Can't boot into linux from live CD

Hi, im new to linux. Im using it because my XP installion in completed messed up on my desktop and i cant restore it.

I tried Slax linux, Knoppix and Ubuntu, but when i boot from the CD i get different error messages each time.

Sometimes it gets stuck at
"freeing used kernel memory"
or "fixing recursive fault but reboot is needed"
or in knoppix sometimes it gets stuck at "checking for USB"
and with knoppix i get a lot of decompression errors

help please
There maybe a fault in my hardware but i dont know what it is/could be
My PC is a P4 2.8ghz
1.5gb ram
X300SE
I have 2 HDDs one is the primary with 200GB and the other has 60GB
It was bought with OS preinstalled (it is a compaq) and i dont have any windows disk just the recovery DVD that i created when i first got it. (if i try to recover it crashes after about 15%

Thanks

 

It sounds like you're having major issues if you can't even boot your recovery disc. Have you ever updated your BIOS? Were you every experiencing memory failures? Maybe you could run a memtest or some built-in system diagnositcs.

 

i can boot the recovery disk but it crashes after some recovery.
I ran memtest for about an hour and got 10000s of errors... im guessing thats bad... and google tells me that that may mean its not the memory thats wrong but the CPU or Mobo?

For reference's sake the major problems started after a random restart...

What tests could i perform to determine where the problem lies?

thx

 

Sounds like you have a major hardware failure on your hands. The hardware needs to be fixed before you can boot with anything.

 

well how can i determine which piece of hardware is causing the prob?

 

Dude, that's the hard part. A memory problem could be the memory itself or the motherboard dying on ya. Is your hardware under warranty?

 

nope it has expired,
cant i boot into a system test utility (like memtest but for other hardware) of some sort? to test various parts of hardware

 

Okay, let me first say that I'm not up to date with the latest diagnosis tools that exist out there. Back in the day when I was doing PC support, those tools were not good enough to distinguish between a memory problem and a motherboard problem. An experienced technician might have been able to infer based on the error patterns he would see where the error is but that's as much as you'd be able to get out of those tools.

WARNING: Don't do this if you don't feel comfortable working with electronics. You are responsible for your own safety and using good commonsense.

The first thing I would do if I saw a memory problem would be to open the machine to make sure the memory is well seated and that I don't see visible sign of damage to the modules (like a burned chip). If you see damage you know that the memory modules are crap. If you don't see damage, you might want to reseat the memory. Make sure you ground yourself before you do this. Then test again. Note that I really doubt this will fix the problem but this costs only time and is worth trying before getting into things that will costs you $$$. Components unseating themselves over time are rare but are not unheard of.

Then if that does not fix the problem, the next step is to switch the memory modules with modules you know are good. Then, if that does not work, you know you have a major problem on your hands, like a motherboard issue.

 

well i dont have any modules that i know work, and im not comfortable with internal operations as i didn't build the comp and the inside is a complete mess of wires.

 

Well, I think you're dealing with a problem that requires knowledge about hardware. My opinion is that you've done as much diagnosis as you can do. What you've found shows a serious hardware problem so at this point you should stop trying to diagnose it further and get someone who knows hardware to deal with it. You should think about the value of the machine and how much it will cost to repair it because it may be cheaper for you to just buy a new machine.

Stay away from Geek Squad: they have a bad reputation. I can't recommend a good outfit for repairs because I either do all my repairs myself or have them done by the original manufacturer while my warranty is good.

 

ok thx for the help

 

Usually your BIOS will give you memory errors upon boot and will tell you that the amount of physical memory has changed or something (or that's what happened with my last laptop). Yours could be different since it's a Compaq, but it is a possibility that you have a motherboard or processor failure occurring. I think that's what's happening with my old laptop now.

 

I would try to look at each part individually. The main parts that would fail would be the Motherboard, HD, and RAM. I had some similar issues and it turned out to be the OS. The whole time I thought it was my HD or motherboard. Is there a way for you to at least take out the HD and hook it up to a friends computer and have it run as a slave drive. That way you could at least get important data off your drive and then format it to reinstall again. I would try that first.