Windows Vista Startup Problem

May be there is another problem here, what happens when you reboot?

Early on in the installation process you should have been asked about formatting and partitioning the hard drive. The format should have been NTFS.

If that didn't happen then I would suggest you start again.

Sorry about those instructions, wrong OS and not what you needed.

It should all be self explanatory once you boot the laptop with the disc inserted, just follow the prompts. Go through the options until it asks which partition you wish to install vista on and just click the format button at the bottom.

Is the installation CD in fairly good condition, if it is badly scratched that could be causing the problem.

 

Second try

I used f12 to try booting from the cd on start. Same result. I formatted the hard disk from the advanced options and continued the install. It again hung up in the final step "completing installation ".
The cd itself looks almost new wit.h no visible scratches.
Anything else we can do?
I also tried to run the memtest download. I verified that it is on the cd as an .iso file but when I insert it, the system tries to run the o/s which just hangs up. Is there some other way to run this.

 

You could try to go into bios and set the CD to boot first, then the mem test should run. If it still fails and you are quite certain that you burned the disc as a .ISO image file then we could be looking at a problem with the CD/DVD drive. Back in an earlier post there was an error code that related to the CD/DVD drive along with the errors for the hard drive. Can you test the memtest disc in another PC to be certain it is OK before assuming that there is another fault on your PC.

 

Memtest

I must have done something wrong in trying to download this. I tried it on another machine running XP and could not get it to run. The file is on the cd as mem10.iso but I couldn't run it either from startup (startup says it cannot boot from the cd) or from windows (windows is looking for a program to open the file). Is there a Way to run it just to see if the file is correct?
As you can see I am really not that good with this.
Thanks for your patience.

 

Please follow my instructions in post 4. When you look at the memtest disc in explorer it should have a folder named BOOT and a text file. I think you have burned the file before extracting the image. You have not followed my instructions, please try agin.

 

Mem test

I tried to follow your post #4 to the letter. I downloaded the zip file to the desktop. When I right clicked on it, the only extract option was extract all. I extracted to the desktop and the copied the extracted file to a cd. I used browse to view the contents of the cd. It contained a file named mt410.iso which consisted of 1.75mb.
When I restarted the computer I used to download the program with the cd in the drive, it went right to XP. Do I need to make a change to the starup sequence?
I know this must be exasperating to you but I can't seem to get this to work anywhere.

 

I think this might be where you are going wrong. The extracted file needs to be burned to a CD as an image file, If you just copy it, it will not work. Try using the image burning software I gave you the link for in post 4.

 

ISO Burner

I tried using the download and it returned burn error aborting "write done with errors (hardware error 8450) ".
It still doesn't work.
Am I doing something wrong?

 

OK, I can't trace that error code as I don't know anything about the disc drive that it relates to. I wish I could see what was happening, but will battle on

This is another very popular free image burning software, just make sure you are making an image or an ISO disc and that you have selected CD and not DVD. I would usggest you continue to experiment with a re-recordable disc so as not to waste any more CD's. As I said before when you view the disc in explorer there should be a folder called BOOT and a text file. Once you have acheived that it should work unless there is another problem, you must go into bios and set the boot order for CD/DVD to 1st position.

http://filehippo.com/download_imgburn/

Lets see if this works

 

Still no luck

Here is the log from the image burn program. I used my last cd on this and will be out of town until next week. Can I recontact you when I return with a new supply of erasable cd's.

Log:
I 14:25:49 Image File File System(s): ISO9660 (Bootable)
I 14:25:49 Read Speed (Data/Audio): MAX / MAX
I 14:25:49 Verifying Session 1 of 1... (1 Track, LBA: 0 - 897)
I 14:25:49 Verifying Track 1 of 1... (MODE1/2048, LBA: 0 - 897)
W 14:25:56 Failed to Read Sector 5 - Reason: L-EC Uncorrectable Error
E 14:26:08 Failed to Read Sector 5 - Reason: L-EC Uncorrectable Error
E 14:26:08 Failed to Verify Sectors!
I 14:26:08 Exporting Graph Data...
I 14:26:08 Graph Data File: C:\Documents and Settings\frank pellegrino\Application Data\ImgBurn\Graph Data Files\SONY_CD-RW_CRX217E_1DS1_WEDNESDAY-NOVEMBER-10-2010_2-25_PM_97m15s17f.ibg
I 14:26:08 Export Successfully Completed!
E 14:26:08 Operation Failed! - Duration: 00:00:19
I 14:26:08 Average Verify Rate: 0 KB/s (0.0x) - Maximum Verify Rate: 0 KB/s (0.0x)

 

As far as I can make out this is the CD drive failing to read what it has burned. This can be due to poor quality discs, the firmware of the burner requiring an update or the burner itself is faulty. That error that showed up earlier in the log that identified a fault on the hard drive does add evidence to you having a faulty drive.

First check if there is new firmware available from the manufacturers site, use a better quality disc, run a lens cleaner through the burner and burn the disc at the lowest speed possible.

Reply to the thread when you return.

 

Back again

I finally managed to download memtest but when I ran it the program stopped loading and the screen showed "on Unexpected Interrupt - Halting ".
I had put back the old hard disk.
Should I run the test with the new hard disk?

 

Follow up

I tried to run the memtest with the new hard disk and got the same result.
The memtest disk worked fine in a Sony vaio running winnows 7.
Obviously there is some other problem with this.

 

I would keep your new hard drive in place, but should point out that the memtest will run even without a hard drive so it will make no difference which drive you have installed.

If the disc you have burned has succesfully booted another PC and allowed the tests to run then I would say you need to replace the CD/DVD drive.

 

Cd/DVD

Since I rarely use the cd drive, could I get an external drive and use that instead of replacing the internal one?

 

That should be OK but an internal one will most likely be cheaper.

 

Optical drive

I removed the internal drive.
Are they all pretty much interchangeable or do I need to be specific about what I get?

 

Just get one with the same connectors on the back or you will have to mess around with adapters. The fixings will be the same. Just make sure you are buying a unit for both CD and DVD and that it is a burner.
Before you refit it make sure the jumper is in the same place as the old one was. Its a small plug on the back of the unit about 6mm wide.

 

New drive

I just installed the new optical drive and got the same interrupt during loading of the memtest.

What now?

 

Have you got the Operating system reinstalled on the new hard drive ? If not try to install it and report back.