I think my Laptop died.

[SG-17]

My laptop shut down randomly an hour ago. I let it cool down and when I turn it back on I get this message:
PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable
PXE-M0F: Exiting PXE ROM.
Operating System not found.

It looks like a DOS screen and it just sits there. I tried restarting it three times.
I have not tried Safe Mode yet.
Is my computer fried?

Edit: When I check the BIOS menu the boot priority had something called USB FDE set as the first with my HDD as third. I set my HDD as first and now Vista is doing Startup Repair.

Edit: It froze during repairs and shut down and now it is doing the same thing as before.

 

[Cutlass]

Sounds most likely that your hard drive has the problem. check the BIOS setup and see that it's configured right, and try to start in safe mode. If that doesn't work you could try to reinstall windows, but I think it's an HDD problem. Though the possibility exists that it's a memory or main board issue. If you have a spare HDD you could swap them and try it that way to check.

 

[SG-17]

I've tried everything including attempting to reinstall the OS, but the hard drive cannot be read.
I am thinking about sending it in to SalvageData Recovery, but does anyone know what their average prices are?

 

[Cutlass]

Try a new hard drive. As for the data on the old one, it's probably going to cost you more that it's worth. Hope you have backups.

 

[IamJohn]

If you have a linux live cd such as ubuntu or what ever you can boot up off of that and see if you can retrieve your data that way. It's quite likely it won't work, but it's certainly worth a shot.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Maybe this will work if the data's important enough. Don't count on it, though.

 

[Genocidicbunny]

Freezing the hard drive can work. Ive done it before and an overnight freeze gave me 15 minutes of life on it -- long enough to save the most important stuff like docs.

Also, data recovery is generally not worth it unless you have critical data that you rely on greatly -- important documents, etc. Generally, for a home user, unless its something like pictures and you're really sentimental, its not going to be worth it. It can easily run into the thousands of dollars.

 

[SG-17]

I will try freezing it. Also does anyone know a trusted site where I can get 2.5 inch IDE Laptop hard drives?

Edit: EIDE has the exactly the same interface as IDE correct? The only difference is performance?

Edit: Edit: Has anyone used this site? http://www.geeks.com/products_sc.asp?cat=414

 

[Genocidicbunny]

Ive used it, but newegg would probly be better.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010150380 1035907889&name=ATA-6
And yes, EIDE is the same interface as IDE. In fact, EIDE is just Enchanced IDE.

 

[SG-17]

I didn't notice that ATA = IDE. Thanks.

My original hard drive was a Seagate Momentus (80 gb) and I was looking at these two:
Samsung Spinpoint (160 gb)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152110

Seagate Momentus (160 gb)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148073

I heard that Seagate is not that durable and I don't want my hard drive to fail within 20 months again so I was thinking about the Samsung, however the Seagate comes with a 3 year warranty.

 

[Genocidicbunny]

Seagate's are quite fine. I bought a 80GB one for my old laptop 4 years ago now, and it still runs great. Either way, keep a backup of your data, and if it fails, Seagate will replace it. Make sure you keep the packaging though, otherwise you will need to buy Seagate's Advanced RMA which is 20$.