On thursday my 2 year old son got frustrated while watching Dora The Explorer on my Laptop (yeah, the tantrum throwing years), and threw my laptop on the ground. Needless to say, I got error while trying to boot it up afterwards. I suspected that my harddrive may be damaged...or sectors corrupted however I tried to reinstall the software with the recovery discs I had burnt when I just got the system (Packard Bell). The computer comes with a ghost drive with the OS written on it for recovery so I was prudent enough to burn the OS to disk...OS is Windows Vista Home Basic. When I tried to recover the disk the recovery halted midway...I decided to install Windows 7 Ultimate on it instead...so I formatted the C drive and installed Windows 7. It is installed fine and I can use the internet and install some softwares, including upgrading drivers for said brand. The problem is, I cannot install Microsoft Office Suite nor Nero (latest version). Everytime I try to install it I get error or the computer freezes. Same thing with Nero. Can someone explain to me why this is happening? I really need to install Office as I have some very important research to complete. Second, will replacing the hard drive solve this problem? What is the best action to take?
wow, thanks for the quick reply. Any suggestions which diagnostic software I could use to do this please? Thanks in advance
There are hundreds out there sorry up to you but personally i would check Packard Bell website see if there is anything there for you model. i now with dell machines software is available and even diagnostic partiton. well till i got rid of mines dont need it now out of warranty There are diagnostic cd's on there website just search for your model
As far as i understand if there has been a hardware damage done, you won't be able to fix it with any kind of software and diagnostic tools won't help. If the problem goes only with HDD - yes, replacing it wiil solve the problem but i'd rather consult a technician, since it's a laptopm which makes it more difficult to test partially compared to a regular PC
I hear what you are saying. I have given it thought actually. But you may be surprised to know that the computer technicians may just be doing the same thing as running diagnostic tools. There is nothing wrong with what was said earlier. Actually I did take his advice and downloaded the diagnostic tool from the computer manufacturer's website. It did indicate that I have multiple sectors bad on the drive...which would explain why I could not install certain softwares on the hard drive. I am going to change the hard drive, as I know that is exactly what the technician would do in any case. If there is still a pervasive problem after that, then I know it is something even more serious. Anyway, thank you both for ur help n advice.
Place a plexyglass between your laptop and your son? Sorry just kiddin. I'm using HDD Regenerator to fix my disk.
I would suggest that you replace the HD, this is why, your son threw down the notebook while it was still on, and while the head was properly over the HD Plates, so the drop properly made the head slam down on the plates and may have made some contact with the plates. It will eventfully give you read/write error on the area that was effected of the contact. So change the HD to be safe.
Also be aware that it Really isn't that difficult to replace things on a laptop, although, as I'm sure you're aware, it's usually easier and cheaper to simply buy Another one - after all, that's what the manufacturer does. The hard part in replacing anything that is wrong is finding the appropriate part numbers. Each model has it's own design and uses largely custom parts that Just fit in it's designated slow. You'll have to be nice to the service technician when you contact the Manufacturer and get them to send you the Internal Service Manual. That's what I did with my HP 18" laptop years ago when the fan quit.