RIP JP's Compaq September 2006-August 14, 2008
So I come home after a ten hour day and find that my recently slow laptop has been slowed down to a standstill. I can't even open a browser window, a word file or anything. I reboot and the piece of shit doesn't reboot at all but gives me a cycled message in DOS telling me that my configsys file is either missing or corrupted. Hit "R" when you get the next screen. Trouble is, the next screen never comes and I have no recollection of a boot disc when I bought said piece of shit two years ago.
So until the boot disc materializes out of thin air or if God improbably intercedes on my behalf, posting will be sporadic to nonexistent because wifey's computer (on which I'm writing this) is her's.
And just when I started making headway on American Zen's rewrite. This cannot be fucking happening.
posted by jurassicpork @ Thursday, August 14, 2008
14 comments
14 Comments:
Damn. I hate it when that happens...
My condolences, JP.
Get an external enclosure for laptop drives, yank the drive out of your non-functioning Compaq and put it in there. Attach to other computer and you should be able to get access to your files.
Next, buy a Mac. One of the neat tricks they can do is called 'target disk mode' where the motherboard's firmware makes the computer act like an external drive. This is independent of any problems with the OS, so one can attach the dying computer to another directly (through the firewire ports) and retrieve files or even re-install the OS, or pretty much anything...
My condolences as well, JP. I lost my MacBook Pro a couple of weeks ago. It was only 18 months old. The guys at Apple are still scratching their balls over that one.
Still, I agree with Comrade Rutherford. Get a Mac.
JP, I got the same message this week, my 3rd crash of a 2-yr-old HP lemon.
Each crash and recovery has been different, but I did the usual pounding away at F10 until a different screen came up, went thru the PC Doctor exercises (all failed except CPU/memory), then exited that to recovery. Almost immediately files started transferring, which I thought was futile, but behold! when it finally finished about 20 min. later, and I rebooted, I had my original windows back plus software I had loaded since. I have no idea why, but it worked! Don't give up, and good luck!
Try an Acer Aspire, boy scout. Compaqs are the douchebags of laptops.
Stevie:
Thanks for the offer but almost everything I've ever sent you has been outdated through revision.
Everyone tells me to get a Mac but aren't there some serious drawbacks to a Mac? Like navigation?
Diva, I don't think this is a Compaq problem as much as a virus issue. It shut off my AVG and then went after my configsys file.
Interesting...I just started using AVG, too, and this is the first time I've gotten this message about having to hit 'r' to repair the configsys file.
That's my post earlier, I can't seem to post except as anon, but seriously, I did get mine restored w/out much of the hassle a crash usually requires. But I, too, wondered if maybe it wasn't somehow virus-related.
"aren't there some serious drawbacks to a Mac? Like navigation?"
What do you mean by 'navigation'? I've never heard of any 'serious drawbacks' to the Mac OS...
But then, I've been using Macs since 1984 and I've not had problems with them. They just work.
I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Bummer.
The Klez virus was known for shutting down AV programs, but that was a few years ago.
Are you running XP? If so, I'm just throwing out a suggestion here, but try this page:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q307545
That sucks. When I saw the graphic, I thought that you relived my experience from a year ago - my previous laptop burst into flames. Literally.
Yikes.
Sorry.
This is a good place as any, to tell you I'm glad I finally refound you. Just wanted to let you know I'm nominating your blog for the kick ass blog awards.
Condolences about the laptop but being an old Deccie there is no love lost for Compaq here.
If you post one of those Amazon widgets, we could send you contributions for your laptop, jp. ;)
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