m1gunner
US Veteran
Just had this happen to a notebook I just bought. The boot sector got screwed up. Can't get the backup of XP, or even reformat or fdisk the drive, it is toast.
Just to make sure it was in fact the drive, booted to KNOPPIX (linux run entirely from CD), and everything works fine on the puter.
Am in the process of going back to linux and abandoning the commercial OSes. Runs faster,not bloatware, NO virus threat (yes, the script kiddies have found Apple), and infinitely adaptable to any hardware.
Oh,and the operating system is free, and updated regularly.
I plan to get a SSD to replace the new HD I just installed, supposedly the slickest storage available now.
I am posting from my "dead" notebook, after a 15 minute install to the new drive of Knoppix (including partitioning and formatting the drive). Will migrate to Ubuntu as soon as I get a few minutes.
Seriously, get a copy of "live" linux (any distro you like) and play around with it on your old computer, once you get comfortable with it, you will put it on your main machine.
Just to make sure it was in fact the drive, booted to KNOPPIX (linux run entirely from CD), and everything works fine on the puter.
Am in the process of going back to linux and abandoning the commercial OSes. Runs faster,not bloatware, NO virus threat (yes, the script kiddies have found Apple), and infinitely adaptable to any hardware.
Oh,and the operating system is free, and updated regularly.
I plan to get a SSD to replace the new HD I just installed, supposedly the slickest storage available now.
I am posting from my "dead" notebook, after a 15 minute install to the new drive of Knoppix (including partitioning and formatting the drive). Will migrate to Ubuntu as soon as I get a few minutes.
Seriously, get a copy of "live" linux (any distro you like) and play around with it on your old computer, once you get comfortable with it, you will put it on your main machine.