IBM hard drive problem

superbaby

Senior member
Aug 11, 2000
464
0
0
I have an IBM DPTA-37050, it's been running fine for about a year now, but last week all of a sudden I got a BSOD when I just using the Internet. The computer was completely locked up and I had to hit the reset button. When Win2k was loading during bootup, I noticed this strange noise coming from the hard drive, it was quite repetitive and the drive seemed to be unable to access something. Windows BSOD'd again during bootup and I had to reset. This happened about 5 times (with that strange noise) before I just turned the computer off and went to watch TV. When I came back and tried it again, Windows loaded up but the sound remained. It's running fine now but there's a lot of hesitation when I'm loading up programs and sometimes I still get BSOD or am unable to boot. I have no idea what's going on, I need help! I'm about to reformat since this is really pissing me off, but I'm not sure if it will do any good!
 

AngelOfDeath

Golden Member
Apr 25, 2000
1,203
0
0
Seems like it's dying on you. I've had the same problem with one of my IBM HD's and for some reason I was lucky 'cause after I unplugged and plugged the drive after a few hours it worked. But I don't use it as my primary drive any longer...go figure ;). A couple of my friends tried the same thing and wasn't as lucky as I...RIP.

AoD ;)
 

corkyg

Elite Member | Peripherals
Super Moderator
Mar 4, 2000
27,370
239
106
Go to IBM's web site, search for and download their new Drive Fitness Test. Put this on a floppy (bootable) and it will completely analyze your IBM drive, and if it needs re-doing, it will do so.

The "big re-do" takes several hours to complete, but unless the problem is mechanical, it will leave you with a factory fresh drive.

I had one (20 GB) go bad last month . . . I replaced it with a Maxtor 20 GB Diamondmax . . . then I found this tool, and now I have an extra 20 GB drive. Perfectly restored by DFT.
 

superbaby

Senior member
Aug 11, 2000
464
0
0
Yeah mine is a 20GB drive. I would like to use this DFT tool except I just have sooo much data on it that I can't even back it up propery.

Over the weekend I reinstalled Win2k (without formatting, just installed on another drive) and then I ran CHKDSK /F on the drive. It ran for a bit and said it fixed some errors. I also noticed there were 2k in bad sectors. However, the drive is running fine now, but definitely not my primary. Should I still use DFT on the drive?

I wish there were a way to actually fix hard drive problems without actually destroying all the data.. Grrr..
 

corkyg

Elite Member | Peripherals
Super Moderator
Mar 4, 2000
27,370
239
106
You can run DFT without losing your data, but don't do any major repair. It will tell you the drive's condition.

In the meantime, take what ever steps you can to back up your data. Software can be replaced. Use anything you can such as Zip, LS-120, CDR, CDRW, tape,... or, another hard.

You can get that drive for about $150 . . . then run Drive Copy 3.0 or Ghost and clone it. That's about the cheapest way to save everything.