Is this a Hard Drive issue??
Community Forums/General Help/Is this a Hard Drive issue??
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| Hey all, So, a friend of mine handed me his laptop recently as a fix-it-if-you-can-it's-not-much-use-anyway kinda thing. I'm not sure of the details of its existing problems, but apparently it was something to do with missing Windows system files, which was preventing him from installing things, including the update packages that might have fixed it. Anyway, the plan was for me to install XP Pro using my installer CD, which is a fully licensed, genuine-windows-holographically-printed disc. Tried and true, I've used it to install XP on my old PC, my laptop, and my new homemade desktop, all three of which went without a hitch. He also wanted to try Ubuntu, so I prepared an ISO Ubuntu Live CD, testing both the MD5 checksum and the CD itself after burning; all results confirmed 100% integrity. SO, I start the XP install. To avoid complications (hah!) I was going to format his HD manually at first, using an XP MS-DOS floppy (his laptop has a floppy drive, w00t!) which I've also used on several occasions for just such a task. Trouble was, his laptop won't recognize the disk, nor will it recognize the Win98 floppy I also keep. Yes, I checked the boot device priority in the BIOS, and yes, the floppy & CD drive are checked first. It just wouldn't acknowledge the presence of system files on either disk. Okay, plan B: format the HD with the XP CD. So, in it goes. Everything starts fine, and I reach the main menu. It's a 20GB HD, (about 19.6 when you see it in Windows) so I made a 10GB partition for XP and left the remaining space unpartitioned for Ubuntu. Then, I started the format, with NTFS. It moved great to begin with, until it hit 54%, at which point it hung around for ages. It moved on eventually though, while I was out getting groceries. When I get back, the format has completed & the transfer has begun, but there's a message on the screen saying that XP cannot copy such-and-such a file. Every time I hit Retry, it hit the same error, and when I tried to skip, the very next file had the same problem. the transfer had only made it to about 2%. SO, I abort the transfer. Laptop reboots, CD loads, and BOOM, it says there's no hard drive present! Wha?! The BIOS confirms that the laptop is not recognizing the existence of its HD. After removing the drive for examination & re-inserting it, however, the laptop finds it again & I go back to the XP installation. THIS time, I decide to format the whole thing with NTFS, one partition only. Maybe that's what messed it up. NOPE! It hangs at around 28% this time, and again at 66%, then when it's done, the transfer fails again, except this time it fails at a different file further on at about 3%, which seems to rule out the possibility of disc defect. Oh, and the HD disappears again; removing & re-inserting it brings it back. Again. SO, I figure, maybe Ubuntu can do what XP can't. Wrong again. The installation never starts; the screen gets left with a blinking cursor, which also disappears after a while, leaving the laptop blank and silent. Trying to run Ubuntu Live without installing brings the same result. At this point, I'm out of ideas. My tentative diagnosis: Hard Drive malfunction. Am I wrong in this assumption? At this point, I'm honestly beyond the realms of my personal computer experience; out of my league. Any suggestions, anyone? |
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| yeah just get a new hard drive... that one sounds really screwed up. |
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| Sounds like a perfect case for SpinRite |
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| Had the same problem with my mate's laptop - the hard drive connector was hanging off so it wouldn't boot - well - it sometimes would, but usually not. He doesn't know the inside of a laptop from the inside of a paper bag, so I got it to play with. Assuming you've taken the hard drive out, cleaned the connector with switch cleaner (laptops are dust magnets), replaced it and made sure everything's held in place with any retaining screws that should be there, the drive's probably dead. |
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| Well, dying, at any rate... The odd thing is that XP never runs into any problems while formatting it, only when trying to copy its setup files. I've swapped the drive into my own laptop, just to make sure it's the HD itself that's the problem. |
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| My experience of laptops is that they rarely cooperate too well with standard windows installations, especially the older laptops. They often require specialised versions of windows that are often bundled with the machine with specific drivers etc. particular to the laptop hardware. |
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| My experience of laptops is that they rarely cooperate too well with standard windows installations, especially the older laptops. They often require specialised versions of windows that are often bundled with the machine with specific drivers etc. particular to the laptop hardware. Windows is Windows. There is no such thing as a "specialised version".If you install from a Windows CD, what you won't have, are all the laptop-specific hardware drivers. These can usually be found on the manufacturer's website, and you'll need to install most if not all of them. The upside to this is that you won't have all the factory-installed bloatware that laptop manufacturers insist on filling your hard drive up with - usually their own branding, Microsoft Publisher, and a cut-down and next to useless version of Encarta would be "the norm". |
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| If the drive formats fine, but you get problems when writing to it, like when installing the OS, you may want to check the memory. Download and run Memtest86 on it. www.memtest.org |
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| Reaffirming, if it formats but has trouble writing to the disk when copying the installation files over, it is a case of bad sectors and you need to run SpinRite. |
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| Don't make your response sound like it is a 100% guarantee. It may be bad sectors, but it could be a number of other issues as well. It really sounds like the drive is bad. I just suggested memory as a culprit because it is a possibility that had not been suggested yet. Personally, since it is just a small 20GB drive, I wold just throw it away and get a new drive. |
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| Don't make your response sound like it is a 100% guarantee. I agree, you should do that ;) because it is a possibility that had not been suggested yet. Maybe it is because he hasn't cleaned the cat's litter box in a while, and the acidic fumes have eaten the etching off of the motherboard. That hasn't been suggested yet, either ;) Just because something is possible, it doesn't mean its probable ;) |
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| Erm... Yeah... Thanks guys, I think. <.< >.> ANYWAY, I actually managed to make it work. The odd thing is that every time it tried to install XP immediately after formatting, it crashed. However, when I finally tried installing it on the already-formatted drive without RE-formatting, it finally went all the way through, and I haven't had a hitch since! So, I still have NO idea what happened, but at least it's working now. @_@ |
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| LOL In the past month, I have seen 3 PCs that installing the OS failed on because of memory issues. Memory problems can cause so many crazy issues that it throws off your troubleshooting and sends you down unnecessary paths. |
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