I have a laptop that I'm having issues with about being unable to reinstall/load windows onto. I was wondering if I hooked up an external USB hard drive to it if I needed to take any extra steps to make it recognized.

Also, what do you recommend I do to find out what is wrong with the computer when receiving the PXE boot error.

Thanks in advance,

A laptop without a manufacturer name/model?

Do yourself a favor BACKUP!

HP Pavilion ze5185

Pxe boot error means it is trying to boot from the ethernet connection. Some computers default to the boot from ethernet when no other bootable media is found. Have you checked the boot order in the bios? Does the bios recognize the hard drive? What exactly is the boot order? It would probably be best to have it as CD first then the hard drive then other stuff. If there is no operating system and/or you cannot boot from other media than there is little chance you can use the external drive. If the internal hard drive has failed then you can probably replace it. New laptop hard drives start at about $50. Depending upon your laptop model it could be simple, or it could be complicated (I have seen some that you need to remove the keyboard to replace the drive) to replace the drive.

That's my issue. I am fixing it for my girlfriend's godfather and I want to know for CERTAIN it's the hard drive. I connected the external HD and it's recognized by the bios but it seems like it takes FOREVER to get into the bios when the system is on for a little while and it gets warmer. I tried to set the CD-ROM boot order first with Windows XP inside and the external HD second, but I just get the NTDLR is missing problem.

I want to know FOR certain what I have to replace before I spend the money doing it. Would you say I can pin it down?

If the HDD installed in the laptop is going bad, it can cause the problems you mention. Try disconnecting it and see what happens.

A little more information.

1. The bios hangs for the longest time, I have tried all worlds of configurations of boot device options. It all ends up saying NTLDR is missing.

2. The laptop hard drive itself is not recognized in the BIOS, but the USB External one is. I set the CD-ROM as the first boot device, floppy as second, and external HD as third, but it still just hangs and gives me the NTLDR is missing option.

3. When it starts, the screen that hangs says:

Press ESC to change boot order
Press F2 to enter Setup, F10 to start Diag Tools, F12 to boot from LAN

I really don't have any other information. I just know something is probably bad, hardware wise, but I don't know WHAT.

I need help.

The hard drive in the laptop, at startup, sounds like it makes one full turn and then a pronounced "CLAUNK"-like sound.

That's what raised my suspicion as it being bad.

Disconnect it!

Disconnected it, now what?

I did notice however that the bios processes go A LOT faster than before. No lag time on anything.

I am still getting the NTLDR is missing issue even without the HDD inside of the computer. No CD software will boot at all, and the floppy drive is smashed up a bit so I can't fit any floppies in there.

If I got another laptop hard drive, would that remedy the problem?

Could it be that the HDD and the CD-ROM are both bad?

Nothing I put in the CD-ROM will boot up.

If you have a recovery disc for the system, I think a new HDD will solve your problems.

Have you tried the below steps?

http://www.xmission.com/~comphope/i...

If I do not have a recovery disc, is there some place I would be able to download/burn them?

Also, I am concerned about getting a new hard drive to replace the bad one because I can't even get Windows XP to boot up on the CD-ROM drive. I'm not sure it is even functioning. Is there any way to test the CD-ROM for functionality as well?

Also, if I do need to replace the CD-ROM as well, could anyone point me into the direction to get a compatible replacement?

I am not completely certain that it is bad, but I don't know either way. I KNOW for a fact now that the HDD is bad, but I just want to make sure it's not the CD-ROM as well.

You could use Knoppix to see if your CDROM
works.

If the dc drive is fubar also then you can boot from a usb cd or dvd drive and install from there once you have a new hard drive.

It does seem that the hard drive is shagged, lag getting into bios, not recognised in bios, clunks on startup.

You should not really need the restore cd as long as you have a proper operating system cd you should be able to use the licence key on the underneath of the laptop providing you install like for like ie: if its xp home on the laptop then use the xp home cd. If you don`t have a genuine copy/key then I found here in the uk that if you install xp with a dodgy key, let wga fail the authentication test then microsoft offer you the relevant cd and key a lot cheaper than if you go to pc world or stapoles to buy it (£90 in a friends case for xp pro sp2).

andy drivers etc that are required can be easily foung on the hp site using model and serial number as i recall from the last time I did it

Woof

Always proof-read carefully to see if you any words out.