Kind Request for a Hard Drive Diagnostic

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siimee

n00b
Joined
Dec 3, 2006
Messages
17
Update:

Hello everyone,

It has been a while, but I managed to replace the Samsung 250GB (SP2504C) Hard Drive with another of the same model, but this one is brand new. However, after about 3 weeks, the problem still exists and once again I am faced with blue screens of death. I highly doubt that it is the hard drive now, since this one has only been used for a few weeks. Could it be that partitioning this hard drive causes these problems? Or is it possible that the other two data hard drives I have conneted to my computer are causing the problem (Not the drive with the OS)? I have heard of some cases but I am not entirely sure.

My better guess is that the memory is dying on me. Which hypothesis is more likely? Thanks.

February 11, 2007













Hello Everyone,

This is my first post here on Hardforum. I was recommended here by a friend of mine :) My first post, however, is a cry for help :p

Recently, I have been experiencing some Blue Screens of Death and I haven't been able to determine the cause. I suspect (with about 80% confidence) that is my hard drive, since sometimes when I attempt to boot the computer I am given the message "Error reading disk. Please restart". Below are some sample pictures I took.

The funny thing is, I brought it to my computer shop to take a look at it and he said it wasn't my hard drive? So I'm not sure, my own observations vs. a technical support agent at a computer shop..

It is a 3 month old Samsung 250GB HD, model number SAMSUNG SP2504C. It typically runs at about 40 +/- 3 degrees celcius.

My OS is currently installed on that HD, partitioned into 2. It seems to work about 85% of the time now, with the occassional hanging of my computer leading into the BSOD.

Any suggestions/comments would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance and have a nice day :).

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g261/siiiiimon/DSC00519.jpg
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g261/siiiiimon/DSC00510.jpg
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g261/siiiiimon/DSC00475.jpg
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g261/siiiiimon/DSC00474.jpg
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g261/siiiiimon/DSC00473.jpg
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g261/siiiiimon/DSC00472.jpg
 
I actually did all of the recommendations and the results came back negative for both. There didn't seem to be a problem, so my computer support recommended me to format the main partition, C:.

I tried, but half way through the Windows XP installation, the installation stopped, and the computer stood there doing nothing. Now, every time I try to turn on my computer, Windows setup resumes and it always stops at the same point (it gets to a point where it says 34 minutes remaining and nothing happens anymore, with the exception of the repeating Windows XP advertisement of new features). I'm stuck with a computer that I can't use, since Windows XP won't install anymore.

I guess it is my hard drive after all..

If I have to, I'll get a new hard drive. However, is it possible to retrieve the data on the other partition of the drive before tossing the hard drive away for return?
 
did you try the diagnostic software from the hard drive manufacturer? if not, try it first. it's a free download from their website. if it is the drive there is software that can recover the data. here's a link for one. again, keep us posted.
 
Hello,

Thanks for the replies. The CD was is not scratched.

I originally did run the diagnostic program before all of this. However, I discovered after installing the software that it is only applicable to specific hard drives from Samsung, namely IDE hard drives, and did not apply to my SATA.

I will probably bring it to the store and ask them to perform a data recovery from my other partition while providing me a new hard drive. In the mean time, I'll just have to live off my laptop then.

Thanks for the replies, however, and hopefully this will be the last time I have to deal with defective hard drives for a while.
 
try the recovery software first. the store will charge big bucks to do it for you. either way, good luck.
 
Just for future references...

Do you recommend separating a large SATA hard drive (250GB or maybe a 300GB) into two partitions, and then installing the OS onto one of the partitions..or is it better to install the OS on a separate IDE hard drive (80GB), and keep the larger SATA hard drive as a data drive?
 
siimee said:
Just for future references...

Do you recommend separating a large SATA hard drive (250GB or maybe a 300GB) into two partitions, and then installing the OS onto one of the partitions..or is it better to install the OS on a separate IDE hard drive (80GB), and keep the larger SATA hard drive as a data drive?
Click to expand...
You can do either. Logically, the 80GB for OS and larger drive for data sounds good as long as the 80 GB drive is fairly new(8MB cache). If it's an older 2MB cache model, I'd just use it for backup of important files and toss it in the closet and partition the new larger drive for OS and data sections. If you do use both drives, put the pagefile on the data drive for better performance.
 
tuskenraider said:
You can do either. Logically, the 80GB for OS and larger drive for data sounds good as long as the 80 GB drive is fairly new(8MB cache). If it's an older 2MB cache model, I'd just use it for backup of important files and toss it in the closet and partition the new larger drive for OS and data sections. If you do use both drives, put the pagefile on the data drive for better performance.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Can you provide me any help on my new updated problem? (See first post).
 
Well if your memory has passed memtest, your hard drive with the OS on it is new and does it have a fresh OS install? Full system specs would be good(put them in you signiture). How are your CPU temps? Notice if it reboots with heavy activity, light, or random? Could be a PSU issue(even good ones go bad). Random crashes usually point to power or memory problems, which leads to corrupted hard drives. Let's see what you have to say.
 
tuskenraider said:
Well if your memory has passed memtest, your hard drive with the OS on it is new and does it have a fresh OS install? Full system specs would be good(put them in you signiture). How are your CPU temps? Notice if it reboots with heavy activity, light, or random? Could be a PSU issue(even good ones go bad). Random crashes usually point to power or memory problems, which leads to corrupted hard drives. Let's see what you have to say.
Click to expand...

Hello,

It is a brand new hard drive with a clean OS installation. Full system specs are now located in my signature (if you require any more information, I'd be more than happy to find it out). My hard drive temps are OK. The memtest succeeded (past 100% with no errors). Reboots are normal/above average.

Last night, when I was booting my computer, it went past the motherboard screen and then showed me the message "Disk Error Occurred. Please press CTRL+ALT+Delete to restart." Of course, doing so only resulted in the same message.
 
Adding the PSU you have to your sig would be good. Anyway, has the SATA drive been jumpered to SATA 1.5Gb/s speeds? Like shown here? Your mobo may be having trouble interfacing the drive if it is set to SATA 3.0Gb/s speeds since it is only a 1.5Gb/s controller.
 
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