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Home > Archive > alt.certification.a-plus > September 2002 > Hard drive question.
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Hard drive question.
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| Hi all,
My friend said he was having problems with his computer not booting.
Sometimes it would boot other times it would say there was a file
missing and couldn't load. (Not sure which file) Now it won't boot at
all, the power comes on and the system just stops. I went over to his
house and took a look at it and tried a Win98 boot disk. (He has Win98
on his computer) The boot disk would not work so I tried to reinstall
windows from his Win98 CD and it said it could not do a reinstall
because there was no partition. I then tried FDISK and it said no hard
disk present. I checked all the cabling and everything was secure. I'm
thinking maybe the hard drive just went and he should get a new hard
drive and we can just reinstall Windows on it. Anyone got any opinions
on this solution? I hoping to get some other people's solution to this
problem before I have him spend money on a new hard drive.
Any help appreciated.
Thanks,
Sid
| |
| Russ S 2002-09-21, 10:28 pm |
| Hey Sid
That the system comes up with a message about a missing disk leads me to the
conclusion that it has either failed or has been attacked by a virus. Those
are my first choice guesses. What I would do is attach the drive to another
non critical system and see if it is recognised, and that would at least let
you know if the drive is completely dead or not. I have found that using
something like System Commander is great for sorting this kind of problem,
and allows you to delete partitions and format the drive.
I would note that I have had a very similar problem on drives that have held
non M$ operating systems and the M$ fdisk would just not work at all.
RussS
A+, Net+
| |
| Ghost 2002-09-21, 10:28 pm |
| In article <3D8D25F9.D858A72@NoWhere.com>, Sid <Sid@NoWhere.com> wrote:
> Hi all,
> My friend said he was having problems with his computer not booting.
> Sometimes it would boot other times it would say there was a file
> missing and couldn't load. (Not sure which file) Now it won't boot at
> all, the power comes on and the system just stops. I went over to his
> house and took a look at it and tried a Win98 boot disk. (He has Win98
> on his computer) The boot disk would not work so I tried to reinstall
> windows from his Win98 CD and it said it could not do a reinstall
> because there was no partition. I then tried FDISK and it said no hard
> disk present. I checked all the cabling and everything was secure. I'm
> thinking maybe the hard drive just went and he should get a new hard
> drive and we can just reinstall Windows on it. Anyone got any opinions
> on this solution? I hoping to get some other people's solution to this
> problem before I have him spend money on a new hard drive.
>
> Any help appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Sid
Sounds about right to me.... you could try repartitioning and
reformatting the hard drive, but it may not hold the partition long, if at
all...
You could also try running the hard drive's brand diagnositics- which is
nomrally available at the web site.
but, most likely it is best to replace the drive...
| |
| Ghost 2002-09-21, 11:28 pm |
| In article <3D8D25F9.D858A72@NoWhere.com>, Sid <Sid@NoWhere.com> wrote:
> Hi all,
> My friend said he was having problems with his computer not booting.
> Sometimes it would boot other times it would say there was a file
> missing and couldn't load. (Not sure which file) Now it won't boot at
> all, the power comes on and the system just stops. I went over to his
> house and took a look at it and tried a Win98 boot disk. (He has Win98
> on his computer) The boot disk would not work so I tried to reinstall
> windows from his Win98 CD and it said it could not do a reinstall
> because there was no partition. I then tried FDISK and it said no hard
> disk present. I checked all the cabling and everything was secure. I'm
> thinking maybe the hard drive just went and he should get a new hard
> drive and we can just reinstall Windows on it. Anyone got any opinions
> on this solution? I hoping to get some other people's solution to this
> problem before I have him spend money on a new hard drive.
>
> Any help appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Sid
Sounds about right to me.... you could try repartitioning and
reformatting the hard drive, but it may not hold the partition long, if at
all...
You could also try running the hard drive's brand diagnositics- which is
nomrally available at the web site.
but, most likely it is best to replace the drive...
| |
| Don B. 2002-09-22, 10:28 am |
| On Sun, 22 Sep 2002 02:08:03 GMT, Sid <Sid@NoWhere.com> wrote:
>Hi all,
>My friend said he was having problems with his computer not booting.
>Sometimes it would boot other times it would say there was a file
>missing and couldn't load. (Not sure which file) Now it won't boot at
>all, the power comes on and the system just stops. I went over to his
>house and took a look at it and tried a Win98 boot disk. (He has Win98
>on his computer) The boot disk would not work so I tried to reinstall
>windows from his Win98 CD and it said it could not do a reinstall
>because there was no partition. I then tried FDISK and it said no hard
>disk present. I checked all the cabling and everything was secure. I'm
>thinking maybe the hard drive just went and he should get a new hard
>drive and we can just reinstall Windows on it. Anyone got any opinions
>on this solution? I hoping to get some other people's solution to this
>problem before I have him spend money on a new hard drive.
