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Main Forum => Tweaking.com Support & Help => Topic started by: amf on January 29, 2017, 06:03:05 am

Title: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on January 29, 2017, 06:03:05 am
I ran repairs on my Lenovo G510. As recommended I took the battery out, disconnected the power cord and pressed the power button a few times. I noticed that the power cord wasn't plugged in as the first of the repair tasks was running, and plugged it in and left to do some shopping. While I was out we had a power failure as a result of a severe storm. When the power supply was restored the notebook wouldn't boot.  :omg:

The Windows Autorepair failed - and I can't get the notebook to reboot through any of the standard Lenovo recovery tools.

Please help!!!!


T
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on January 29, 2017, 07:41:08 am
I assume you didn't put the battery back in after the cold boot ?

Do any lights come on when using it just on battery ?
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on January 29, 2017, 08:30:25 am
I did return the battery.
The lights come on, and options to reset the notebook come on. It would be my very last resort. I have removed the hard drive to copy work I have to complete tonight (South African time).
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on January 29, 2017, 08:46:32 am
What are the options that you get ?
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 07, 2017, 11:23:11 pm
Hi

I had a huge workload so just took out the hard drive to get access to my files.

My workload has now reduced to such an extent that I can attempt to get the Lenovo up and running again.

I tried to get it to boot from a restore DVD, but guess I'm too much of a noob to to do it.

By starting the notebook with the restore button I get the following options:
Normal Startup
Bios Setup
Boot Menu
System recovery.

Your assistance and patience is appreciated!
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 08, 2017, 12:50:13 am
See what Normal Startup gets you.
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 08, 2017, 02:35:34 am
It just comes up with the Lenovo logo and then hangs
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 08, 2017, 02:53:06 am
You could try System recovery and the Startup Repair, running that up to three times if it at first fails.

If it continues to report that it is unable to fix then in System recovery select Command Prompt and enter bcdedit |find "osdevice" then enter chkdsk x: /f where x=the partition letter to see what that reports.

That is a Pipe symbol before find and is the uppercase of \

It's unusual for an outage to cause a boot problem when a battery is installed to continue the power supply.

It's possible prior to the outage their was a surge which could have damaged hardware, but see what the chkdsk x: /f reports and if there are any KBs in bad sectors.
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 08, 2017, 08:04:43 am
No Go so far
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 08, 2017, 08:31:28 am
Which version of Windows are you using ?
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 08, 2017, 08:32:19 am
10, updated a day or so before the mishap
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 08, 2017, 08:43:30 am
Do you have a Win 10 install disk ?

If not and you have access to another machine with the same architecture (32 0r 64 bit) as yours, you can download the ISO from https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10 by hitting the Download tool now button after reading how to create installation media.
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 08, 2017, 08:44:45 am
Got both the USB and DVD recovery diskd, neither seems to resolve the issue, unless the boot sequence is wrong
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 08, 2017, 08:54:29 am
This is the problem with Win 10 - unless you have your machine set to boot from DVD and USB before the upgrade, then it's usually too late to change when things go bad.

You could try tapping F12 as you switch on but it may ignore that.

Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 08, 2017, 08:55:54 am
Will try.
Any other suggestion?
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 08, 2017, 09:09:09 am
I'm not sure if this will work on yours but switching the machine on and off three times can get you into the recovery mode, but you would switch off as soon as you see the Win 10 logo and then you would see Preparing Automatic Repair and then Diagnosing your PC

Trying this on another upgrade Win 10 laptop, that took me to Your PC did not start correctly and to choose between Restart and Advanced options.

Selecting Advanced options  gave me the Troubleshoot option/Advanced options

If you can get to there and select Command Prompt, enter bootrec.exe /rebuildbcd to see what it reports.
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 08, 2017, 09:11:23 am
Ignored it like people do with stop signs around here
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 08, 2017, 09:15:25 am
Have you tried what I've suggested in my last post ?
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 08, 2017, 09:28:41 am
Changed the boot sequence to start with the USB. at least some action below the Lenovo logo
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 08, 2017, 09:41:27 am
Well that's good news.

Can you navigate to the Command Prompt to enter that bootrec.exe cmd ?
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 08, 2017, 09:43:34 am
Little wheel below Lenovo logo still running, hope and pray for a good result
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 08, 2017, 09:49:05 am
My Win 10 ISO is on a DVD and when I boot up with it I get a prompt to press any key to boot from CD/DVD.

I've never booted up my Win 10 with an USB so don't know if you should get the same prompt, but hang in there as something is happening.

Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 08, 2017, 09:51:33 am
Never thought I'd be as happy to see dots running in na circle, but getting frustrated, something should happen soon
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 08, 2017, 09:58:34 am
Win 10 can sometimes repair itself and the busy can seem never ending, but you could do a power shutdown and try again where you could get a message on the screen.

