Computer problem. Some computer wiz here?

[Beautiful End]

I dunno. I figured that if there's someone who knows about computers, they must be here. *Shrugs*

So I recently got my netbook back from the repair man. It had broken down a couple of months ago, maker knows why. That was in March. They fixed it real good and all and even installed Windows 7 Ultimate for free (Legally, calm down). All was working fine until last weekend when the computer was installing an update. I allowed it to install the update before going to bed. The next day, I turned my computer on and it would go past the F2 and F12 menu and then a blank screen. Then I would get an error: 0xc000009e.

Spoiler: The ERROR! (Sorry for the crappy quality)

I don't know exactly how to fix this or what caused it. I didn't have an USB drives plugged in and it just happened from one day to another. if it was my fault, then I have no idea how I caused it. And I certainly don't know how to fix it. I tried re-installing Windows 7 since I still got the disc but then it tells me there are no drives on the computer?

Someone knows how to fix this? or of a place that fixes this?

(Also, my brother tried to fix it (Both of us noobs) and it now results in a message popping up "Booting device not found" or something like that, meaning if I unplug the CD drive I was using to install Windows 7, I can't do anything at all)

 

[Dags90]

Well, if it's too early in the startup to be software related, I'd advise turning the computer around and checking if all cables are connected. If they are and the problem persists, open up the casing and check to see if the cables inside are connected. Especially harddisks and cd/dvd drives seem to be relevant here.

Telling someone who brings their computer to get repaired to open the case is a recipe for trouble. It's rather clearly a hardware problem if Windows is to be believed. Find someone reasonably techie IRL who can come by and check out your plugs and ports. Oh, and I guess they can take a peek at your computer, too. ;D

 

[SomeLameStuff]

Quite possibly a few cables inside got loose somehow and so it throws up that error. Just resecure everything and it SHOULD be fine.

 

[Beautiful End]

I opened it up just now just for kicks to see if I could identify the problem. I mean, someone has already opened it up before me; the people who fixed it before. It was like a 5 year old opening the hood of a car when it breaks down: You just stare at it hoping the problem pops up.

Anyway, I looked at all the visible wires. I removed the HD and looked at it. Everything looked fine. I just turned it on again and its as if I hadn't done anything.

In theory, I DID do nothing. :l

 

[Watcheroftrends]

If there isn't any way to force it to boot in safe mode, enter bios, etc. by pressing a key during startup, then there isn't much you can do. If you can manage to get it to go to a menu, or the the safe mode desktop, where you can actually do something, look for a way to restore the computer to an earlier date before you updated. Don't change any settings if you do get into the bios - only look for a built in restore or troubleshoot function. The update could have inadvertently made it impossible for the computer to communicate with a piece of hardware.

As a last ditch effort, you can try to borrow hardware from someone else's computer and replace just the hard drive or CD drive, one at a time, and see if it works. If it works after replacing a part, you'll know that likely the part you swapped out has gone bad and that you'll need a replacement. You can also try putting one piece of your hardware onto another computer and seeing if the error appears on that machine. That will also tell you if it is that piece that has gone bad. Being a netbook though, this may be difficult to perform, so you may want help, or to just avoid this all together.

Maybe just sending it to the maker would be a better bet. If you're no longer under warranty, ask how much it would be to have the problem diagnosed. Then see how much it'll cost for the following repairs. I don't know how old your netbook is, but you may be better off getting a new one if it has really gone to hell.

Something totally random you can hope for is that there is a local business that has an IT department. You contact them, and see if someone who is part of that would be interested in helping you on their own time. It's been my experience that people who work with computers are naturally curious when it comes to helping others solve problems like the one you're having.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Looks like it's an error with the boot device -- which in this case would be your hard drive. You don't happen to have a set of recovery discs, do you? Because my first guess is that something went wrong with the update that borked your installation of Windows. My second guess is that your hard drive itself is the problem.

Also, probably not an issue, but make sure you don't have any removable media (CD, DVD, thumb drive, SD card...) inserted in the computer. It might be trying and failing to boot from it.

