Got home last night and my 5-month old HP laptop crapped out. Called HP tech support and they told me to ship it to them for repair, but I will lost ALL my data

OK, do any of you guru has any suggestion. I am not 100% sure it is my hard drive. When I powered the unit up, it came on but stucked on the HP main screen and wouldn't go further. I could not use the F10 but ESC key took me to another screen. It said RAM and SDRAM all checked out, mouse initialized and then hung. I think my OS is corrupted, and tried to boot with the OS disc. But still nothing happened, same screen like before. I don't have my data backed up so I am so screwed. I have a collection of music for my iPod I hate to lost, not to mention all my emails. What can I do? Any suggestions? How expensive is it to use a data recovery service?

 

can you get in the bios? if you cant get in the bios its a hardware issue. if you can get in the bios then its likely a software issue. if youre willing to pay money you can get the data retrieved even if your harddrive is broken, or even if its burned

 

If it is trying to load drivers and it hang, sounds like that because the last thing you see it doing is mouse initialized and then hung, try booting XP in 'Safe Mode'. Linky

 

If you can boot to a CD (win xp install disc preffered) then the problem *might* be with your hard drive. If you can't boot to anything, then it's a hardware issue.

One way to save your data (as well as check the hard drive) is to find someone with a 2.5" external hard drive enclosure, pop your hard drive into it, plug it into a desktop and check the contents of the drive. If it works, it's not your HD and you should backup your info. If you want to buy one, I think newegg has one for less than $50

 

ive had over a dozen computers, never had an actual harddrive issue before, they are built to last. i think chances are, your hdd is fine,

 

HP laptop sux............. Dell or Toshiba is the way....... look like you have viruses in your laptop...... "mouse initialized and then hung"

 

I tried using the XP boot disc, it won't boot at all. The screen is black so I think the Power On Self-test failed.

 

Is the laptop posting? Are you getting anything on the screen?

 

definately a hardware problem. backup your hard drive and ship it out.

 

lol..typical issue with laptops...before you send it out let me transfer your data...i got covertor cable for laptop hdd drives so i can transfer your data off to a main pc and store it...i use to deal with this for 5yrs when i was doing the IT stuff...you wouldnt believe the stories i have. Just PM if your interested. Ill do it for free no charge for you. Its most likely your laptop and not your HDD thats acting up.

 

The only thing I get is the HP logo screen, you can see the HHD lights going for a while, then stops. The system won't go beyond the HP splash screen.

I called Circuit City where I bought the laptop, and they told me they can do data retrieval for $59.99. I think with 3,500 songs I purchased from various on-line stores, $59.99 is the cheaper route to go.

 

PM sent. Thanks.

 

a question based off of this. I have a HD from a pc that will spin, but I cant get info off of it. What affordable places are there to have data retrieval performed?

 

no prob

 

Shut everything down and unplug everything, including any additional PCMCIA cards, network etc.
Now take out the battery and just have it plugged straight w/o batt and turn it back on. Let me know if that works.