Is hard disk failure the problem?

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raycer

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Hello
My friend's computer has packed up. There is fan sound but the screen is completely blank. Is there any way to check if the hard drive is the problem. The PC is four and a half years old - MS XP. I would appreciate any advice. Have searched the forum!
Regards raycer
 
same thing happen to 2 different friends, it was the hard drive in both cases....
 
I'd be surprised if it was the hard drive, as normally something should still show up on the screen (anything?) - like feckit says, are there any beeps as that could help diagnose :)
 
raycer said:
Hello
My friend's computer has packed up. There is fan sound but the screen is completely blank. Is there any way to check if the hard drive is the problem. The PC is four and a half years old - MS XP. I would appreciate any advice. Have searched the forum!
Regards raycer
Click to expand...
The hard drive is unlikely to be the source of your trouble.
When you first start up any computer, it runs what is called a "power on self test" (POST for short).
POST does not use the hard drive at all.
The first thing you should see in the POST process is the videocard BIOS screen shot.
You should hear a single beep.
Then you should see either 1 of 2 things:
1) The screen report of BIOS. Things such as a memory test, ATA/SATA controllers being recognized, USB controllers, etc.
OR
2) A screen picture substituted while the system runs the above activity.

After POST is complete, THEN the computer looks for an operating system using the boot drive priority set in BIOS. It is only at this point that a floppy, CD or hard drive would actually be used.
IF a hard drive is bad, then during BIOS it may not be recognized by the system, but the system will POST anyway. It will then tell you it's looking for a boot drive and cannot find one.
In order to round up the usual suspects, a few questions are in order...
1) Is your monitor completely dead, or do you see some of the things I mentioned above when you power the system up.?
2) Do you hear ANY beeps when you turn it on and if so how many?
3) Is the monitor plugged in (sorry but I had to ask)?
4) Can you hear the hard drive spin up?
5) Exactly what kind of system is this (Brand and components as you know them)?
 
In answer to your queries
1) Yes. Screen report of BIOS
2) Yes. One short beep
3) Yes!
4) Appears to be
5) No known make. Constructed by small firm to requirements.

This is what happens: Boot up. One single beep. Screen blank no response.
When XP CD put in, screen report of BIOS with last response "Boot from CD, hit any key"
Some time after hitting a key "Windows could not start because following file is missing or corrupt.
\Windows\system32\config\system. Repair by using original XP CD" But this was already in.
Any clues from this?
 
raycer said:
In answer to your queries
1) Yes. Screen report of BIOS
2) Yes. One short beep
3) Yes!
4) Appears to be
5) No known make. Constructed by small firm to requirements.

This is what happens: Boot up. One single beep. Screen blank no response.
When XP CD put in, screen report of BIOS with last response "Boot from CD, hit any key"
Some time after hitting a key "Windows could not start because following file is missing or corrupt.
\Windows\system32\config\system. Repair by using original XP CD" But this was already in.
Any clues from this?
Click to expand...
Yes, I have a clue...
Your system POSTS!
This is really good news. Your mobo, CPU, memory, videocard and monitor are fine.
Either you have a repairable software issue that Windows can fix, or you will have to reinstall Windows, or (worst case) your hard drive has read issues and is failing.
If you can enter BIOS setup (press the right key for your BIOS during POST, AMI is delete key but they vary), then do so and see if the hard drive is recognized. If it is then proceed to boot and try to get your Windows program to perform a repair. If it can't/won't then you will have to try and reinstall. I would guess that your boot sequence priority is set for 1)Hard Drive, 2)..., 3)..., and you will need to reset this in the BIOS setup to recognize the CD/DVD drive first. Then you can work with your Windows CD to fix or reinstall Windows.
 
BTW, If your hard drive is NOT recognized in BIOS or you get no response from Windows trying to repair/load, then it IS the problem. This is good since it's a cheap fix but bad if you haven't backed up your data. Check your connections, both power and data to make sure nothings gone loose.
 
There was no response to Windows trying to repair, so it looks as though the hard drive is faulty. My friend has decided to go for a new hard drive. Many thanks for all your help, much appreciated.
 
Sorry it took so long to get to the root problem (that you figured out right away).
Hope the new hard drive gets you up and going soon...
 
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