recover error while trying to restore samsung laptop, help please

I have a Samsung model NP305E5A-A03US. Upon startup, after the windows logo went away I would get a black screen with the curser. I then used the f4 function to try to do a full system restore. About halfway through the process I get the error "An error has occurred while reading the restore image file"

Now I cant do anything with the laptop. Any suggestions?

It's running windows 7

 

Hello Heather, welcome to NBR.

Sorry to hear that. Unfortunately from that description, it sounds like either a disk error or a corruption of the recovery image. Clearly your Recovery itself is working, since you can load it, and the first half of the restore is working.

Several members who upgraded to Windows 8.1 have reported how it damaged their Recovery. But the symptoms you describe do not sound like this is what happened.

The only thing I would suggest before going nuclear on it, is to try the Restore again, this time using the Complete Restore option. Unfortunately that will wipe the entire disk -- but so will all of your other repair options (described below). If you have valuable data on the disk, you need to either (A) open the laptop, take the disk out and place it in an external enclosure, then save data on another computer, or (B) download a Linux LiveCD (I like Parted Magic, doesn't require any Linux knowledge) and use it to copy data to an external drive.

Once your data is saved, you have a few options to get the computer going again: Samsung service will re-image the drive for you (free under warranty, otherwise for a small fee). But you have to send the machine in.

In your case, your best bet is probably to just re-install Win7 yourself. It is fairly quick and easy if you follow this install guide. You may have received a Win7 DVD with your computer (marked Recovery Media). Otherwise you can legally download a Win7 ISO from Digital River (Google it) and burn a DVD yourself.

The only snafu is if your disk has errors (causing this problem in the first place) those errors are likely to hurt you again -- either immediately when you try to install, or later after you start using the computer. There are freely downloadable tools you can use to test the disk for errors -- but once a disk starts having errors, it will often keep developing more. That's one reason to consider sending the machine in for service -- or replace the disk yourself.

Please let us know how this goes goes you

 

I don't think I can do all of that myself. About how much do you think it would be to have samsung fix the problem?(just ballpark) also, could I take it to a local computer tech to be fixed?

I don't want to bandaid the problem. I want the disc errors fixed/gone.

What causes this anyways? My laptop was used very little and only for online classes and email.

 

Press F8 before Windows starts to boot. Press it multiple times right after the Samsung logo appears to not miss the right moment.
Windows should then give you an alternative boot menu --> select 'safe boot' and see if it starts up. If it does press 'Ctrl+r' and run 'chkdsk /x c:' to check the filesystem.

If you are not tech-savy have someone look it over for you, before sending it in to Samsung.



Even if there is hard drive corruption not everything is lost::
Like Dannemand, said you could boot a live linux like grml.org from a flash drive and recover everything still readable with 'ddrescue' command to an external disk. Just to give you a hint...

 

I forgot to mention. During the COMPLETE restore is when I get the error stated above. Now when I turn the laptop on I get a black screen that reads: BOOTMGR is missing Press Carl+alt+del to restart

 

Thank you for the update.

Yes I kind of gathered, if your restore failed halfway through, there is no working Windows installation, it's just a big mess. Even more so since it was already a complete restore.

I think I've heard $30 and $50 mentioned as the fee Samsung charges to re-image the drive. But that doesn't include replacing it if there is a defect. You should call them and ask.

It could be just a few bad sectors that need to be masked out, so you don't need a new drive. But since your Recovery is broken, any options on your own will require at least some tech savvy. If you have a friend that can test it and perform a new Windows install, it's worth a shot.

Oh, yes, a local computer tech is a good option. But have them check the install guide I linked, unless they're very familiar with Samsung laptops.

 

A local company it going to fix it for me. He said it sounds like it needs a new hard drive.(is that what you mean by disk?) does this sound right?

 

Yes

It's absolutely possible after what you told us.
It could also just be a damaged filesystem or a file corruption. However,

In every day PC operation you are not touching that restore image. So it's unlikely that this file or file system gets corrupt.

But without testing the drive you obviously can only speculate...


Ask tyour repair company to (low level) format the drive and check for errors before deciding to get rid of it. This will mean ALL data still on the drive will be lost. You could still try to recover your data before formatting, but it is a little tricky (see above).

 

Thank you fir all of the input. I didn't have much on their so I'm not worried about losing anything.

 

I concur with everything oled wrote

The fact that you don't have to worry about losing data will make this a much faster procedure: The repair shop won't have to spend time (and your money) trying to recover data for you: Just test the drive and and re-install Windows (on the same or a new drive)