PDA

View Full Version : It's been a while... but I'm having problems


crenn
05-19-2008, 08:34 PM
Yesterday while trying to install a piece of software, my uni laptop crashed and I had to forcefully shut it down. Now I've got a bit of a problem. Half a dozen services stopped working (including event viewer) so I tried to do a system restore... which completely corrupted the registry. Now I need to try to reinstall Vista onto this notebook... normally that wouldn't be a problem if not for a small issue. This notebook is a tablet PC, the early ones which didn't have a CD/DVD drive. The notebook had the option of an external drive which apparently is the only one that works in the notebook, booting from an external drive also won't work thanks to the the 'fantastic' BIOS. I'm limited to using the main HDD and the network interface (via the BIOS).

When I get home tonight, I'm going to try to partition the drive and try that, but I don't know if I'll have success with that. I'm also going to see if I can dig up an IDE drive somewhere since I do have a USB external case (meant for 3.5" HDDs, but it can be used) and see if I can try it that way. All I know is this is very annoying to say the least as Vista won't install onto a HDD connected via USB2.0.

Any help is appreciated.
nevermind1534
05-19-2008, 09:07 PM
I have no idea, but would it be possible to pull the hard drive out and make a partition on it for the Vista CD/DVD? Probably wouldn't work, although it might be worth a try.
crenn
05-19-2008, 09:17 PM
That's what I'm going to try when I get home.
crenn
05-20-2008, 05:59 AM
The 'external' DVD drive didn't work, nor did partitioning it.
Luke122
05-20-2008, 09:07 AM
I had to use a USB key to install XP on my EEEPC the first time.. there's probably a similar method for Vista.
crenn
05-20-2008, 03:33 PM
The problem is... this BIOS is really strict, can't even boot from a USB key...
crenn
05-21-2008, 01:13 AM
Computer all working after copying another HDD image to it (a friend of the family has the exact same laptop).
crenn
05-24-2008, 11:53 PM
While trying to make a copy of the HDD onto another HDD (as an emergency backup).... guess what happened..... It bricked itself (this time the bootloader itself) again. Luckily through trail and error, I've managed to fix it.... and I'm hoping it images the drive properly this time around. Then I need to fix up the boot menu xD;