old nt4.0 lappy not booting...

[vshah]

i think it might be a boot sector virus. i think i have to do something like restoring the master boot record or something, but not sure how to go about it...

-Vivan

 

[SickBeast]

You should probably perform a low-level format, that sounds serious. It takes hours to do though, so make sure you have something better to do in the meantime.

 

[DaveSimmons]

FAT16, 32, or NTFS formatted?

For FAT16/32, download a clean W98SE disk from www.BootDisk.com and try
FORMAT C: /MBR
if I recall correctly.

For NTFS they might have rescue diskettes, or I think you can make them using the NT4 CD.

This all assumes you're trying to preserve the existing Nt4 install rather than doing a clean install of another OS.

 

[vshah]

yeah i def need to preserve the data...
my mother's manuscript is on this...sh!t...

 

[SickBeast]

I guess you're stuck buying a USB enclosure for the HD for the laptop then; I can't think of an easier/cheaper way for you to get the data off of it. I think they're only around $30 anyways.

 

[DaveSimmons]

or an internal 2.5-to-3.5 adapter from compgeeks.com or newegg -- mount it as an extra internal drive in an NT or XP desktop and you can copy off the data.