Last attempt at saving computer?

J

JamesL

Gawd
Joined
Nov 7, 2007
Messages
657
My friend's computer basically died..
He couldn't install Linux, and he says he tried formatting the drive when trying to re-install windows...

I was over at his place at one point, and upon bootup, it said it was missing a file, and I wasn't able to access it through window's recovery disc.

He's going to go buy another HD tomorrow evening, but is there any other thing that he should try before buying a new HD?
Any failproof method of formatting it for a fresh install? etcetera?

Thanks in advance.
 
For the millionth time. :eek: I'm kidding, in can't be more than the thousanth.

Whenever you have a problem with a hard drive, the first thing you want to do is try a different data cable. Also try plugging a different power connector, preferably on a different line coming out of the PSU. Oh yea, also try a diferent connector on the MOBO if possible.

Then go into the bios settings on the sytem, and see if the drive is being recognized. If not, it is completely dead and the following section would be a waste of time.

Find out who built the drive, go to their website, go to the support section, and find their diagnostic program. If they give you an option, get the CD ISO version as it's quite a bit quicker than loading from a floppy.

Burn your CD, or floppy, and boot up the computer with only the flaky hard drive connected. Run the extended or long test, and if it reports any errors, the drive is toast. go back to the manufacturers web site and see if it is still under warranty.

If it passed, it prolly was not the hard drive causing the problem. Clean the windows cd and try again. Maybe try a different CD drive if possible.

Don
 
It kind of sounds like a RAM problem.

Download Memtest+ V.170, unzip it, burn the ISO file to a CD, and then boot from it, just like you would do with the XP install CD. Let Memtest+ run for at least three hours on each stick of RAM separately. If you start seeing errors, than your RAM is bad.
 
so we deleted the partition first and then formatted the drive to no avail? U can run checkdsk off any setup floppy for win98. Just download it to check the integrity of the drive. Then use fdisk I believe, it's been so long to delete and recreate a partition and then Format c:\

If you can install from a prompt, do so. Otherwise, reboot and press any key with the OS in the drive that is.
 
Well from the first post it sounds as if the HD is at least partially readable, so go get the HDD tools from the drive manufacturer. Make a boot CD and run the diagnostics on that drive. If the drive is under warranty and the program says it has problems, get it replaced.

I have had a drive before that failed Maxtor's diagnostics that was out of warranty that I got working again by running their low level format option. Funny thing is it passed Maxtor's diagnostics test after the low level format. I don't trust the drive so it's in an old test system of mine but I found it rather amusing.
 
Yeah.. he said he couldn't install linux on it either..
Anyways, I pulled it out of his system and took it back to my room to see if I can do anything.
Deleted and formatted all partitions, and it booted right up, and worked again when I took it back to his place. Maybe his PC was just in a bad mood for the past couple weeks, and needed some fresh air from outside his case.
 
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