Help with Re-Format

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Guest

Ok a bit of a long one but I am desperate.

Gateway Laptop MX6290.
Mobile Intel T2050 @ 1.60mhz - 2cpu
1g mem


Been having issues , long start up, continous freezing and now turns on,
goes to loading windows black screen but stays continously loading. After
about 10 mins , it automatically restarts and does it again. Will not load
into windows.

Have gone to safe mode to try windows restore. Cannot restore to ANY restore
points. Tried Gateways Recovery software suite and it is asking for recovery
CD#1. Do not have as it did not come with it. Unable to create recovery cd as
it cannot find restore partition on hard drive. Trying to obtain from Gateway
but support is closed right now.

Have tried to reformat from Safe mode with dos using format C:. I recieve
"Format cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Format
may run if this volume is dismounted first" Selected to dismount volume and
recieve error "Cannot lock the drive. The volume is still in use"

Have tried to format with windows disk and recieve error that windows cannot
access the hard disk. I thought this might be a power setting to the hard
drive but cannot change anything in the bios as it has no power options(
Phoenix ) Changed the battery power to always on in Safe mode but still does
not work. This is the same for trying to repair.

Have gone into safe mode to try and reinstall winxp from there using the run
command and typing " c:\windows\i386\winnt32". All is well until the PC
restarts. It starts to load the setup screen then I get the blue screen of
death with the error "STOP 0x0000007b (0xf7a57524, 0xc0000034, 0x00000000,
0x00000000) It also says to try CHKDSK /f and I get error chkdsk cannot run
because the volume is in use by another process. Would you like this volume
to be checked the next time the system restarts? The file system is NTFS.
Cannot lock the current drive.

I have even gone to unplugging the hard drive and replugging it in. Still
nothing. Im even at the point where I am going to try and unplug the power
cable to the drive and re plug it back in when I get to the reformat screen?

Anybody have any other ideas other then buying a new hard drive or smashing
this PC?
 
You cannot format the system drive from within windows, that would be like
cutting a branch whilst you were sitting on it.

You can format using the installation disk, once the PC is set to boot from
cd.
If you boot from cd & win cannot 'find' the hd that may mean either, its a
sata hd and you may need to use the F6 option to install third party drivers
from floppy early in the installation process.
or that there is a lose connection, or the mobo controler is faulty, or the
hd is faulty.
Determine the make of your hd, visit their site and download / create their
floppy or cd boot disk checking utility. Or maybe the WD seatools utility
will work for you.
 
I am going to try the third party sata drivers. I do not have a floppy as it
is a laptop. Will it install from CD? USB does not work as I tried. Do you
have a link for the WD seatools? The HD is a WD HD "WD1200BVS"
 
http://support.wdc.com/download/

*If* your sys require sata drivers during a win installation via F6 they can
only be installed from floppy or by slipstreaming them into a win
installation cd

Usually your PC manu web site should give you info on reinstalling and
whether this is neccessary.
I would run the hd checking utility first
 
Sgt_Butter said:
Ok a bit of a long one but I am desperate.

Gateway Laptop MX6290.
Mobile Intel T2050 @ 1.60mhz - 2cpu
1g mem


Been having issues , long start up, continous freezing and now turns
on, goes to loading windows black screen but stays continously
loading. After about 10 mins , it automatically restarts and does it
again. Will not load into windows.

Have gone to safe mode to try windows restore. Cannot restore to ANY
restore points. Tried Gateways Recovery software suite and it is
asking for recovery CD#1. Do not have as it did not come with it.
Unable to create recovery cd as it cannot find restore partition on
hard drive. Trying to obtain from Gateway but support is closed right
now.

Have tried to reformat from Safe mode with dos using format C:. I
recieve "Format cannot run because the volume is in use by another
process. Format may run if this volume is dismounted first" Selected
to dismount volume and recieve error "Cannot lock the drive. The
volume is still in use"

Have tried to format with windows disk and recieve error that windows
cannot access the hard disk. I thought this might be a power setting
to the hard drive but cannot change anything in the bios as it has no
power options( Phoenix ) Changed the battery power to always on in
Safe mode but still does not work. This is the same for trying to
repair.

Have gone into safe mode to try and reinstall winxp from there using
the run command and typing " c:\windows\i386\winnt32". All is well
until the PC restarts. It starts to load the setup screen then I get
the blue screen of death with the error "STOP 0x0000007b (0xf7a57524,
0xc0000034, 0x00000000, 0x00000000) It also says to try CHKDSK /f and
I get error chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another
process. Would you like this volume to be checked the next time the
system restarts? The file system is NTFS. Cannot lock the current
drive.

I have even gone to unplugging the hard drive and replugging it in.
Still nothing. Im even at the point where I am going to try and
unplug the power cable to the drive and re plug it back in when I get
to the reformat screen?

Anybody have any other ideas other then buying a new hard drive or
smashing this PC?
Click to expand...

Sounds to me you need to rule out hardware issues first:

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html

You will need to create bootable CDs (to check RAM and hard drive).
Also, check all your physical connections in case something is loose.

You'll need to have access to a working PC, of course. And are you able
to boot off a CD? You can use the BIOS to configure it to boot this way:

"How to Access/Enter Motherboard BIOS"
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/bios_manufacturer.htm

What means did Gateway provide you with returning the laptop to its
original state? Perhaps via a hidden recovery partition? Of course, if
your hard drive is shot, that won't do you much good...

It looks like you mean MX6920, and not MX6290. Here's the user guide if
you need it:

http://support.gateway.com/s/Mobile/Q106/Blade/8511264.pdf
 
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