scrappylibrarian Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 Calling Computer Fixer Upper people! We got (free!) a Compaq Presario 2100 laptop from my uncle a while back. Sadly, it didn't last terribly long before I got the icky blue screen. Actually 2 screens. The first says basically Back up your stuff now, hard drive failure is imminent. (Now that is encouraging :-) If I hit F1 as instructed I get the following: "A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer. UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME" etc etc So a couple questions - #1 this pretty much started after I added some RAM to the computer. I am pretty sure I did it right but maybe not? Might this be the problem? #2 From the searching I did online it appears this model of computer has had some major issues with hard drives. Does anyone have any experience with them that could indicate if it is worth trying a new hard drive? I am willing to sink a LITTLE money into it since we got it free, mainly for Alex to use for internet and school work. So I know we are not a Computer Fix Shop, but thought I would float those questions before I take it to a shop. Background info and all :-) Thanks!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vaughnde Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 Bumping this up... I don't know anything about laptops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheilaj Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 how much do you value what is on the laptop and is it all backed up? Me personally I would cut my losses. I am not an expert but we have twice now put money into trying to fix/improve a laptop and both times it has been just throwing the money away. Sorry, this may not be what you want to hear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenniferZ Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 I don't know much about computers, either, but if you have everything backed up, I'd invest money in a new machine. If you need data off that drive, you're going to experience some sticker shock when you take it in to recover it, but it is possible to recover data from a defunct hard drive. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anemone1983 Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 I looked up the Compaq Presario 2100 on HP's website for the specs. It was released in 1997 as an entry-level laptop. Based on that information alone, I'd be reluctant to put a lot of money into trying to upgrade it. The spec's say maximum RAM is 128MB. Since RAM chips are pretty standard, just because you can ADD a 1GB chip, doesn't mean that the computer can use/recognize it. If you want to further dialog on this PC, let me know, but if the specs I'm looking at are what you have, it's probably worth saving your $$ for a current laptop that will get you so much further with a lot less frustration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrappylibrarian Posted March 19, 2009 Author Share Posted March 19, 2009 That was kinda the impression I got from investigating it online. Just figured I would see if anyone had any personal experience with it. Thanks girls! Data recovery isn't really a concern, all of my important stuff is on my computer, this was just kind of a backup for Alex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDecker Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 Incompatible Ram and or bad Ram can cause this. Try taking out what you added and see if it helps. I had this happen on a Dell laptop and it turned out to be a bad Ram stick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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