Laptop can't boot

[Nikola1337]

Hello, my laptop won't boot. It was a bit slower before it broke which could be coming from the same problem. After just being slower it couldn't load into windows (only in safe mode) and now it won't boot at all (i can still get to the repair options through some PXE if i connect w/ an ethernet cable). I tried some command i saw in some other forum like diskpart>list disk but it tells me there are no fixed disks to show. Can anyone please help me?

 

[kaptainkuftic]

I forgot to mention I did take the HDD out at some time (dont know if that can also make it unable to boot). Yes, its right under the touchpad. Yeah there is some weird sound (maybe like it stopped spinning, im not sure) followed by some quiet but kinda fast clicking.
So this is pretty bad? Youre sure that the HDD isnt working? Should I just buy a new one?

if you took it out once, make sure that it's plugged all the way in.

But yeah, if it's clicking, it's probably boned. I would get a new one and try to recover data from the broken one. There might be some 'put your HDD in the freezer ' method of making mechanically broken HDDs work for a little while

 

[kaptainkuftic]

Sounds like your hard drive is finished. do you notice any clicking or grinding noises coming from the underside of the laptop?

Also, what is your laptops model number?

 

[Nikola1337]

Thanks for the fast response. There is maybe some kind of clicking, only when I start it, but Im not sure if that was there before (I never really payed attention to it).

It is lenovo G510

 

[kaptainkuftic]

Thanks for the fast response. There is maybe some kind of clicking, only when I start it, but Im not sure if that was there before (I never really payed attention to it).

It is lenovo G510

No problem, it's what I'm here for

It looks like the HDD bay is pretty close to right underneath your touchpad? So if you flip over your laptop, draw a line from your battery to the other side of the back of the laptop, and your HDD sits right underneath the plastic. About 2:30 in this video https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCF6XBWf6u8

When you turn on the laptop, put your ear next to that area on the laptop. If you hear clicking or grinding, that's very bad.

 

[Nikola1337]

I forgot to mention I did take the HDD out at some time (dont know if that can also make it unable to boot). Yes, its right under the touchpad. Yeah there is some weird sound (maybe like it stopped spinning, im not sure) followed by some quiet but kinda fast clicking.
So this is pretty bad? Youre sure that the HDD isnt working? Should I just buy a new one?

 

[Nikola1337]

I took it a few times, but Its plugged in all the way. Sorry if Im bothering you too much but do you know any method that can make me use it atleast for a little while? And how should I go with retrieving data if the previous doesnt work?

 

[Andy_K]

I took it a few times, but Its plugged in all the way. Sorry if Im bothering you too much but do you know any method that can make me use it atleast for a little while? And how should I go with retrieving data if the previous doesnt work?

I think as the other guy said, you're not likely to be able to use it, that clicking sound is usually because the drive is knackered and the read head is banging against the side of the drive.
Get a new hard disk and its time to install windows again, hope you had your stuff backed up somewhere! we've all been there before!

 

[kaptainkuftic]

I took it a few times, but Its plugged in all the way. Sorry if Im bothering you too much but do you know any method that can make me use it atleast for a little while? And how should I go with retrieving data if the previous doesnt work?

I think as the other guy said, you're not likely to be able to use it, that clicking sound is usually because the drive is knackered and the read head is banging against the side of the drive.
Get a new hard disk and its time to install windows again, hope you had your stuff backed up somewhere! we've all been there before!

Pretty much this.

If you plug that HDD into another rig, you might be able to read the data. wouldn't get my hopes up though

 

[Nikola1337]

Thanks Andy. So there's no way to retrieve the data since the read head cant even read it? I didnt have any backups... I guess Ive learned my lesson. What should I look for when buying a hdd? I mean I dont know if its gonna be compatible, how can i check that?

Ok, well I guess Ill leave it for now and try to maybe recover something later.

 

[kaptainkuftic]

Thanks Andy. So there's no way to retrieve the data since the read head cant even read it? I didnt have any backups... I guess Ive learned my lesson. What should I look for when buying a hdd? I mean I dont know if its gonna be compatible, how can i check that?

Ok, well I guess Ill leave it for now and try to maybe recover something later.

2.5" drive, 7200 RPM, probably 500GB to 1TB of space, and as large of a cashe as you can find, in order of most important to least important.

 

[Nikola1337]

Ok, thanks alot. Atleast it isnt something worse. But what about opening the hdd? I mean if the head fell off or something, wouldnt it be possible to put it back?

 

[kaptainkuftic]

Ok, thanks alot. Atleast it isnt something worse. But what about opening the hdd? I mean if the head fell off or something, wouldnt it be possible to put it back?

Theoretically, yeah.

in practice, the read head failing is a symptom of a deeper, much much smaller (in size) problem. It's really not worth the trouble, I promise.

There are some really powerful magnets that I like to take out of dead drives though, so that's a plus right? lol

 

[Nikola1337]

Yeah, magnets are the least important to me right now lol
Well Ill just get a new one and maybe Ill eventually get my files from this one
Thanks alot

 

[kaptainkuftic]

no problem, good luck mate

 

[Nikola1337]

Sry again, just one more thing. You said something about "put it in the freezer" method for making it work one more time. You know any of those methods?

 

[kaptainkuftic]

Sry again, just one more thing. You said something about "put it in the freezer" method for making it work one more time. You know any of those methods?

Yeah, it's one of those things similar to "if you drop your phone in water, put it in a bag of rice" type fixes.

I've heard that you can make a mechanically failed hard drive work for a couple more hours if you put it in a freezer for a while. Someone on the internet said it has like a 60% success rate, but that seems a little too optimistic. No guarantees, but if the drive is dead anyway, what do you really sacrifice by trying?

 

[Nikola1337]

Oh, so you literally just put it in the freezer lol.
Yea, definitely sounds a bit too good to be true, but like you said, I dont have much to lose and I doubt Its gonna delete the files.
Ill look it up and maybe it does something

 

[kaptainkuftic]

Oh, so you literally just put it in the freezer lol.
Yea, definitely sounds a bit too good to be true, but like you said, I dont have much to lose and I doubt Its gonna delete the files.
Ill look it up and maybe it does something

Pretty much. Haha, good luck!

 

[Nikola1337]

Hey so I just started the laptop again and it booted successfully (and now Its stuck at the windows logo screen like it did before when it didnt even want to boot). I could restart it once again and it booted successfully, and now Its back to not booting at all. So maybe there's still hope? Also the hdd makes some periodical sounds (kinda like scratching, not rly sure)
Does this mean anything to you?