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First thread and only semi-tech savvy so please bear with me...

My daughters HP Pavillion 6700 (6835nr) is past warranty and over a year old. It will not boot properly. I can access some set-up menus but everything I try does not allow me to start the Win Vista system at all. Most the time the laptop will just run like normal with only a black screen.

My daughter is in college and needs her laptop and we cannot afford a new one.
Can I still retrieve all the data inside the computer? I have a 16GB zip disk.

BOTTOM LINE:

I have looked at dozens of threads all over the net with folks complaining about HP's that will not boot. I have tried ALL the basic fixes. NOne will work.
This laptop does have a bad power switch that is loose (if you wrap the cord, the switch will hold steady) and a battery I have found that is under recall; I believe these to be the source of this system malfunction.

CAN THIS COMPUTER BE RESTORED (AT ALL) WITHOUT LOSING THE DATA INSIDE?
IF SO, HOW DO I SAVE THE DATA WHEN I CANNOT ACCESS WIN VISTA?
WILL A SET-UP DISC WORK TO RESTORE VISTA WITHOUT BEING ABLE TO ACCESS VISTA?

Thank you

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Priority: preserve the drive and user files before attempting any rebuild or "restore." Running an HP recovery or a full Vista reinstall will often overwrite user data; treat recovery media and factory restore as last-resort steps only. As noted, some Pavilion models suffer display or power quirks — diagnosing which subsystem is failing (display, power, or the drive itself) will determine the safest next move.

Non-invasive checks that separate display problems from boot/disk faults:

  • Confirm power activity: are fans spinning, HDD activity LED blinking, or any POST beeps? If hardware shows activity but the internal screen stays black, connect an external monitor (VGA/HDMI) to check whether the desktop appears there. If the external monitor shows Windows, the issue is the LCD/inverter/LVDS cable rather than the OS.
  • If no video anywhere, try entering BIOS/POST (Esc/F2/F10 on many HPs). If BIOS is accessible, data is still on the drive and can be copied.

Safe data-retrieval options (in order of least invasive to most):

  • Boot a rescue USB (Linux live distribution or Windows PE) made on a working PC and copy files to an external USB drive or network share. This avoids touching the Windows install.
  • If the drive shows signs of failure (clicking, repeated read errors), make a sector-by-sector image first and attempt recovery from the image. Imaging tools (ddrescue, Clonezilla, Macrium Reflect) are standard for this workflow.
  • If uncomfortable with any of the above, take the laptop to a shop and insist they create a full disk image before attempting repairs.

Hardware notes and cautions:

  • A loose power switch or bad DC jack can cause intermittent boot behavior; try powering from AC with the battery removed and reseating RAM and connectors before deeper steps. Do not run HP system recovery or reinstall Windows until a verified backup or disk image exists. Reference to : prioritize file backup before any repair that might erase the drive.
Member Avatar for Mocha67

There is video problem with some models of hp laptop.
You can check out the problem on this website.

To access your data you will need to take out the hard drive from the laptop and use another computer to access the data with a USB ATA drive reader. You can usually buy them at computer component stores such as Maplin in UK or equivelant whereever you are.

Any local computer guy should be able to retrieve this data quite easily.

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