I'd give it a bit longer.
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 08, 2017, 10:18:49 am
I'm going to have to shoot off for a while but will be back later.
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 08, 2017, 01:04:34 pm
How are you getting on with this ?
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 08, 2017, 07:06:05 pm
Hi, sorry guess a huge time difference makes things difficult.
Anyway, the F12 trick got me to Windows Install. I upgraded from W8 to W10 so only have the W8 key, which wasn't accepted. Any idea where I can find the W10 key before I mess things up in a big way?
I skipped the Product key bit and it then said since I started with install media I must remove it, reboot and then insert the media. That just causes the notebook to get stuck on the startup screen.
I restarted usunng F12 again and this time went for the custom installation. I then get the selections on the images....
What now?
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 09, 2017, 03:25:59 am
Did you not see a link to Repair your computer down on the left on the Install splash screen ?

That is what you should have clicked on and not to Install.

Cancel the Install and reboot with the USB or DVD.
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 09, 2017, 03:32:57 am
I will do so
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 09, 2017, 05:08:24 am
Black screen for a while now, guess will have to wait...
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 09, 2017, 05:18:52 am
Changed to a blue screen now
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 09, 2017, 05:27:10 am
Any busy circles and are you using the USB or DVD ?
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 09, 2017, 05:28:20 am
No busy circles (none since I selected Repair), used the USB
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 09, 2017, 05:31:24 am
Can you try the DVD - you should be prompted to press any key to boot from CD/DVD.
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 09, 2017, 05:41:00 am
Just as I was to do that came up with Two options
Restore or Advanced
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 09, 2017, 05:45:49 am
I'm a bit wary of restore points should they have become corrupted - see what Advanced gives you ?

I'll boot my other Win 10 laptop up with an install disk and then I should be able to better follow.
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 09, 2017, 05:52:55 am
When I boot up with the install disk I get the options of Continue, Troubleshoot and Turn off your PC.

Selecting Troubleshoot I get the options of System Restore, System Image Recovery, Startup Repair, Command Prompt and Go back to the previous build.
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 09, 2017, 06:17:54 am
Same options - as far as I know a restore point was created just before I started running the software - I recall seeing the file on the hard drive.
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 09, 2017, 06:25:11 am
As the main problem seems to be an empty Boot Configuration Data File, select Command Prompt and enter bootrec.exe /rebuildbcd and let me know what it returns.

Note there's a space before /
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 09, 2017, 06:42:28 am
Scanning all disks for Windows installations
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 09, 2017, 06:44:02 am
When it completes that you'll get something else.
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 09, 2017, 06:59:10 am
Identified 1 Eindows installation, asking if it must add it to the boot list
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 09, 2017, 07:00:51 am
Enter y then exit to close the cmd window, remove the USB and select Turn off PC then restart and hopefully it should boot okay.

Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 09, 2017, 07:21:47 am
Guess I have to wait till the prompt goes back to X:\Sources before I close the indow, at the moment just flashing on an empty line
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 09, 2017, 07:26:24 am
So is it still acting upon adding the installation to the data file ?
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 09, 2017, 07:34:15 am
Completed successfully
Closed the window, but no option to turn off?
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 09, 2017, 07:35:55 am
Do you have a back arrow to go back to the other menus ?
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 09, 2017, 07:40:33 am
Sorry, was too impatient
Continue
Use a device
Troubleshoot
Turn off your PC
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 09, 2017, 07:50:51 am
Turn off your PC and leave it off for about 30 secs before you restart it.
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 09, 2017, 07:58:13 am
Left it off for 2 minutes. Black screen with Lenovo on it.... No hamster in a wheel....  :sad:
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 09, 2017, 08:02:54 am
Hmm...

Can you boot up with the USB again and navigate to the options for Startup Repair.

I don't have much faith in this but give it a try to see what it reports.

You can run this up to three times if at first unsuccessful.
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 12, 2017, 10:54:49 am
Was away, but after 4 attempts Startup Repair could not fix the issue...
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 12, 2017, 02:17:02 pm
Now that you can use a cmd prompt, enter bcdedit |find "osdevice" then enter chkdsk x: /f where x is your partition letter and see what that reports.

That is a Pipe symbol before find and is the uppercase of \

When the chkdsk completes, ignore the error 50 as that just means it is unable to create a wininit log in Event Viewer.
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 13, 2017, 02:25:03 am
OK, Hope I did everything correct? See images please:
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 13, 2017, 02:33:28 am
In the first pic you have made a typo - it should be bcdedit - you've entered bcedit but the rest look alarming.

Run the bcdedit |find "osdevice" cmd again and if it still gives the partition letter as C:, run chkdsk c: /r this time.
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 13, 2017, 02:58:53 am
That's the messages
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 13, 2017, 03:03:36 am
Enter y but when you run that cmd from outside of Windows it doesn't have to dismount first.

