I need help with my HDD!

[Sukhoi]

I also posted this in the tech support forum here, but I figured I'd post it here incase anyone has any good ideas.

First off let me say that I'm about 90% sure this is a HDD problem and 10% that it's RAM related.

On Saturday I stuck my computer in the car (leaning on the floor behind the driver's seat), drove it to college, stuck it on a cart, rolled it up to my dorm room, and hooked it up. First bootup I just got a bunch of clicking noise and no POST. I opened up the case, checked to make sure no wires were blocking fans, etc., and closed everything up.

Next boot it POSTed, got to the Win2KPro dual-bootloader, and then crased at that initial Win2KPro loading screen (the DOS looking one). I then tried to boot into Win98SE and it crashes saying some file is corruped or missing (I can get the filename later if needed).

I then tried booting into Win2KPro and it got all the way to the logon screen just fine. However as soon as logging on as Administrator (currently my only account) it BSODs immediately and reboots. Win98SE still won't load at all and gives me that error message.

I ran a ScanDisk in DOS and it gave me no errors at all (I ran the thorough scan). However it only scanned C: since D: and E: are NTFS. Even still I should have gotten an error on C: since Win98SE won't load off it.

Next I tried to image all three partitions using Drive Image 4.0 and for each partition it coppies it part-way and then gives me the error that "Partition dismounted incorrectly" (or something very similar to that).

Any idea what's going on here? Did having the computer tilted slightly to the side for the car ride along with the bumpy ride on the cart to my dorm room probably cause the problem? I'm doubting it's a RAM problem since I'm always getting the error at the same place, and the computer works fine in DOS. Also the dual-bootloader loads fine off the HDD.

Help!

BTW, I haven't had time to run that Maxtor HDD checking software (DLing it now).

 

[RaySun2Be]

I would run the diagnostics and see if there are errors. I would also open it back up and re-seat everything. RAM, PCI cards, all cables, etc.

If that doesn't help, there are usually some long string of numbers posted with the BSOD, and sometimes I've had success searching the Microsoft IT Support site for the codes, and getting suggested solutions.

Have you tried booting into SAFE mode (F8 during Windows startup)?

 

[LANMAN]

Did you hear the read/write head hitting the side of the case of the hard drive? (Clicking)

Usually as soon as you hear it, the BSOD will appear, but as Ray already suggested the diag stuff should pick that up. Hopefully it's still under warranty. ;roll;

--LANMAN

 

[Sukhoi]

I just got that MaxBlast (or whatever it's called) installed onto a floppy (I'm in the dorm computer lab now) so I'll run it tonight or tomorrow and see if it catches anything.

Ray, I'll try to grab the BSOD code, but Win2KPro usually reboots immediately after the BSOD appears so there really isn't any time to read it.

I believe yesterday I managed to boot into Win98SE safe-mode without any problems. Does Win2KPro have a safe-mode, and what key do I hit to get to the menu to select it? Still F8?

LANMAN, I don't recall any clicking right before the BSOD, but I'll pay attention next time I start Win2KPro.

It's a Maxtor D740X 80 GB drive that's only about two months old so it has plenty of warranty yet. Does anyone know if Maxtor will do a drive cross-shipment if I give them a CC#?

I just DLed that DOS NTFS reader so I'm going to see if I can copy all my important files off to my backup drive with that.

 

[RaySun2Be]

Win2KPro is the same key, F8.

You might try hitting the PAUSE key as soon as the BSOD appears. Sometimes it actually works. Then press a key to continue.

 

[EvilWobbles]

Maxtor will cross-ship with a CC#

I've had to RMA some drives with them here at work on several occassions and have never had a problem with them cross-shipping replacement items.

Good Luck!

 

[Ken g6]

Too bad you didn't remember the beep code.

You might try booting with KLinux to be sure it's the HD.

 

[Sukhoi]

Either tonight or tomorrow morning I'm going to reseat everything in the computer, so I'll see if any of the connections are the problem.

It doesn't always crash in exactly the same place. When loading Win2KPro it usually crashes right after logon, but sometimes crashes while loading Win2KPro.

Also, the fact that I'm getting partition errors in Drive Image is leading me to believe that it's a hard drive problem.

When I brought the computer into my dorm I (stupidly ) stuck my computer on a wooden cart/dolly thing with no suspension, so I think all the vibration might have slightly misalligned something in the hard drive.

Ken_g6, there was no beep code. That first time when it wouldn't POST it didn't do anything other than make an electronic clicking noise several times a second. Sorta sounded like a wire was stuck in a fan or something so that's why I opened the case up and moved everything around.

So if I run KLinux along with a memory test, reseating everything, and running the Maxblast software (stupid thing won't pick up my drives on the RAID controller :|) don't report any problems, it's probably the hard drive that's the problem?

BTW, I used NTFSDOS and managed to copy all of my important files to a backup HDD and it didn't give me any errors, so I think the hard drive is atleast working somewhat.

Before I send the hard drive back (if it is the problem) I'm going to do a low level format since that should probably fix any misallignment problems caused by the bumping on the cart.

 

[Sukhoi]

Well, got it fixed. I reseated everything, switched RAM slots, switched HDD controllers, and reset the BIOS. So one of those things must of been screwed up.

 

[mechBgon]

Cool! Glad to hear it worked out for you, I was about to suggest looking under the motherboard for any stray screws that might have gotten underneath it...

 

[Ammocan]

Sounded like a RAM problem to me. It wasn't seated correctly or something. Once the OS got to the point of using the ram, kablooie. Always reseat everything and verify it isn't a bad connection. Glad you fixed the problem.