Invalid partition table error and Machines rebooting in recovery console

[xmlsi]

HI I have a strange problem with my HP dv5020us Laptop. A couple weeks back, it started acting strangely and froze. I suspected that the Harddrive must have poped out,as it sometimes does( HP forgot to screw it up). SO I shut down the machine and opened it but the harddrive was intact. BUt ever since then, I have started getting strange errors at boot time, something like "PXE ROM error" .
I figured that it was because it was trying to boot from the ethernet for some reason, since ethernet booting was the third booting method in the boot order (Harddisk and CDrom being the first two). BUt I continued getting it even after I made sure that my harddrive was properly plugged in and even after I DISABLED ethernet booting in the bios.
Next I thought that the machine wasnt booting from the HDD becasue the MBR/partition table was corrupt. SO I tried booting from the WINXP cd into the recovery mode. BUt to my surprise the machine reboots on its own very soon after I enter the recovery console. After many such reboots, I finally managed to keep it running in recovery console for some time. THen I tried FIXMBR and FIXBOOT and rebooted. After that I started getting this additional error: "invalid partition table" :(

THe folllowing info might be useful
- AMD Turion 1.8 GHz, 1gb ram, 80 gb HDD, ATI radeon Video CArd.
- I have tried running a SUSE Linux Live cd and left it on for a whole day with 100% ram usage and lots of running processes, but it worked fine without rebooting.
- I cant see my harddrive in linux.
- The bios harddrive test goes off without any errors.
- I tried some of the BURN-IN tests on the Ultimate Boot CD (UBCD). THe machine reboots after some time.
- ALso Winxp Setup can only see a 79 GB(and some MBs) empty space. no c: drive (which I think, is'nt surprising)
- THe fan works. I can hear it.
- there were two partitions: 1 250 mb and another the balance, NTFS, compressed.

SO my questions are:
1. WHy is the comp trying to boot from the ethernet even though I have disabled it?
2. HOw can I restore my HDD? I have very imp stuff of which I have no backups :(
3. why does the machine keep on rebooting during the burnin test and when inside the recovery console?

HP support charges 300$ for repairs. Not an option as of now :(
Please help me. Thanks.
In desperation,
xmlsi

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[Chaky]

To make things clear:

Is it 80 Gig drive as it is described here?
Is it 1250 or 250 meg partition?

If you created any partition after this incident, then there is no practical way to recover your drive except restoring the backups from DVDs (ghost, drive imaging...).

You can try this:
DISABLE the drive in BIOS and then try booting (and install) from windows setup CD. You will not have an option of repairing the current windows installation, (fresh install only) but it might jump-start your MBR.
If you are wondering if I've lost it, know this: Windows setup program accesses chipset directly and detects drive presence, ignoring BIOS settings. For some reason, if the drive is disabled in BIOS, it will not give you an option of repairing the installation. Don't forget to enable the drive after 1st reboot. Hopefully you will not have to delete the partitions and therefor loose all data on your drive.

[RueB2sDe]

You may have needed to point it to the right drive such as

FIXBOOT C:

It might have still been on the recovery console drive designated.

Ethernet as a boot device is great for networking startups. Workstation to server.

Hopefully it was something as simple as placing in the correct parameter.

RueB 2s De.

[Chaky]

Another useful command in the recovery console is "map" (no parameters required)
It displays HD info on partitions (if the system sees any) and that info is needed as parameters for the FIXMBR command.

[xmlsi]

hey Chaky and RueB2sDe:
THanks a lot for the suggestions.

Last night, I was experimenting with Hirens boot cd. The

time was around 3am and still no luck. Then I clicked on

something there in the bood CD menu (which I believe was

soem sort of dos with ntfs support). IT started chkdsk on

its own. That went on for a log time. When it seemed that it had done its job, I tried rebooting to see if windows boots, but it didnt.

Then after that, on a whim, I used the BArtPe CD to

haev a look at my HDD and I COULD SEE MY FILES. I

immediately copied my files off the hdd to an external

hdd.

THen I tried reinstalling windows as suggested. But

everytime, windows reboots after some time in the recovery

console or at setup. Neither the boot cd I was trying last

night, nor BArtPE nor any of the linux boot cds exhibit

such behaviour. I have no idea why its happening. Is there

a hardware problem which only windows is sesnitive to?

Thanks in advance..wysiwyg { background-attachment: scroll; background-repeat: repeat; background-position: 0% 0%; background-color: #ffffff; background-image: none; color: #434343; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; line-height: 15px; padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px } p { margin: 0px; }

[Chaky]

Glad to hear that you saved the important files.

If your drive is operational, best and safest thing to do is to delete all of the partitions and create one or more using windows setup. There is a chance that you would need so-called f6 drivers. Those are ones that you are prompted for when the setup program launches ("press f6 for third party device drivers" or something) and you must prepare them on floppy disc prior to windows installation using bootable CD that came with laptop (one containing drivers). I can't tell for sure whether you need them or not. HP didn't specify what chipset is used with your laptop. If it is nForce 4 or later, then you will definitely need the f6 drivers.

Also make sure that the cables are connected properly.

If all that fails, then you know that you have a dead HD on your hands.

[RueB2sDe]

Do you have any additional Hardware connected to your Laptop? I would reccommend that you remove any addtional devices that you may have added since the purchase of your laptop.

Before I go any further any error messages that you are receiving when you boot? It is best to find that out first before we send you through some more troubleshooting steps. That way we know we wont be sending you through more work then what is needed.

Looking forward in hearing from you.

Sincerly,

Rue B.