Hard drive question

[wizardzz]

Not asking it to work or fix it without using an OS of any sort. I don't think it is completely absurd to test a hd without booting to Windows, on that hd.

[H Brydon]

You can use a "live CD" from just about any linux distribution. Another option you can go with is a bootable USB thumb drive (also usually linux).

-- Harvey

[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
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Think inside the box! ProActive Secure Systems
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[wizardzz]

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

[JimmyRopes]

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

[Steve Mayfield]

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

Steve _________________ I C(++) therefore I am

[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!

[kakan]

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

[dandy72]

Spin-Rite?

[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.

[wizardzz]

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).

[wizardzz]

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