Having an issue with my daughter's Toshiba laptop

[lazarus]

Okay, I'm doing something illegal. When she got the unit, it had Vista loaded on it. She was supposed to get a free upgrade to Win7, but missed the deadline. So I got a cracked copy that I know works.

When I try to load it (and this is now the third disc I've tried this with) I get the following error message:

Windows Boot Manager (at the top of the window)

Windows has encountered a problem communicating with a device connected to your computer.

This error can be caused by unplugging a removable storage device such as an external USB drive while the device is in use, or by faulty hardware such as a hard drive or CD ROM drive that is failing. Make sure any removable storage is properly connected and then restart your computer.

If you continue to receive this error message, contact the hardware manufacturer.

Status: 0xc00000e9

Info: An unexpected I/O error has occurred.

I've tried this with the DVD ROM drive built in, and also with a USB drive. Same error with both.

Oh, and she got a new hard drive a couple of months ago. That's actually where this all started. She had Win7 loaded on her laptop, then the hard drive crashed. The store was a bit leery of using the cracked disc, and I think they just didn't apply it right, so now her Windows is just completely shut down.

I've moved the USB drive up to first in the boot order, but it didn't work. Any help would be appreciated.

(No, she doesn't like Linux, she tried that for a few months. :D )

[steve2470]

1. try the serious suggestions in this thread:

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/itprovistasetup/thread/1e026c5c-c825-434b-8d0c-79dd8cfe29e4

The one about reformatting is the last ditch solution.

[lazarus]

2. only one of those looked workable

"//
// MessageId: STATUS_UNEXPECTED_IO_ERROR
//
// MessageText:
//
// If an I/O error is returned which is not defined in the standard FsRtl filter, it is converted to the following error which is guaranteed to be in the filter. In this case information is lost, however, the filter correctly handles the exception.
//
#define STATUS_UNEXPECTED_IO_ERROR ((NTSTATUS)0xC00000E9 L)


use the recovery option and run chkdsk C: /r /f to fix NTFS issues."

I'm trying a recovery now. Don't know why I didn't do it earlier.

[lazarus]

3. holy crap, it just got weird

I went into set up utility to see what might be going on.

It lists no hard drive. WTF? Do I take this thing back to the shop or what? It was working fine for quite a while.

[steve2470]

4. I think I'm out of my league now but...

1- Is the disc you are using a full setup disc and not just an upgrade to Win7 disc ?
and
2- When you say setup utility, you mean the one in the BIOS ?

[lazarus]

5. yes to both

I hit F2 to get to set up utility when it first started booting.

The lack of a hard drive explains the inability to restore, doesn't it?

Sigh.

[steve2470]

6. ok, I'm feeling a bit dense here..

1- Is there a working hard drive in the laptop ?

2- If so, is an operating system already installed on it ?

3- In the BIOS, make sure the main hard drive (not the usb drive) is the topmost (first) drive to be booted to.

[lazarus]

7. I need to go to bed, but I'll answer these

1. Yes, there is a (presumably) working hard drive. It's brand new, and has worked fine for the past two months.

2. Win7 is loaded on it. However, the crack wasn't properly applied last time, and it's locked itself down.

3. I had it that way, then switched to the USB drive on top to try that out. I'll swap them back in the morning and see if the hard drive is still missing.

[lazarus]

8. okay, the hard drive magically reappeared

I got a little further this time, it's now going through Startup Repair. We'll see what that produces.

[lazarus]

9. the latest

the computer went into Startup Repair. It ran for a seriously long time, then said that it could not do the repair automatically. I asked for details, and got the following:

Problem Event Name: Startup Repair Offline
Problem Signature 01: 6.1.7600.16385
Problem Signature 02: 6.1.7600.16385
Problem Signature 03: unknown
Problem Signature 04: 75
Problem Signature 05: AutoFailover
Problem Signature 06: 1
Problem Signature 07: CorruptFile

OS version: 6.1.7600.2.0.0.256.1
Locale ID: 1033

I'm thinking about taking this back to the shop, telling them to fix it, load a Linux distro on it, and just put Win7 on it myself.

Oy.

[struggle4progress]

10. Why would you pay somebody to put Linux on the machine?

It's usually easy enough to do yourself

One person I know had trouble with a Toshiba laptop, but a lot of the Toshibas are officially supported:

http://www.ubuntu.com/certification/make/Toshiba/laptops

[lazarus]

11. not to put linux

but the fix the problem I'm having putting anything on the machine. they're understandably leery of using an unofficial OS disc. I wasn't very clear about that, sorry.