The other possibility is that the cable going to the hard drive is loose, but since you said it seemed okay when you opened it up and looked at it, I'm guessing that's not the problem.

 

[Sacman]

Best case scenario is a cable or two is out of place or it's trying to boot from the wrong drive... in which case you should just make sure everything's plugged in and make sure the drive with windows on it is the master drive...

Worst case scenario is corrupted drive, file or simply that your update didn't install properly... in which case you're basically fucked...<.<

Honestly, if you have nothing important on there it'd be best to just abandon it and reinstall windows vanilla... preferably with a new hard drive...

 

[SnowyGamester]

Sounds like either a corrupted windows installation or a faulty hard disk. I suggest going into the bios settings when you boot (it should prompt with a message saying "press x to enter bios" or similar when starting up, if it doesn't you may need to google how to get to it with your particular make/model) and checking whether your hard drive is being detected (it may actually list it when booting without having to go into the bios settings, but if it doesn't that's where you'll find the answer).

If it is you could try a reinstall again (you didn't mention how that went, only the aftermath - if you manage to boot the installation disk it's pretty straightforward) or downloading SeaTools for DOS (http://www.seagate.com/support/internal-hard-drives/consumer-electronics/ld25-series/seatools-dos-master/), burning it to a disk, booting it and scanning the hard drive for problems. If it isn't showing up, then it's either dead or not connected properly (or it's a mainboard problem).

Or it could be something completely different, but those would be the first things I'd do.

 

[bobajob]

You already checked the cables, so that's not it.
Check the BIOS options to make sure USB isn't prioritised in the boot order. The update might have messed with the boot order, it happens....
The usual cause of that error code according to the KB is misconfigured system files.
In other words, you're screwed, UNLESS you have an installation disc or bootable USB, then you can repair your files from Windows recovery console.
Else you have to re-install Windows, I'm afraid.
Always keep a copy of your OS handy for these situations!(or get your techy friend to install recovery console on your hard disk, even better)


Unrelated, maybe Windows 7 Ultimate would be a little heavy on features for a netbook? Maybe win 7 home basic or Starter edition for compatibility's sake?

 

[VladG]

It's a problem with some windows boot files that was caused either by the update screwing something up (not at all unusual with windows, it's why I never have auto-updates on except for security updates) or the HDD is busted and the files on it unreadable.

It's much more likely the first option, and in that case you can either attempt a recovery with an original windows disk, or do a fresh windows install.

Neither is particularly difficult since you mostly just press "yes" several times and the installer does it's thing, but you might need to select a partition to install to, or some other stuff might pop up.

However if BIOS does not detect your HDD (someone already posted how to check for that) it's very likely that your HDD is busted. Try reconnecting it (any maybe wiping down the contacts with a DRY soft cloth - but that's a longshot) but if that doesn't work I'd take it back to repair shop, or buy a new HDD.

 

[VladG]

You already checked the cables, so that's not it.

If you don't know what to look for, that's by no means assurance. A partially connected cable to a harddisk could potentially cause this kind of weird behaviour because the data flow of power is not constant, and you wouldn't spot it at all.

And the system telling him there are no cd/dvd drives present points towards a cable problem with those.

It's a netbook. Very few cables to speak of, and the CD/DVD is external, he gets the error when he unplugs it. " if I unplug the CD drive". The HDD doesn't even have a cable, it should just click in a slot.

 

[Hoplon]

Yeah, It sounds like a HDD problem.

Testing it is tricky, can try a repair but if the HDD is writing bad sectors there is very little chance of it working.

 

[CAPTCHA]

Not much more to add to what has already been said, but the error is signifing a connection error.

Some things to try:

If you can get into the BIOS screen, try re-arranging the boot order of devices.
If nothing is working for you, try booting with a USB device that has DOS on it.
Run some sort of PCI device detection.
Sytematically diasble devices and reboot the system until you have issolated the problem.