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Can't boot from master CD

  • Thread starter Salvador Freemanson
  • Start date
S

Salvador Freemanson

Flightless Bird
Someone handed me his old laptop, which had a dead battery (i.e. if you
remove the power cord, it immediately stops. The battery holds no charge
whatsoever), the computer was full of viruses and wouldn't boot.

I changed the hard drive and put the original hard disc asside to
recover the guy's files for him.
It booted up fine from various linux live DVDs, and from a copy of XP.
But it wouldn't boot from the manufacturer's master recovery CD. I've
checked the CD on another machine, and it's fine. The machine's internal
drive is fine as it boots from other CDs

Any ideas anybody?
It's a Packard Bell R4604 by the way.
 
B

Bob Villa

Flightless Bird
On Feb 3, 4:42 am, Salvador Freemanson <s...@go.home> wrote:
> Someone handed me his old laptop, which had a dead battery (i.e. if you
> remove the power cord, it immediately stops. The battery holds no charge
> whatsoever), the computer was full of viruses and wouldn't boot.
>
> I changed the hard drive and put the original hard disc asside to
> recover the guy's files for him.
> It booted up fine from various linux live DVDs, and from a copy of XP.
> But it wouldn't boot from the manufacturer's master recovery CD. I've
> checked the CD on another machine, and it's fine. The machine's internal
> drive is fine as it boots from other CDs
>
> Any ideas anybody?
> It's a Packard Bell R4604 by the way.

Can you make another copy from the machine that the recovery CD boots?
 
B

Barry Watzman

Flightless Bird
Your conclusions that "{whatever} is fine {because}" .... don't follow.

The fact is that any given marginal CD can read on one machine (or most
machines) and not on another particular machine.

Similarly, you can't conclude that a drive is fine because it reads one
or a few particular pieces of media.

Make an image copy of the restore CD on a machine that is able to read
it without difficulty, and then try the restore from the copy. DO NOT
use "RW" media; use one time media.

Salvador Freemanson wrote:
> Someone handed me his old laptop, which had a dead battery (i.e. if you
> remove the power cord, it immediately stops. The battery holds no charge
> whatsoever), the computer was full of viruses and wouldn't boot.
>
> I changed the hard drive and put the original hard disc asside to
> recover the guy's files for him.
> It booted up fine from various linux live DVDs, and from a copy of XP.
> But it wouldn't boot from the manufacturer's master recovery CD. I've
> checked the CD on another machine, and it's fine. The machine's internal
> drive is fine as it boots from other CDs
>
> Any ideas anybody?
> It's a Packard Bell R4604 by the way.
 
M

me/2

Flightless Bird
On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 11:42:58 +0100, Salvador Freemanson <spam@go.home>
wrote:

:>Someone handed me his old laptop, which had a dead battery (i.e. if you
:>remove the power cord, it immediately stops. The battery holds no charge
:>whatsoever), the computer was full of viruses and wouldn't boot.
:>
:>I changed the hard drive and put the original hard disc asside to
:>recover the guy's files for him.
:>It booted up fine from various linux live DVDs, and from a copy of XP.
:>But it wouldn't boot from the manufacturer's master recovery CD. I've
:>checked the CD on another machine, and it's fine. The machine's internal
:>drive is fine as it boots from other CDs
:>
:>Any ideas anybody?
:>It's a Packard Bell R4604 by the way.

I know on some older Toshiba models the factory restore CD was not bootable.
You had to boot from a floppy disk that loaded the CD-ROM drivers and then
continued the setup from the CD. You said you checked the CD on another
machine. Did it boot on the other machine or did you just check it for
readability?

me/2
 
B

Barry Watzman

Flightless Bird
That's true, but the reason was that, at that time (1990's) CDs were not
bootable PERIOD. Bootable CDs didn't come along until about 2000.
Toshiba laptops since CDs became bootable have all been bootable, but if
you go back to something like a Satellite 445 .... yes, you had start
from a floppy.


me/2 wrote:

>
> I know on some older Toshiba models the factory restore CD was not bootable.
> You had to boot from a floppy disk that loaded the CD-ROM drivers and then
> continued the setup from the CD. You said you checked the CD on another
> machine. Did it boot on the other machine or did you just check it for
> readability?
>
> me/2
 
T

the wharf rat

Flightless Bird
In article <hkcqqe$s2k$1@news.eternal-september.org>,
Barry Watzman <WatzmanNOSPAM@neo.rr.com> wrote:
>That's true, but the reason was that, at that time (1990's) CDs were not
>bootable PERIOD. Bootable CDs didn't come along until about 2000.

Ummmmmm, the windows 98 install cd was bootable...

So was the Solaris X86 cd for that matter.
 
