Two problems with Windows XP

[Janosch]

Hello guys, my Windows XP SP2 is terribly messed up and right now I don't know what to do...

My 2 Problems:

1) The small one
I can't hibernate, couldn't do it before the other problem occured. Tried to resolve it by the steps explained in the other thread. I found the hiberfil.sys file after a normal startup - I had to go to save mode to change it and then It wasn't there anymore. My computer is a Laptop so I played a bit with the energy options. If I force the computer to hibernate, via timer or by setting this funkion to the Powerbutton a bluish screen with preparing to hibernate flashes up and then is replaced by a black screen and nothing happens. I waited a couple of minutes before I restarted the system.
Deactivating and then Reactivating the hibernating option doesn't do anything

2) The BIG One
I can't access my CD/DVD Drive neither over the explorer - there is no icon for it - nor through the command line (I mean this thing in the Startmenu). The hardware manager tells me that everything is fine. I tried to run the Windows CD upon startup (My BIOS checks bootable removeable devices first so don't worry about that one) to test if that works. First it completely ignored the CD. My computer just started Windows XP without asking. Well since this morning it show up a black screen with a blinking line linke in MS-DOS although I cannot enter anything (I can move the blinking line down by pressing enter)
Ctrl+Alt+DEl doesn't work so I have to restart over the Power button after removing the CD.

It recognises USB drives/Memory Cards and installs the drivers perfectly - but they are also not accessable.

Tried to deactivate and than reactivate the Drive - nothing
Tried to update the driver (only did this to my USB Memory Stick) - nope
Tried to resolve the issue by using this script here:
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/scripts_desc/xp_cd_dvd_fix.htm - No effects...
Checked vor Viruses with AVG Antivirus - none
Checked vor Ad-Ware with Ad-Aware and Spybot - Just a few trackingcookies

Everything else works fine - even my Internet connection, which is usually the first thing that messes up

Hope that you can help me. I am already prepared to reinstall Windows if I get the BIOS to recognise my CD, although it would be nice if you tell me which files i need to back up/put on an other partition of my drive.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Bryce W]

Hibernation issues are often model specific problems. Could we get the model number of the laptop? (eg. Dell A1234).

The fact that you cant boot the Windows CD makes me think that this is going to be a physical or bios level problem.

Two things to try before you start pulling things apart is to use a tool like AIDA to determine if the CDROM drives are being detected from within Windows. Even though My Computer wont detect them its quite possible this will.

When you do use it. Goto Storage > Optical Drives and wait a second while your computer detects them. Does anything come up there?

Also, when you reboot the computer when the POST screen comes up telling you what your hardware is, do the CDRoms show up?

You should see something like:

Primary Master: Seagate SD1234 200GB
Primary Slave: None
Secondary Master: Pioneer A107 DVDRW
Secondard Slave: LG C123 DVD

Press Pause on your keyboard if you want to pause this bit to look at it. If you cant see the black and white screen when you start the computer (because of have a Dell logo or something), enter your BIOs and switch off the "Quiet boot" option.

If they are being detected there it is a Windows problem. If they arent detected there then it is a physical problem such as a damaged/loose IDE cable or inproper configuration. Did you add/change anything internally?

 

[Janosch]

OK there was a Problem with the Connection - I promise I didn't open it up but there were a couple of screws loose/missing and so the main plug (guess IDE+Powersupply) got loose.
I sent it back for repair a couple of months ago because I had some problems with the startup (it was still on guarantee) - and they changed everything (Motherboard, Graphic card, powersupply, DVD drive) - so I guess they were a bit lasy at the end...

Those Problems started after I did an "Windows File Update" - I mean not the full reinstall but the other option where only the system files are replaced. I had to do this after some programs didn't uninstall properly and messed my system up. Anyway this process was a bit strange because it took too long. I had my PC on over night - still installing. Restarted a couple of times and well then it went a bit faster. Guess that was because of this stupid loose Drive.

Well this works for now... Thanks a lot for getting me rid of this Problem and now I know how a Laptop looks inside - quite diffrent compared to a PC...

Still got the Problem with my USB-Flashdrives/Memory cards. aida32 (I already love this program) shows them. Thought that that those Probs were connected somehow.

For the hibernation Problem, my Laptop is an Fujitsu Siemens Amilo M1437 (1GB DDR RAM ) and it had worked before...

Hope someone can help me...

 

[Kiwwa]

For the hibernation Problem, my Laptop is an Fujitsu Siemens Amilo M1437 (1GB DDR RAM ) and it had worked before...

Hope someone can help me...

Hibernation on laptop's can be a hassle, if you are able to find a tool for your laptop that will automatically update your drivers and firmware, go for that (Lenovo offers a particularly good automatic updater, hopefully Fujitsu followed in their footsteps), perhaps starting here would be a good idea.

Hopefully you get your hibernation back and my link helps.

 

[Janosch]

Yes Fujitsu followed their steps but it didn't help me much. All drivers were up to date (except for some W-Lan and Modem drivers) because I think they were included in my OEM Version of WinXP. The installation of the new drivers didn't change anything. Thanks anyhow...

Tried to access my USB Drives though a Linux Live Distro (Puppy Linux http://www.puppyos.com/ and it worked, so it has to be a Problem within the Windows system. Already did some file recovery that way.

Still requesting more help

 

[Bryce W]

Since you have been unsuccessful with this and tried most of what we would recommend, and also this line:

Those Problems started after I did an "Windows File Update" - I mean not the full reinstall but the other option where only the system files are replaced. I had to do this after some programs didn't uninstall properly and messed my system up.

I would be looking at a format and reinstall. It sounds out all sorts of weird stuff are messed up and I think long term it might be a good idea to format and reinstall otherwise you may keep getting this sort of thing.