>
>Any help appreciated.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Sid
>
I'm concerned that 'the boot disk wouldn't work'.
Can you be more specific....you should have been able to boot to at
least an A: prompt?
What is BIOS reporting? Is it still showing the drive....if it is and
you can't do anything as far as recognizing the drive (getting to a C:
prompt) or much less trying to read its contents or format it, then
indeed it may be dead........Can you hear it spin up when you turn the
computer on? And if so, can you hear it do the self-check....normally
you'll hear the disk do a read/write check (Or it may be reading the
MBR information, or something to that effect.)
If the MBR was corrupted, the drive may be usable, but needs the MBR
restored.....maybe someone can chime in here as I'm not sure of that
procedure.
How old is the drive? If its a 5400 ATA 66 drive, it'll be worth it
just to move up to a 7200 ATA 100/133 drive if the MB will support it.
Good Luck,
Cheers,
Don B.
1991 Trooper LS, 2.8L V6, MuchoK Miles, Freeflow Cat, Flowmaster Muffler, 'Zu 15x7 Alloys,
32x11.5R15 SportKing ATs, http://home.att.net/~nursecapper
"I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!"
| |
| Don B. 2002-09-22, 11:29 am |
| On Sun, 22 Sep 2002 02:08:03 GMT, Sid <Sid@NoWhere.com> wrote:
>Hi all,
>My friend said he was having problems with his computer not booting.
>Sometimes it would boot other times it would say there was a file
>missing and couldn't load. (Not sure which file) Now it won't boot at
>all, the power comes on and the system just stops. I went over to his
>house and took a look at it and tried a Win98 boot disk. (He has Win98
>on his computer) The boot disk would not work so I tried to reinstall
>windows from his Win98 CD and it said it could not do a reinstall
>because there was no partition. I then tried FDISK and it said no hard
>disk present. I checked all the cabling and everything was secure. I'm
>thinking maybe the hard drive just went and he should get a new hard
>drive and we can just reinstall Windows on it. Anyone got any opinions
>on this solution? I hoping to get some other people's solution to this
>problem before I have him spend money on a new hard drive.
>
>Any help appreciated.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Sid
>
I'm concerned that 'the boot disk wouldn't work'.
Can you be more specific....you should have been able to boot to at
least an A: prompt?
What is BIOS reporting? Is it still showing the drive....if it is and
you can't do anything as far as recognizing the drive (getting to a C:
prompt) or much less trying to read its contents or format it, then
indeed it may be dead........Can you hear it spin up when you turn the
computer on? And if so, can you hear it do the self-check....normally
you'll hear the disk do a read/write check (Or it may be reading the
MBR information, or something to that effect.)
If the MBR was corrupted, the drive may be usable, but needs the MBR
restored.....maybe someone can chime in here as I'm not sure of that
procedure.
How old is the drive? If its a 5400 ATA 66 drive, it'll be worth it
just to move up to a 7200 ATA 100/133 drive if the MB will support it.
Good Luck,
Cheers,
Don B.
1991 Trooper LS, 2.8L V6, MuchoK Miles, Freeflow Cat, Flowmaster Muffler, 'Zu 15x7 Alloys,
32x11.5R15 SportKing ATs, http://home.att.net/~nursecapper
"I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!"
| |
| Chris E 2002-09-22, 11:29 am |
| I believe the procedure is to boot to an A: prompt from a boot disk and type
"FDISK /MBR" without the quotes of course. If I'm wrong, somebody please
correct me.
Chris
A+
"Don B." <nursecapper@att.net> wrote in message
news:3d8de624.5486895@netnews.worldnet.att.net...
> On Sun, 22 Sep 2002 02:08:03 GMT, Sid <Sid@NoWhere.com> wrote:
>
> >Hi all,
> >My friend said he was having problems with his computer not booting.
> >Sometimes it would boot other times it would say there was a file
> >missing and couldn't load. (Not sure which file) Now it won't boot at
> >all, the power comes on and the system just stops. I went over to his
> >house and took a look at it and tried a Win98 boot disk. (He has Win98
> >on his computer) The boot disk would not work so I tried to reinstall
> >windows from his Win98 CD and it said it could not do a reinstall
> >because there was no partition. I then tried FDISK and it said no hard
> >disk present. I checked all the cabling and everything was secure. I'm
> >thinking maybe the hard drive just went and he should get a new hard
> >drive and we can just reinstall Windows on it. Anyone got any opinions
> >on this solution? I hoping to get some other people's solution to this
> >problem before I have him spend money on a new hard drive.