S

Salvador Freemanson

Flightless Bird
On 03/02/2010 20:52, me/2 wrote:
> On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 11:42:58 +0100, Salvador Freemanson<spam@go.home>
> wrote:
>
> :>Someone handed me his old laptop, which had a dead battery (i.e. if you
> :>remove the power cord, it immediately stops. The battery holds no charge
> :>whatsoever), the computer was full of viruses and wouldn't boot.
> :>
> :>I changed the hard drive and put the original hard disc asside to
> :>recover the guy's files for him.
> :>It booted up fine from various linux live DVDs, and from a copy of XP.
> :>But it wouldn't boot from the manufacturer's master recovery CD. I've
> :>checked the CD on another machine, and it's fine. The machine's internal
> :>drive is fine as it boots from other CDs
> :>
> :>Any ideas anybody?
> :>It's a Packard Bell R4604 by the way.
>
> I know on some older Toshiba models the factory restore CD was not bootable.
> You had to boot from a floppy disk that loaded the CD-ROM drivers and then
> continued the setup from the CD. You said you checked the CD on another
> machine. Did it boot on the other machine or did you just check it for
> readability?
>
> me/2


I just checked it for readability, as these CD's only boot on the right
machine and I ddn't have another similar machine. I did ask the guy
whether he was sure it was the right CD, as other members of his family
also have packard bell machines. He insists that it is. Anyone know if
there is any way of telling by reading the files? The label just says
Packard Bell Master CD 1 (there's also a 2) plus a part number.

But the floppy disc can't be the solution - the machine doesn't have a
floppy drive!
In the meantime, I'll try Barry's suggestion of copying it. Also, I
wonder whether it might boot from an external drive.
 
B

Bob Villa

Flightless Bird
>In the meantime, I'll try Barry's suggestion of copying it. Also, I
wonder whether it might boot from an external drive.

I think I said it 1st, Sal!

bob
 
S

Salvador Freemanson

Flightless Bird
On 04/02/2010 13:40, Bob Villa wrote:
>> In the meantime, I'll try Barry's suggestion of copying it. Also, I
> wonder whether it might boot from an external drive.
>
> I think I said it 1st, Sal!
>
> bob


Well Bob, your reply said to make a copy from the machine that boots.
In a later post, I said that other machines can read this CD but I don't
have a machine of the same model for it to boot.
 
B

BillW50

Flightless Bird
In news:hkcqqe$s2k$1@news.eternal-september.org,
Barry Watzman typed on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:45:47 -0500:
> That's true, but the reason was that, at that time (1990's) CDs were
> not bootable PERIOD. Bootable CDs didn't come along until about 2000.
> Toshiba laptops since CDs became bootable have all been bootable, but
> if you go back to something like a Satellite 445 .... yes, you had
> start from a floppy.
>
> me/2 wrote:
>
>> I know on some older Toshiba models the factory restore CD was not
>> bootable. You had to boot from a floppy disk that loaded the CD-ROM
>> drivers and then continued the setup from the CD. You said you
>> checked the CD on another machine. Did it boot on the other machine
>> or did you just check it for readability?
>>
>> me/2

I am pretty sure that when Windows 95 was released on CD back in Aug
'95, that was bootable. You know you had the original release version,
as it would accept all zeros as a keycode. That quickly got fixed with
later versions. The story I heard was that the Windows 95 beta testers
were using all zeros as the keycode and they forgot to plug it during
the first release.

And I am positive my Windows 98SE CD is bootable. As I used it all of
the time as a boot disc. I don't recall if my Toshiba recovery disc are
bootable or not from '99. They probably are, as I have no floppy start
disc for them. Although I believe I only used them once and put them
away.

The oldest Windows CD I have is from a Packer Bell 486 with Windows 3.1
from '93. I am pretty sure this one won't boot on its own. As that one
did come with a floppy boot disc.

My Toshiba T1950CS 486 ('94) had floppies for reinstallation. Hmm... I
don't think it had a CD drive in that laptop either. It didn't have a
fan either and it cooked itself in 5 years. And I haven't heard of any
of them still working for about 8 or so years now. Maybe they all are
dead by now.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Windows XP SP3
 
M

me/2

Flightless Bird
On Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:28:21 +0100, Salvador Freemanson <spam@go.home>
wrote:

:>On 04/02/2010 13:40, Bob Villa wrote:
:>>> In the meantime, I'll try Barry's suggestion of copying it. Also, I
:>> wonder whether it might boot from an external drive.
:>>
:>> I think I said it 1st, Sal!
:>>
:>> bob
:>
:>
:>Well Bob, your reply said to make a copy from the machine that boots.
:>In a later post, I said that other machines can read this CD but I don't
:>have a machine of the same model for it to boot.

I worked on Toshibas for 10 years and all of their bootable recovery discs
when used on the wrong machine would still boot and start to run the setup
and then give an error message saying wrong machine. If your disc is
bootable then it should go that far on any computer that supports booting
from a cd. Unless I miseed it you haven't said what happens when you attempt
to boot the disc in another computer. Does it start to run setup and then
give you a wrong machine message or does it not even start to load the
operating system on the cd? Or have you even tried it yet?

me/2
 
B

Barry Watzman

Flightless Bird
I may have been a year or two off in my recollection of when bootable
CDs came along. But the point of the post (that you had to start from a
floppy because on those OLD computers, NO CDs were "bootable") is still
correct.


the wharf rat wrote:
> In article <hkcqqe$s2k$1@news.eternal-september.org>,
> Barry Watzman <WatzmanNOSPAM@neo.rr.com> wrote:
>> That's true, but the reason was that, at that time (1990's) CDs were not
>> bootable PERIOD. Bootable CDs didn't come along until about 2000.
>
> Ummmmmm, the windows 98 install cd was bootable...
>
> So was the Solaris X86 cd for that matter.
>
 
B

Barry Watzman

Flightless Bird
Even if it's the wrong CD ... if it IS a bootable CD, the boot process
should start, although the actual restore process might subsequently fail.


