Hard drive problem

Y

ycchan

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jan 5, 2004
Messages
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My PC suddenly stopped working and would freeze before the Windows login screen. (XP Pro SP3) The hard drive light indicates activity but I hear a weird clicking sound and seems like its struggling to power on. (I see the windows bar keep moving though) The fans however are not affected so I don't think its a voltage problem.

Safe mode doesn't work. I get this blue screen:



What is the prob? :(
 
From http://www.aumha.org/a/stop.php:
0x0000007A: KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR

A page of kernel data was not found in the pagefile and could not be read into memory. This might be due to incompatible disk or controller drivers, firmware, or hardware.
Click to expand...

Use Drive Fitness Test or whatever diagnostic tool your HDD manufacturer offers at their site and report results. WD has WDDIAG, IIRC.

If its clicking, that indicates that the drive is dying -- though it could be years, or only seconds, until the drive dies completely. So, backup whatever data you can onto another drive, if possible.
 
How do I run the results on WDDiag when the hard disk fails to work properly? I have another empty HDD running as slave but the main drive would start clicking once the computer powers on. I don't know whether I can do a full backup.
 
is it not reading at all? Hook it up to another computer as a secondary drive and try to back it up that way.

If it fails, throw the HDD in the freezer in a sealed ziplock bag for around 6 hours. When it's frozen, hook it back up to the pc... you'll have a little bit of time to back things up, but no guarantee how long (maybe 10 mins or so). Back up the most important data first
 
I disconnected the slave drive and got C drive to run properly. However its taking a lot longer to load windows than usual.
I ran CC cleaner, pressed "analyze" not "clean" and suddenly get the blue screen of death again but this time a different message:



Dumping physical memory to disk ...the number keeps increasing.
Safe mode works.


Btw, I also plugged the slave drive to an external enclosure to see if it was faulty. Turns out it was working properly...so I don't know whats causing the problem. :confused:
 
Last edited:
First, try re-installing the chipset drivers. Leave the slave drive out.

If that doesn't work, leave the slave drive out, boot to your XP-SP3 CD, and proceed as if you were installing windows. Choose to install into the same location as your current installation. Setup should detect your old installation and ask if you'd like to repair it. Hit "R" to repair. Make sure you're using an XP CD with SP3 slipstream'd in. If you don't have one, create one using nLite.

http://www.aumha.org/a/stop.php
0x000000F4: CRITICAL_OBJECT_TERMINATION

One of the many processes or threads crucial to system operation has unexpectedly exited or been terminated. As a result, the system can no longer function. Specific causes are many, and often best resolved by a careful history of the problem and the circumstances of the error message. One user, who experienced this on return from Standby mode on Win XP SP2, found the cause was that Windows was installed on a slave drive; compare KB 330100.
Click to expand...
 
when you unplug your second hard drive then you can at least get into windows? unplug all your hard drives and run memtest to rule out a RAM problem. Which hard drive is making the clicking noise?
 
metallicafan said:
when you unplug your second hard drive then you can at least get into windows? unplug all your hard drives and run memtest to rule out a RAM problem. Which hard drive is making the clicking noise?
Click to expand...

The slave drive is removed. C drive is running but takes forever to load windows but eventually will get there. I don't hear the clicking sound anymore. Will do a memtest and report back.
 
Once you figure out if your RAM is ok, I'd try not to power cycle the drives and backup important stuff to a USB2 HD (just run out and buy what you need). Better safe than sorry if it ends up being the hard drive.
 
Ran Memtest no probs.

Tried to use Win XP CD repair function. However, it asks me for an admin password (which I don't have nor did I set one in the first place). I pressed enter but it goes back to C:\Windows :confused:
 
You didn't follow my instructions above. :( Do not choose repair console. Follow my instructions above. ;)
 
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