Solve : Recently Acquired older Laptop has bad hard drive.?

1.	Solve : Recently Acquired older Laptop has bad hard drive.?
Answer» I was able to get into set-up and change the boot order to diskette, then CD, then hard drive. When I start the computer, it takes about 20 minutes to actually start - but does eventually start. The CD also doesn't work - but I think I just need to get the drivers, onto the diskette. Any ideas on the why its TAKING so long to actually start and how do I fix this? I got the computer free - because it was old with a bad hard drive. I want to put PCLinuxOS on it to learn without causing any problems with my desktop. CD drives require no drivers. What is make & model of laptop? What OS? Long startup time could be due to DEAD CMOS battery.Quote from: hopingForAnswers on July 26, 2011, 06:26:15 PM I don't think its the Cmos battery because - the DATE was correct and the time was about right and I didn't UNPLUG it between restarts. Regarding the Operating system - right now it has none and I booted frim a Dos5 disk I found. I'm trying to find additional dos disks so I create a startup drive with the correct drivers. (The drivers are on 2 CD I received with the computer). I also wants to try reformatting the hard drive - I don't think this will work because setp doesn't even recognize them. If you don't unplug the laptop, power for clock is from the AC adapter, not the CMOS battery. You will have to enter Setup (BIOS) to see if the hard drive is there. You can can get bootdisks from www.bootdisk.com Drivers for the CDROM will be on the bootdisks. It's oakcdrom.sys The problem was not the Cmos battery. The date and time were correct when I first plugged it in and turned it on. I also have an old copy of Nortons utilities and ran it and it said it was ok. The problem was - even though I changed the boot order - The adapter was still showing in set-up. I removed the adapter in Setup and it's BOOTING right up. Also thank you for the Driver list. I have the drivers that came with the computer - but since I plan on running linux, I need Linux compatable drivers - for the CD, the mouse and the touchpad, and possiblley the additional memory

Answer»

I was able to get into set-up and change the boot order to diskette, then CD, then hard drive.

When I start the computer, it takes about 20 minutes to actually start - but does eventually start.

The CD also doesn't work - but I think I just need to get the drivers, onto the diskette.

Any ideas on the why its TAKING so long to actually start and how do I fix this?

I got the computer free - because it was old with a bad hard drive. I want to put PCLinuxOS on it to learn without causing any problems with my desktop.
CD drives require no drivers. What is make & model of laptop? What OS?
Long startup time could be due to DEAD CMOS battery.Quote from: hopingForAnswers on July 26, 2011, 06:26:15 PM

I don't think its the Cmos battery because - the DATE was correct and the time was about right and I didn't UNPLUG it between restarts.

Regarding the Operating system - right now it has none and I booted frim a Dos5 disk I found. I'm trying to find additional dos disks so I create a startup drive with the correct drivers. (The drivers are on 2 CD I received with the computer).

I also wants to try reformatting the hard drive - I don't think this will work because setp doesn't even recognize them.

If you don't unplug the laptop, power for clock is from the AC adapter, not the CMOS battery.
You will have to enter Setup (BIOS) to see if the hard drive is there.
You can can get bootdisks from www.bootdisk.com
Drivers for the CDROM will be on the bootdisks. It's oakcdrom.sys

The problem was not the Cmos battery. The date and time were correct when I first plugged it in and turned it on. I also have an old copy of Nortons utilities and ran it and it said it was ok.

The problem was - even though I changed the boot order - The adapter was still showing in set-up. I removed the adapter in Setup and it's BOOTING right up.

Also thank you for the Driver list. I have the drivers that came with the computer - but since I plan on running linux, I need Linux compatable drivers - for the CD, the mouse and the touchpad, and possiblley the additional memory

Solve : Recently Acquired older Laptop has bad hard drive.?

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