Topic: Boot problem

Hi guys,

A few hours ago, I was working on my laptop on Windows when it suddenly froze, and I got a blue screen saying "start of emptying of the physic memory".

The computer then rebooted; I started Windows but it was awfully slow... I mean that after 20+ minutes, the loading logo was not even displayed.
After a few tries, Windows finally started, but before everything finished loading I got the same blue screen "start of emptying of the physic memory". I tried several more times, and either Windows didn't boot or it crashed with a blue screen before it was fully started.

I started Mandrake out of despair, but it didn't boot either ! It seems it stops loading after a few seconds/minutes, a bit like Windows.

So I finally booted from an old Ubuntu Live CD, and here I am.

What worries me is that Mandrake was affected as Windows, so the problem may be hardware.
Any ideas about what is wrong and what I should do ?

----
If wishes were fishes, we'd all cast nets.

I suspect bad Memory or the Processor.

Have you booted into the Bios and checked that out (see if you have the right amount of Mem there listed - you can also limit the amount of Mem to see if that clears the problem).

Also, during boot, it should show the Mem test, etc. How did that go?

You could try re-seating the Mem in the Laptop (loose mem can cause your problem).

Poor cooling can also cause it - make sure the ventilation of the Laptop is not plugged up - and if possible, clean the filters. Check if the Fan is turning (put your hand near the ventilation - can you feel air?). A blown fan can result in the CPU overheating.

WebShaman | The keenest sorrow (and greatest truth) is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.
- Sophocles

WS : The memory is the first thing I checked, it seems to be ok. The fan seems to be working fine too.

Any other idea of what could be wrong ?

Now :
- As soon as the windows logo appears, a blue screen pops up. I can't even read what's written, the computer reboots as soon as the blue screen appears.
- Mandrake keeps crashing before it finishes loading, but at different moments each time.

I suspect there is some kind of error on the hard drive... Or maybe with the partitioning. I'll check that tomorrow... going to bed now

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If wishes were fishes, we'd all cast nets.

How do/goes your hard drive(s) sound? I've seen this kind of behaviour exhibited by a dying drive or a faulty controller board. If you can load up the Ubuntu LiveCD, I'd say the memory is fine, since it basically loads into memory. Once you do laod into Ubuntu, can you mount the Mandrake partitions? Also, is Windows installed on FAT32 or NTFS? If it's FAT32, you should be able to mount that under Linux, and try and recover your important data if you're going to try reinstalling.


Justice 4 Pat Richard

No, no, silly. This is Windows, working as intended, to get you to buy Vista.







I'm sure of it.

-steve

I would almost bet anything that it's a bad memory chip.

Later,

C:\

I mounted my partitions and saved my data on two usb keys thanks to the Ubuntu live CD. I was also able to repair my mandrake partitions with fsck, and Mandrake booted right again. Seriously, live CDs rock If you don't have one somewhere, I'd advise you to get one

Eventually, there was nothing I could do about the windows partition, I could only read it since it's ntfs. Before reformating my hard drive and installing windows, I tried running chkdsk two times but it crashed both times at the same moment. So I finally reformatted, and reinstalled Windows... According to the tests I ran on the hard drive and the memory, everything seems to be working fine

I really wonder what caused this mess. A friend of mine says perhaps Windows wrote over a Linux partition, I dunnow if that's possible...

I'll try to run a few more diagnostic tools to be sure it's nothing hardware.

Thanks for the help anyway

----
If wishes were fishes, we'd all cast nets.

congrats Moon Shadow. I am pretty sure that Windows can't write over to a linux partition. But then again, I would have lost my bet up there ^

Glad yours went better than mine. For some reason when i installed Linux to my new drive...it wrote to the windows drive ! Lost windows Oh well. Good thing I backed everything up LOL

There's a couple of diagnostic tools that I have used. One being mem86. Checks the memory which doesn't seem to be your problem. The other...escapes me. I'll try to think of it and get back to you.

Later,

C:\