Hard drive dead? Help please

A

Andrew_Carr

2[H]4U
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Feb 26, 2005
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Ok, so here's what happened:

I was about to run a CS:S stress test when my father decided I should go running. So he walks in and presses the power off button on my comp. While Windows XP Pro is shutting down, I flip the power switch off and on on my Antec Smartpower(400w) so that I wouldn't have to wait for the shutdown process to start my comp up again, and run the stress test. Unfortunately, now my computer constantly reboots once it gets past the Windows XP loading screen. I disabled "reboot on system failure" so that I could read the BSOD I get when I try to start normally. The message I've been getting is:

"A problem has been deteced and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME

If this is the first time you've seen this Stop error screen,
restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:

Check to make sure any new hardware or software is properly installed.
If this is a new installation, ask your hardware or software manufacturer
for any Windows updates you might need.

If problems continue, disable or remove any newly installed hardware
or softwate.Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing.
If you need to use Safe Mode to remove or disable components, restart
your computer, press F8 to select Advanced Startup Options, and then
seec Safe Mode.

Technical information:

*** STOP: 0x000000ED (0x825568D0, 0xC0000006, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)

"

I think my hard drive just died, since everything else but it has been working fine until now. I've been hearing a very loud whirring noise every time I start my comp up. That's gone now, and now all I hear is a slight whirring, a clicking noise or two, and this simple thing repeated until the computer restarts. I also figured that there would be some perceptible vibrations coming off the hard drive if it was working correctly, so I took a side panel off my case and felt the top part of the hard drive throughout the startu/restart process. Problem is, the thing felt as if it wasn't even on.

Does anyone know what could be wrong?



P.S. I've gotten this error message before(not sure if it's exactly the same) when I switched out SDRAM modules on an old amd k7 motherboard. Because of that, I moved my stick of RAM into another module but there was still the same error. I don't have any other DDR modules to test the RAM out with though :(


System components:

amd athlon 64 3000+ winchester
gigabyte k8ns triton
maxtor 40gb 5400rpm hdd
ocz el ram, 512mb stick
msi 6600gt agp


stock cooling on video card and cpu. Video card is oc'd to about 554/1168. However, it doesn't oc until rivatuner loads in Windows afaik.
 
So you get past the Windows XP loading screen, and it's about to display your desktop and before it does that it BSODs?

If that's the case I think maybe the ram, also try reseting your CMOS and see if that does anything (probably won't, but it couldn't hurt.) And if you have your CPU OCed this will set it back to stock settings, also.
 
Resetting the CMOS is done by sticking something non-conductive between the little lithium battery and it's metal cover thing, right?

Not sure how to test the RAM, though I guess I could RMA it.


[Edit:] Yeah, right before it hits that blue screen to load the profiles and everything the comp flashes that error message for about half a second and then it restarts.
 
Well it can depend on what mobo you have, but with everyone that I've owned, you had to move a jumper from 2 pins over for a few seconds and then back. Although it can also be done by removing the lithium battery.

Check your mobo manual if you're unsure.

And after looking at your sig, if it really is your HD that is causing the problem, getting a new (coughbettercough) one wouldn't hurt. :p
 
Ok, thanks. Also, I didn't reformat my drive after installing my last two versions of Windows, so I still have Windows ME and Windows 2k Pro installed which work on my athlon xp setup. I'd rather not remove and replace everything a couple times to test things out, so could I just lay out my old components on something like cardboard or a blanket, and then hook up my hard drive to see if it works with my old parts? I'm not sure if things would start blowing up though :(
 
If you're going to pull everything out, put your mobo on the anti-static case that it (should have) came with. If you don't have it anymore, I think cardboard works fine (I think.)

If you have an extra HD or extra RAM laying around, try exchanging those to try and isolate the problem.
 
Ok, I just have a large and a small antistatic bag, so I guess I'll use those. No extra RAM and the only way to get an extra hard drive would be to nab one from my dad's dated HP, which would piss him off :(
Well, i'll try hooking the stuff up tomorrow after school.
 
Surely you have to have a good friend that could spare a stick of ram for a day? Also, make sure to put your HD on one of those anti-static baggies.

Hope that you can get your stuff going!
 
Hmm.. I could see about borrowing a stick. But anything that keeps my friends from playing WoW or EQ2 might get me lynched :p
 
Just to let you know, putting a part on an antistatic bag doesn't prevent it from static. You need to put it *in* the static bag for that. I have had no problem with using carboard, just make sure you ground yourself before you touch the components, everytime.
 
Ok, well I think i've isolated the problem. I connected the hard drive to my old components, which it should've worked fine with, and instead got the same issues with windows 2k pro and windows me, on which it previously worked. Tried Windows xp just for the heck of it, even though i installed windows xp on my newer hardware, and that simply didn't work as expected.

So now i'm looking at either buying 2 hdd's, since my sister needs one to connect to these old components, or buying one and getting the other completely wiped. Before that happens, i'll try reinstalling windows xp, and hopefully that'll fix the problem.

*crosses fingers*

Thx btw everyone, i'll give an update tomorrow.
 
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