Stupid Hard drive failures

  • Thread starter Thread starter Robert
  • Start date Start date
R

Robert

From the beginning (from the purchase of this computer) I
have had unable to read hard drive errors. Microsoft
acknowledged this problem early on and even provided me
with disks to repair this problem. This problem has
persisted for over a year and a half, and no true solution
yet. I have installed ALL of the updates, every time.
But, Still, no solution.

any ideas how to fix this silly thing?

Thanks,

Robert
 
If you've had unable to read hard drive errors from the time you purchased
the computer, this almost assuredly is a problem with your hard drive that
cannot be fixed with software. You need to contact your system
manufacturer, if you've had more than one failure as your message implies,
it sounds as though you have some other hardware problem that is the source
of this issue, perhaps a short on the motherboard, some problem with the
power supply but this does not sound like a software issue. You need to
contact your system builder.
 
If it was a system problem, then why did a software patch
initially fix the problem? and why would the
manufacturer, via microsoft, send a software patch to
repair it?
The hard drive is not failing, as I have not had to
replace the hard drive, the ability to see the hard drive
fails. It tells me there is no operating system, or it
just black screens, and lately it gives me the blue screen
of death. Nothing I do seems to cause it, it actually
seems to happen most often during long periods of
inactivity.

I have tried numerous combinations of applications, heck,
it's actually the most versatile operating system I have
ever run, but it seems to have just this one little
problem. Compaq (I have a compaq presario 700 laptop)
said that this was not uncommon in the initial release of
the operating system but that the software patch would
repair it.

oh, and one more thing, is it common, if I gave my
address, to recieve 15 emails that postini picked from my
inbox as if virus's were attached? I will not be allowing
these to hit my system if any of you knuckleheads that are
sending them are interested.

RWP
 
"If it was a system problem, then why did a software patch
initially fix the problem?"

And why does the fix no longer work? Possibly the fix never worked, things
coincidentally fell into place. If you have a short somewhere or some other
problem on the motherboard, the problem might be sporadic.

You should always check the integrity of the hard drive if for no other
reason to rule it out as the source of this issue, logic can't do that, a
diagnostic can.

Hard drive is not failing because you haven't had to replace it! True but
hard drives don't necessarily die all at once! It can be an evolving
process, that's one of the reasons for doing a diagnostic.

Okay, the ability to see the hard drive is what fails. I can't think of any
software issue that might cause this but there's a whole host of hardware
issues that can cause it; failing disk controller, short in the motherboard,
a problem with the hard drive read heads or the armature itself, hard drive
is not properly jumpered or cabled, possible conflict with some other
hardware device. These can be sporadic issues at first but ultimately lead
to hardware failure.

I also didn't say your hard drive was dead, I did say there most assuredly
was an issue with the hard drive, this sporadic inability to see the drive
may only be a symptom, but the OS doesn't control that. The exception is a
SCSI hard drive and even in that regard it is not so much the OS as it is a
compatibility issue with some SCSI drivers as XP does not natively support
most SCSI devices.

Does this problem of being unable to read the hard drive every occur before
the system has fully booted?
 
Actually, yes it does appear to occur before a total boot,
which does kind of indicate a hardware issue. what kind
of diagnostic tool are you talking about...?? and where do
i get it...

As it seems...i had two crashes tonight...here is what i
got on the blue screen of death...

Kernel_Stack_Inpage_Error

Stop: 0X00000077 (0XC000000E, OXC000000E, 0X00000000,
0X05104000 )
NTFS.SYS Address F976863 base@F9705000 Date Stamp 3D6DE5C1

Now THIS is what I'm getting from within windows...it just
can't read from the hard drive. From a start up, it gets
through the cmos, give it the password, and then
says, "operating system not present". If i hit it
(yes..i'm a mechanic..it really does work sometimes) then
so far i've been able to persuade it to get passed this
problem. But, with everything else, whatever it is, is
going to sooner or later break permanently. I'd love to
find it, before it finds me.

Thanks for all the help

Robert
 
The tool varies by manufacturer but you go to the hard drive manufacturer's
web site. They should have a tools disk that you can download. They should
also have instructions that explain how to create the tools disk. It
usually requires a floppy disk. Once created, you boot with the floppy in
the floppy drive and then run the diagnostic. There should be some
selection such as "Check drive integrity" and possibly another such similar
selection. Neither of these tests should be volatile to the data on the
drive. NOTE, there will also likely be some tests that will destroy data
but there's usually a warning to that effect. If the drive is bad, it's
more or less a moot point unless you can gain access some of the time which
might allow you to at least pull some of your data files off of the drive.
 
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