Salvador Freemanson wrote:
> On 03/02/2010 20:52, me/2 wrote:
>> On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 11:42:58 +0100, Salvador Freemanson<spam@go.home>
>> wrote:
>>
>> :>Someone handed me his old laptop, which had a dead battery (i.e. if you
>> :>remove the power cord, it immediately stops. The battery holds no
>> charge
>> :>whatsoever), the computer was full of viruses and wouldn't boot.
>> :>
>> :>I changed the hard drive and put the original hard disc asside to
>> :>recover the guy's files for him.
>> :>It booted up fine from various linux live DVDs, and from a copy of XP.
>> :>But it wouldn't boot from the manufacturer's master recovery CD. I've
>> :>checked the CD on another machine, and it's fine. The machine's
>> internal
>> :>drive is fine as it boots from other CDs
>> :>
>> :>Any ideas anybody?
>> :>It's a Packard Bell R4604 by the way.
>>
>> I know on some older Toshiba models the factory restore CD was not
>> bootable.
>> You had to boot from a floppy disk that loaded the CD-ROM drivers and
>> then
>> continued the setup from the CD. You said you checked the CD on another
>> machine. Did it boot on the other machine or did you just check it for
>> readability?
>>
>> me/2
>
>
> I just checked it for readability, as these CD's only boot on the right
> machine and I ddn't have another similar machine. I did ask the guy
> whether he was sure it was the right CD, as other members of his family
> also have packard bell machines. He insists that it is. Anyone know if
> there is any way of telling by reading the files? The label just says
> Packard Bell Master CD 1 (there's also a 2) plus a part number.
>
> But the floppy disc can't be the solution - the machine doesn't have a
> floppy drive!
> In the meantime, I'll try Barry's suggestion of copying it. Also, I
> wonder whether it might boot from an external drive.
 
M

me/2

Flightless Bird
On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 11:42:58 +0100, Salvador Freemanson <spam@go.home>
wrote:

:>Someone handed me his old laptop, which had a dead battery (i.e. if you
:>remove the power cord, it immediately stops. The battery holds no charge
:>whatsoever), the computer was full of viruses and wouldn't boot.
:>
:>I changed the hard drive and put the original hard disc asside to
:>recover the guy's files for him.
:>It booted up fine from various linux live DVDs, and from a copy of XP.
:>But it wouldn't boot from the manufacturer's master recovery CD. I've
:>checked the CD on another machine, and it's fine. The machine's internal
:>drive is fine as it boots from other CDs
:>
:>Any ideas anybody?
:>It's a Packard Bell R4604 by the way.

Okay I'm going back and replying to the original post with this info to
avoid confusion with all the other posts in this thread.

Here's 2 links to the Packard Bell support site that may help you out. I
couldn't find your exact model there but this info is for the R4 series
which hopefully will apply.

Here's a link to the full manual. Especially check around Page 41.

ftp://ftp.packardbell.com/pub/itemnr/6907170201/6907170201.pdf

And here's a link to the recovery process:

http://support.packardbell.com/uk/item/index.php?i=instr_recovery_WinPE&pi=platform_rhea_dc

Those 2 links indicate different bios screens and options to select so you
might have to check to see which one you have.

It appears that series uses a hidden recovery partition on the hard drive to
do the factory restore. It also indicates the only way to have recovery
discs is to create them with the disc creator progarm in a running copy of
windows and could take up to 10 discs. So if you were given 2 original
pressed Packard Bell labeled discs the odds are pretty good that they are
not the correct ones. I'd say there is a good chance that with only 2 discs
(unless they are DVD and not CD discs) they could be for an older model that
did require a bootable floppy disk to start the recovery process which is
why the disc 1 wouldn't boot.

In any case I hope this helps some and remember GIYF.

me/2
 
R

rbutry

Flightless Bird
Bob Villa said:
On Feb 3, 4:42*am, Salvador Freemanson <s...@go.home> wrote:
> Someone handed me his old laptop, which had a dead battery (i.e. if you
> remove the power cord, it immediately stops. The battery holds no charge
> whatsoever), the computer was full of viruses and wouldn't boot.
>
> I changed the hard drive and put the original hard disc asside to
> recover the guy's files for him.
> It booted up fine from various linux live DVDs, and from a copy of XP.
> But it wouldn't boot from the manufacturer's master recovery CD. I've
> checked the CD on another machine, and it's fine. The machine's internal
> drive is fine as it boots from other CDs
>
> Any ideas anybody?
> It's a Packard Bell R4604 by the way.

Can you make another copy from the machine that the recovery CD boots?
Click to expand...

I looking for master cd 1-2 restore for packard bell 97 can you help me? rbutry******.com thanks
 
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