Windows 7 Corrupted.

[ro2124]

looks like a Windows disaster I think it's done finally. well being using a netbook with Win 7 as a secondary temporary computer since my laptop broke. of course netbooks are pretty crap and slow and had a lot of problems with it especially slow speed and constant freezing. crashed a couple of times and I had to do system restore. happened again of the day and after restart, it just kept getting a blue screen and crashing constantly so I thought screw it I'll do a full system restore. of course it takes a long time so I left it running while I went out. Then the disaster, it appears that was a power cut while I was out so the computer run out of juice while it was restoring windows. now it's completely screwed just get a message saying insert Windows CD or contact your system administrator. so I guess that's it gone forever everything screwed. guess there is no way back from that once Windows is corrupted like that?

[Buenchico]

Of course, the very first thing you did when you got your netbook was to create a recovery drive on a USB memory stick wasn't it? That's what you're meant to do (and almost certainly what the instruction manual for your netbook told you to do).

OK, I'd be prepared to bet that you didn't because you regarded it as one of those "I'll get around to it one of these days" jobs, which never actually got done. (The reason why I think that is because I've been meaning to do it myself for years but I've not done it either!)

So, if you're to have any chance of repairing Windows, you'll probably need to buy something like this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Windows-7-Recovery-Repair-USB-All-Versions-32-bit-Utillity-Tools-on-a-usb-/201864314848?hash=item2f000cffe0:g:0DoAAOSwnFZXXZ8g
(That's just one example. eBay is packed with similar drives. Some of them are for 32-bit versions of Windows - which is probably what a netbook will be running -some of them are for 64 bit and some cover both versions).

Once you've got hold of a recovery drive USB stick (or remembered where you put the one which you actually did make when you bought your netbook), you'll need to ensure that your netbook is configured to boot from a USB drive first (rather than trying to boot from the corrupted hard drive files first). That will mean going into the BIOS.

There's usually a screen which appears (before Windows starts to load) telling you which key to press in order to access the BIOS. ('Esc' is often the correct one but others are used as well; it depends upon the make and model of your netbook). If there's no such mesage, try googling for the information.

Once you've got into the BIOS you'll need to look for the option to set the boot priorities. (Everything in the BIOS settings is done via the arrow keys, plus 'Enter' and 'Esc'. Your keypad won't work). Once you've ensured that your netbook will examine a USB stick, to look for a boot drive, before it does anything else ,exit the BIOS and close down your netbook. (If necesary, do it by brute force. i.e. unplug the power adapter and remve the battery).

Insert the memory stick into a USB port and power up your netbook. It should then boot from the USB drive and give you access to the recovery options on it. From then on it's trial and error!

[ro2124]

Yeah you are right, did not do recovery back up..It's one of those things we should all do when getting a computer but never actually get round to it. however decided to go another option. as I said Windows was always crap on netbooks absolutely sluggish and freezing all the time, complete waste of bloody time been toying with the idea of Linux for some time put always put off by the fact apparently it's more for geeks who must know about computer programming , etc. although later versions are supposed to be more user-friendly. so I thought screw it nothing to lose and I installed Linux Mint. well have to say I was pleasantly surprised it's not that different from Windows, ...well it is different in the fact it doesn't crash or freeze all the bloody time, it seems to run a lot smoother.
but the look and feel of it is similar to Windows. just some programs are difficult to install , you have to have some computer knowledge. but so far managing fairly well. and some programs came pre installed like Thunderbird and Firefox. best surprise though the files I thought I lost after Windows was screwed ,I actually managed to access once Linux was installed. well I found them in the backup folder which is normally created during Windows restore. so I guess the Windows restore had backed up most of the files before the power cut destroyed windows. so that was a bit of luck so really looking at the situation I think wont even bother with windows at all , but just keep running Linux . it has most things I need and seems to work better than Windows 7 with no crashes. only thing is it's still a bit slow at times but this could be because I am running Mint off a USB stick. maybe if I actually installed it on the Netbook or external hard drive, it might run a bit faster , but I don't know I'm not an expert on Linux or computers so I have to look into that bit more.

[Buenchico]

Thanks for your reply.

I've been meaning to try out Linux for years. Perhaps I'll get around to it eventually!

USB is a horribly slow way of transferring data (especially if you've only got USB 2.0, rather than 3.0. as most netbooks will have), so Linux would probably run much faster if you installed it onto your hard drive.

[Hymie]

Why take a chance, where Buenchico’s suggestion might not work – when you can buy a copy of Windows 7 on a disc for less than £10.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Windows-7-Professional-32-bit-SP1-with-License-Key-COA-/272616561162?hash=item3f79369a0a:g:cJoAAOSwubRXJeg8

Then if at some time later you have problems with the laptop, you can simply re-install.

[hc4361]

A netbook doesn't have a disk drive, Hymie

[Hymie]

Then copy the disc’s contents to USB stick and load from that.

[ro2124]

Thanks for all the advice (actually this netbook could have disc drive, have an external ☺) but really I am tired of crap Windows..its buggy, freezing ,crashing, security holes, it was a pain in the ass from the start and it still is today. when I think of the hours and days I wasted on that crap it makes me want to weep.
Microsoft have had 30 years to sort out that prog..but still crap even today with Windows 10. as I have just discovered to my cost after being silly enough to buy a Windows 10 tablet. more of that in another post later.
anyway for now I will stick with Linux it works pretty well on Netbook. starts fairly quick and doesn't crash , although get the occasional freeze so probably best idea to run it of HDD not stick.