:28:34 elapsed
17822727done, 2:29:02 elapsed
18147384done, 2:29:42 elapsed
18147392done, 2:30:40 elapsed
18147393done, 2:31:08 elapsed
18147394done, 2:31:37 elapsed
18147395done, 2:32:05 elapsed
18565112done, 2:32:46 elapsed
18565148done, 2:33:43 elapsed
18565149done, 2:34:12 elapsed
18565150done, 2:34:40 elapsed
18565151done, 2:35:09 elapsed
18565152done, 2:35:38 elapsed
18565153done, 2:36:07 elapsed
18565154done, 2:36:35 elapsed
18565155done, 2:37:04 elapsed
18565156done, 2:37:30 elapsed
18565157done, 2:37:56 elapsed
18565158done, 2:38:22 elapsed
18565159done, 2:38:48 elapsed
18565172done, 2:39:45 elapsed
18565173done, 2:40:14 elapsed
 
Shut it down. That's not good!

Maybe James was correct with his theory about the failed read-heads?

I'll have another think about it.
 
ok it is down....

Also I download the pruduct key viewer and gave it a shot. Didn't have a whole lot of time to mess with it but I do not see where to use a command line to get the key from the external drive. The help file does not come up.

I will be back in the morning to mess with it some more.

Heading in for an extra night shift.

4
 
Unfortunately, the product key will do you no good. You have an OEM license for Vista, which means it is attached to your Gateway system forever. You cannot transfer OEM licenses to other systems.

Please refer to the OEM License Agreement. A general answer from Microsoft regarding transfer of OEM licenses to other machines:
After an OEM software license has been installed on a PC, the license may not be installed on or transferred to another PC. However, the entire PC may be transferred to another end user along with the software license rights. When transferring the PC to the new end user, the software media, manuals (if applicable), and Certificate of Authenticity label must be included. It is also advisable to include the original purchase invoice or receipt. The original end user cannot keep any copies of the software.
Click to expand...
From Licensing FAQ


If you want to use the Vista OS, you will need to buy another license for Microsoft Windows Vista to use on the system in question. It may be less expensive to contact the system manufacturer of the system with the broken hard drive and try to obtain recovery discs for the XP OS.
 
Hello 4,

Badblocks had progressed through just 16% of the hard drive when you stopped it, and had already found 290 bad blocks.
1 block = 2 sectors
1 sector = 512 bytes

Code: 
StartBlock               NumberOfBadBlocks
1377076                 4
1378024                 1
1378084                 4
1379224                 1
1379272                 40
1379744                 1
1379792                 1
1525960                 4
2719168                 1
2719224                 4
2890032                 1
2890064                 4
2890076                 4
3080720                 4
3133448                 1
3133500                 20
3203328                 1
3203360                 6
17802784               1
17802836               16
17817432               1
17817484               8
17822600               20
17822724               4
18147384               1
18147392               4
18565112               1
18565148               12
18565172               2               16%

TOTAL BADBLOCKS 290
=====================================================

FYI for comparison, the following is a composite of what I see on-screen when running badblocks on a 2GB HDD with 5 bad blocks.

Code: 
root@PartedMagic:~# badblocks -sv /dev/sda
Checking blocks 0 to 2141494
Checking for bad blocks (read-only test): 20.91% done, 1:24 elapsed
451840% done, 1:41 elapsed
451856% done, 2:28 elapsed
451857% done, 2:43 elapsed
451858% done, 2:59 elapsed
451859% done, 3:14 elapsed
done                                
Pass completed, 5 bad blocks found.
======================

Your old hard drive along with its Windows XP system is beyond recovery. Time to move on.

It seems as though using the Vista installation disk that you already have for a different OEM system is off the agenda too.
Your options are being reduced, one-by-one.
I expect you will find DELL unable to supply you with recovery disks due to the age of the computer.
 
:s6:

Writhziden and AA,

Thank you for that information.

If I gain access to a xp home edition cd will I be able to use the key that is on the dell laptop to install the xp home os onto the vista hdd that came out of the gateway?

Short of purchasing a new license that may be the only option at this point.

4
 
Yes, the key on your Dell laptop will allow you to install an XP Home Edition CD if the Dell laptop key is for XP Home Edition.
 
writhziden said:
Yes, the key on your Dell laptop will allow you to install an XP Home Edition CD if the Dell laptop key is for XP Home Edition.
Click to expand...

Well that is good news. The key on the laptop is for the home edition and I have access to a cd. I would rather get the vista going but that seems not too likely at this point with the oem issue.
 
4on4off said:
The key on the laptop is for the home edition and I have access to a cd.
Click to expand...
That sounds like the way to move forward from here.

Immediately after the Windows installation, install all drivers for that particular model laptop that you will get (or will have already got) from the DELL website.

Note: Beware of the SATA hard drive issue when attempting to boot with the XP CD and install XP (the XP CD does not have the SATA drivers necessary to read/see a SATA hard drive): You may need to/find it convenient to slipstream the necessary SATA drivers to the XP CD before being able to boot with the XP CD successfully.

Good luck.
 
Last edited:
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