Let me know if entering y just takes you back to the cmd prompt.
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 13, 2017, 03:06:42 am
Volume dismounted. All opened handles to this handle are now invalide.
Examining basic file system structure ...
Progress etc etc etc
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 13, 2017, 03:08:39 am
Okay - let's see if there's any improvement on its last report.
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 13, 2017, 03:13:24 am
Finding unreadable segments. ETA 512:20:54 :omg:
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 13, 2017, 03:20:14 am
It sounds like that power outage has taken out your HDD - which wouldn't normally happen unless there was a spike in the voltage before it went out.

When the power goes down and you have a battery installed, that should take over seamlessly so there's no disruption to your running.

Are you able to create a SeaTools for DOS disk to boot up with it which will check out your HDD.

http://www.seagate.com/gb/en/support/downloads/seatools/seatools-dos-master/
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 13, 2017, 03:37:05 am
I saw it's a Samsung HDD, burt will try the seatools thing.

Must I wait until this checkdisk is eventaully finished?
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 13, 2017, 03:37:46 am
What is it stuck on ?
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 13, 2017, 03:45:48 am
411017 of 1129728 Stage 36% Total 0% ETA: 999:00:00
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 13, 2017, 03:49:13 am
If it's still running then let it complete - a /r repair can take a while to complete but pressing CTRL+c will cancel the operation.
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 13, 2017, 03:55:55 am
Link appears to be down
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 13, 2017, 04:00:38 am
What link ?
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 13, 2017, 04:01:21 am
Seagate - when you click on download not working
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 13, 2017, 04:08:09 am
Same for me.

There's a link in this fuller tutorial which works - http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/201271en

EDIT - You can use ImgBurn to create a bootable disk http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/imgburn.html
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 13, 2017, 04:57:24 am
It's only at 45%, so it will take ages still...
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 13, 2017, 05:01:02 am
Is that the SeaTools for DOS disk scanning ?

Are you running the Short or the Long test ?
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 13, 2017, 05:18:31 am
Nope, the last scandisk
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 13, 2017, 05:20:03 am
Sorry, I mean the last chkdsk!

Pressed Ctrl C now
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 13, 2017, 05:21:29 am
I was going to say, "Leave that running if it has progressed from the 45%" until I was notified of your last reply in cancelling it.
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 13, 2017, 05:23:24 am
Ctrl+C not stopping the chkdsk...
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 13, 2017, 05:26:45 am
It should do but could take a while to kick in.

Hit those keys a couple of more times, but I'll boot up my other Win 10 laptop with an install disk to confirm.
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 13, 2017, 05:38:12 am
It isn't working for me either - probably because the chkdsk is being run outside of Windows.

What stage and % is it at now ?
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 13, 2017, 05:59:27 am
Stopped at 46% now
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 13, 2017, 06:01:18 am
Nope, it's still going on and on and on... Hamster on the wheel is really persistent!
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 13, 2017, 06:31:37 am
You could leave until completion if only to try and recover some data, but expect some data loss.

An alternative could be to do a power shutdown but that could cause more problems.

I think you're just going to have to patient as it is at least progressing.

The SeaTools disk will probably just confirm HDD damage without effecting any repairs.

Ultimately I think you're going to have to take this in to a reputable tech who should be able to recover some data by booting up with a Linux disk, replace the HDD and reinstall your OS, but it will be indeterminate as to what data will be lost.

Programs can be reinstalled but personal stuff may be gone forever.
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 13, 2017, 08:30:34 am
For interest, it has taken about 3 hours for my chkdsk c: /r to complete and that is with it not having any problems.

If it has to work harder to try and repair when it does find problems, then it is going to take much longer.
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 13, 2017, 09:06:01 am
On Stage 2.... Will work till I am too tired to carry on
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 13, 2017, 09:08:27 am
Just leave the machine to get on with it - you don't have to watch it.

I've heard of a chkdsk /r taking days to complete in some instances.
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 13, 2017, 09:22:20 am
End result came before the 999:00:00...
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 13, 2017, 09:27:06 am
It hasn't completed - there are 5 stages in a chkdsk /r

As it is unable to read all of the disk then I suggest you take it into a reputable tech, but you could confirm that the HDD is damaged by running a SeaTools for DOS disk.
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 13, 2017, 09:28:33 am
Will do now. Just switch it off and then?
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 13, 2017, 09:33:57 am
Yes.
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 13, 2017, 09:35:56 am
Boot menu only has options for Windows Boot manager and USB? How do I get it to the CD?
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 13, 2017, 09:39:16 am
Normally you would have both.

I would just leave it and take it in.

The sooner the better before the HDD fails completely.
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 13, 2017, 09:40:08 am
OK
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 13, 2017, 09:46:08 am
Good Luck.
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: amf on February 13, 2017, 09:47:06 am
Thanks, appreciate the effort!
Title: Re: Power failure during repair: Laptop not booting
Post by: Boggin on February 13, 2017, 09:56:31 am
You're welcome :)