> >
> >Any help appreciated.
> >
> >Thanks,
> >
> >Sid
> >
> I'm concerned that 'the boot disk wouldn't work'.
>
> Can you be more specific....you should have been able to boot to at
> least an A: prompt?
>
> What is BIOS reporting? Is it still showing the drive....if it is and
> you can't do anything as far as recognizing the drive (getting to a C:
> prompt) or much less trying to read its contents or format it, then
> indeed it may be dead........Can you hear it spin up when you turn the
> computer on? And if so, can you hear it do the self-check....normally
> you'll hear the disk do a read/write check (Or it may be reading the
> MBR information, or something to that effect.)
>
> If the MBR was corrupted, the drive may be usable, but needs the MBR
> restored.....maybe someone can chime in here as I'm not sure of that
> procedure.
>
> How old is the drive? If its a 5400 ATA 66 drive, it'll be worth it
> just to move up to a 7200 ATA 100/133 drive if the MB will support it.
>
> Good Luck,
> Cheers,
> Don B.
> 1991 Trooper LS, 2.8L V6, MuchoK Miles, Freeflow Cat, Flowmaster Muffler,
'Zu 15x7 Alloys,
> 32x11.5R15 SportKing ATs, http://home.att.net/~nursecapper
>
> "I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!"
| |
| Chris E 2002-09-22, 12:28 pm |
| I believe the procedure is to boot to an A: prompt from a boot disk and type
"FDISK /MBR" without the quotes of course. If I'm wrong, somebody please
correct me.
Chris
A+
"Don B." <nursecapper@att.net> wrote in message
news:3d8de624.5486895@netnews.worldnet.att.net...
> On Sun, 22 Sep 2002 02:08:03 GMT, Sid <Sid@NoWhere.com> wrote:
>
> >Hi all,
> >My friend said he was having problems with his computer not booting.
> >Sometimes it would boot other times it would say there was a file
> >missing and couldn't load. (Not sure which file) Now it won't boot at
> >all, the power comes on and the system just stops. I went over to his
> >house and took a look at it and tried a Win98 boot disk. (He has Win98
> >on his computer) The boot disk would not work so I tried to reinstall
> >windows from his Win98 CD and it said it could not do a reinstall
> >because there was no partition. I then tried FDISK and it said no hard
> >disk present. I checked all the cabling and everything was secure. I'm
> >thinking maybe the hard drive just went and he should get a new hard
> >drive and we can just reinstall Windows on it. Anyone got any opinions
> >on this solution? I hoping to get some other people's solution to this
> >problem before I have him spend money on a new hard drive.
> >
> >Any help appreciated.
> >
> >Thanks,
> >
> >Sid
> >
> I'm concerned that 'the boot disk wouldn't work'.
>
> Can you be more specific....you should have been able to boot to at
> least an A: prompt?
>
> What is BIOS reporting? Is it still showing the drive....if it is and
> you can't do anything as far as recognizing the drive (getting to a C:
> prompt) or much less trying to read its contents or format it, then
> indeed it may be dead........Can you hear it spin up when you turn the
> computer on? And if so, can you hear it do the self-check....normally
> you'll hear the disk do a read/write check (Or it may be reading the
> MBR information, or something to that effect.)
>
> If the MBR was corrupted, the drive may be usable, but needs the MBR
> restored.....maybe someone can chime in here as I'm not sure of that
> procedure.
>
> How old is the drive? If its a 5400 ATA 66 drive, it'll be worth it
> just to move up to a 7200 ATA 100/133 drive if the MB will support it.
>
> Good Luck,
> Cheers,
> Don B.
> 1991 Trooper LS, 2.8L V6, MuchoK Miles, Freeflow Cat, Flowmaster Muffler,
'Zu 15x7 Alloys,
> 32x11.5R15 SportKing ATs, http://home.att.net/~nursecapper
>
> "I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!"
| |
| Barry Watzman 2002-09-22, 9:29 pm |
| Certainly that's a possibility, but it's not a conclusion I would
immediately jump to. Check the BIOS settings. Try FDISK/MBR. Try the
hard drive in another PC (disconnect IT'S hard drive to prevent a
possible virus contamination).
