Laptop hurt bad.

[Flip81]

So my brother-in-law was at a torrent site, got a bad .dll file (according to him) and his computer blue screened.  I live 2 1/2 hours from him and havn't had time to look into it.  I only know that it's a Compaq PC with a small HDD, maybe 20 gigs.  Not sure of any more of the specs.

According to his tale, he can't even boot.  He can't get into safe mode, BIOS, last known good config, nothing.

Based on this minimal information, is there anything anyone could suggest to save his comp?  Sorry I'm not very knowledgable when it comes to this sort of crash.  Thanks.

[Spero-T]

Try reinstalling windows (using windows disc) you should also make sure that safe mode is not working !

[JXY]

I disagree with Spero_T.

if there's a problem and you get blue screen of death, don't immediately re-install windows. that's a LAST RESORT.

it would help if you could contact your brother in law and give us some system specs.
mainly what OS should be enough. Antivirus software would help also.

The main point is, ask you brother what message his blue screen gives him. Post it on this forum. it'll help us determine what's wrong. 

[Flip81]

will do JXY.  I should be back on this afternoon.

[Flip81]

So I talked to him just now.  According to  him it doesn't even get to a POST test.  He says the fan starts to go but the HDD itself never starts to spin.  The monitor also never powers up.  (note: the first blue screen did a physical memory dump, guess that's normal)

If it doesn't do a POST test, did the virus get in the BIOS?

Also, he can't find his Windows CD, so I think reinstalling is out of the question. 

Is there any way to hook up his HDD (western digital) to a another machine and run diagnostic software somehow?  I'm ignorant when it comes to this sort of thing, but I'm hoping there is still a way to save it.  He needs some files and has about 5 gigs of music in My Documents. 

Any suggestions would be helpful. 

P.S. Win 2000, CPU 1.2 Ghz AMD Athlon (Compaq)

[Flip81]

Also, he had Norton Anti-virus which apparently was botched from another virus.  (this kid is a real piece of work) 

[JXY]

hmm....you can take the HDD from a desktop out, but i'm not sure if it's as simple for a laptop. if you want to diagnose the HDD, you should take it to a computer repair shop. they'll handle it for you,

as for the windows disc, you should call the company of which you bought your laptop from. perhaps COMPAQ. ask them to send you a disc.

and thirdly, about the music. does your brother in law use an ipod or something?

because if he does, and all his 5.00GB worth of music is in his ipod, there's a way to extract it.

[Flip81]

that's what I figured.  I wasn't sure if there was any way to diagnose the HDD on your own.  You know like take it out and hook it up to a desktop as a slave or something. 

Not sure about the ipod thing.  He may.  It looks like taking it in is his best bet.  Thanks for your help!

[JXY]

no problem.

in case he DOES use an ipod, here's the link for the music extraction software.

http://www.yamipod.com/main/modules/downloads/

[patio]

                         

Laptop to IDE converter around 10 bucks...
This will let you hook up the drive into a desktop system and run all your scans and retrieve any important data from the drive...