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Hard drive question

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  • W wizardzz

    I have a laptop here that is failing to boot to windows. Does anyone know a program that I can run from the DVD drive to test the hard disk, without booting up? I just want to know if the hard drive is fubar.

    J Offline
    J Offline
    JimmyRopes
    wrote on last edited by
    #7

    Go to the BIOS settings (different hot keys at startup for different brand systems. Look for what key to hit when the machine starts up) and look to see if the hard drive showes up. If the hard drive doesn't show up it id dead. :sigh:

    The report of my death was an exaggeration - Mark Twain
    Simply Elegant Designs JimmyRopes Designs
    Think inside the box! ProActive Secure Systems
    I'm on-line therefore I am. JimmyRopes

    W 1 Reply Last reply
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    • J JimmyRopes

      Go to the BIOS settings (different hot keys at startup for different brand systems. Look for what key to hit when the machine starts up) and look to see if the hard drive showes up. If the hard drive doesn't show up it id dead. :sigh:

      The report of my death was an exaggeration - Mark Twain
      Simply Elegant Designs JimmyRopes Designs
      Think inside the box! ProActive Secure Systems
      I'm on-line therefore I am. JimmyRopes

      W Offline
      W Offline
      wizardzz
      wrote on last edited by
      #8

      It does see the hard drive in the bios. Just gives an error when Windows tries to start.

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      • W wizardzz

        It does see the hard drive in the bios. Just gives an error when Windows tries to start.

        J Offline
        J Offline
        JimmyRopes
        wrote on last edited by
        #9

        If the drive shows in the bios then it is probably something wrong with the Windows installation. Do you have a restore point? If so use the system media to restore to that.

        The report of my death was an exaggeration - Mark Twain
        Simply Elegant Designs JimmyRopes Designs
        Think inside the box! ProActive Secure Systems
        I'm on-line therefore I am. JimmyRopes

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        • W wizardzz

          I have a laptop here that is failing to boot to windows. Does anyone know a program that I can run from the DVD drive to test the hard disk, without booting up? I just want to know if the hard drive is fubar.

          S Offline
          S Offline
          Steve Mayfield
          wrote on last edited by
          #10

          sourceforge: ultimate boot disk. There are instructions on how to make a WinXP version too.

          Steve _________________ I C(++) therefore I am

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          • W wizardzz

            I have a laptop here that is failing to boot to windows. Does anyone know a program that I can run from the DVD drive to test the hard disk, without booting up? I just want to know if the hard drive is fubar.

            M Offline
            M Offline
            Mark_Wallace
            wrote on last edited by
            #11

            I'd try starting it without any drivers, before doing too much work (the F5/F8 boot options). One thing I did find, with one machine, is that the proprietary boot-up shell wouldn't let Windows start if more than two USB drives (DVD + HDD) were attached, so unplugging any USB peripherals might make a difference (plug it all back in after Windows starts booting). These[^] are worth their weight in gold, though, for testing/fixing HDDs.

            I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!

            W 1 Reply Last reply
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            • W wizardzz

              I have a laptop here that is failing to boot to windows. Does anyone know a program that I can run from the DVD drive to test the hard disk, without booting up? I just want to know if the hard drive is fubar.

              K Offline
              K Offline
              kakan
              wrote on last edited by
              #12

              I know you already got suggestions for a Linux live CD. This weekend, I hade the same problem and downloaded Knoppix Live, version 7.0. (The CD-version, there is a DVD version as well). Worked like a charm! So I could just copy files from the hard drive to an USB memory. A true saviour!

              Alcohol. The cause of, and the solution to, all of life's problems - Homer Simpson

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              • W wizardzz

                I have a laptop here that is failing to boot to windows. Does anyone know a program that I can run from the DVD drive to test the hard disk, without booting up? I just want to know if the hard drive is fubar.

                D Offline
                D Offline
                dandy72
                wrote on last edited by
                #13

                Spin-Rite?

                1 Reply Last reply
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                • W wizardzz

                  I have a laptop here that is failing to boot to windows. Does anyone know a program that I can run from the DVD drive to test the hard disk, without booting up? I just want to know if the hard drive is fubar.

                  G Offline
                  G Offline
                  gavindon
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #14

                  Hiren's Boot cd is a good one. There are actually a few tool disks running around out there that do similar work.

                  Beauty is in the eye of the beer-holder Be careful which toes you step on today, they might be connected to the foot that kicks your butt tomorrow. You can't scare me, I have children.

                  W 1 Reply Last reply
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                  • G gavindon

                    Hiren's Boot cd is a good one. There are actually a few tool disks running around out there that do similar work.

                    Beauty is in the eye of the beer-holder Be careful which toes you step on today, they might be connected to the foot that kicks your butt tomorrow. You can't scare me, I have children.

                    W Offline
                    W Offline
                    wizardzz
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #15

                    I'm going to try Hiren after work work, dl'ed it last night. If that doesn't help, I'll try Linux. Either way, I think the disk is not fried (it had a lot of our wedding plans on there, invite design, guests + addresses, etc).

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                    • M Mark_Wallace

                      I'd try starting it without any drivers, before doing too much work (the F5/F8 boot options). One thing I did find, with one machine, is that the proprietary boot-up shell wouldn't let Windows start if more than two USB drives (DVD + HDD) were attached, so unplugging any USB peripherals might make a difference (plug it all back in after Windows starts booting). These[^] are worth their weight in gold, though, for testing/fixing HDDs.

                      I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!

                      W Offline
                      W Offline
                      wizardzz
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #16

                      I'm going to buy a hard drive docking station for an old fried laptop anyways. Thank you for all the advice.

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