Sid wrote:
> Hi all,
> My friend said he was having problems with his computer not booting.
> Sometimes it would boot other times it would say there was a file
> missing and couldn't load. (Not sure which file) Now it won't boot at
> all, the power comes on and the system just stops. I went over to his
> house and took a look at it and tried a Win98 boot disk. (He has Win98
> on his computer) The boot disk would not work so I tried to reinstall
> windows from his Win98 CD and it said it could not do a reinstall
> because there was no partition. I then tried FDISK and it said no hard
> disk present. I checked all the cabling and everything was secure. I'm
> thinking maybe the hard drive just went and he should get a new hard
> drive and we can just reinstall Windows on it. Anyone got any opinions
> on this solution? I hoping to get some other people's solution to this
> problem before I have him spend money on a new hard drive.
>
> Any help appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Sid
>
| |
| Barry Watzman 2002-09-22, 10:29 pm |
| Certainly that's a possibility, but it's not a conclusion I would
immediately jump to. Check the BIOS settings. Try FDISK/MBR. Try the
hard drive in another PC (disconnect IT'S hard drive to prevent a
possible virus contamination).
Sid wrote:
> Hi all,
> My friend said he was having problems with his computer not booting.
> Sometimes it would boot other times it would say there was a file
> missing and couldn't load. (Not sure which file) Now it won't boot at
> all, the power comes on and the system just stops. I went over to his
> house and took a look at it and tried a Win98 boot disk. (He has Win98
> on his computer) The boot disk would not work so I tried to reinstall
> windows from his Win98 CD and it said it could not do a reinstall
> because there was no partition. I then tried FDISK and it said no hard
> disk present. I checked all the cabling and everything was secure. I'm
> thinking maybe the hard drive just went and he should get a new hard
> drive and we can just reinstall Windows on it. Anyone got any opinions
> on this solution? I hoping to get some other people's solution to this
> problem before I have him spend money on a new hard drive.
>
> Any help appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Sid
>
| |
| Hcetrepus 2002-09-27, 1:29 pm |
| How old is the hard drive? The life of a jard drive is suprisably low,
(referencing an article I saw on HDD longevity) . I would definitely first
try to format and repartion the drive before forking over the money for a
new one, lest he has the cash to spend. However I have yet to find a drive
that wont boot with a boot disk.
I would really like to know what you find out!
Judd
"Sid" <Sid@NoWhere.com> wrote in message
news:3D8D25F9.D858A72@NoWhere.com...
> Hi all,
> My friend said he was having problems with his computer not booting.
> Sometimes it would boot other times it would say there was a file
> missing and couldn't load. (Not sure which file) Now it won't boot at
> all, the power comes on and the system just stops. I went over to his
> house and took a look at it and tried a Win98 boot disk. (He has Win98
> on his computer) The boot disk would not work so I tried to reinstall
> windows from his Win98 CD and it said it could not do a reinstall
> because there was no partition. I then tried FDISK and it said no hard
> disk present. I checked all the cabling and everything was secure. I'm
> thinking maybe the hard drive just went and he should get a new hard
> drive and we can just reinstall Windows on it. Anyone got any opinions
> on this solution? I hoping to get some other people's solution to this
> problem before I have him spend money on a new hard drive.
>
> Any help appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Sid
>
| |
| Hcetrepus 2002-09-27, 2:28 pm |
| How old is the hard drive? The life of a jard drive is suprisably low,
(referencing an article I saw on HDD longevity) . I would definitely first
try to format and repartion the drive before forking over the money for a
new one, lest he has the cash to spend. However I have yet to find a drive
that wont boot with a boot disk.
I would really like to know what you find out!
Judd
"Sid" <Sid@NoWhere.com> wrote in message
news:3D8D25F9.D858A72@NoWhere.com...
> Hi all,
> My friend said he was having problems with his computer not booting.
> Sometimes it would boot other times it would say there was a file
> missing and couldn't load. (Not sure which file) Now it won't boot at
> all, the power comes on and the system just stops. I went over to his
> house and took a look at it and tried a Win98 boot disk. (He has Win98
> on his computer) The boot disk would not work so I tried to reinstall
> windows from his Win98 CD and it said it could not do a reinstall
> because there was no partition. I then tried FDISK and it said no hard
> disk present. I checked all the cabling and everything was secure. I'm
> thinking maybe the hard drive just went and he should get a new hard
> drive and we can just reinstall Windows on it. Anyone got any opinions
> on this solution? I hoping to get some other people's solution to this
> problem before I have him spend money on a new hard drive.
>
> Any help appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Sid
>
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