Problems booting: stalling on Windows logo

[novaprospekt89]

Hi guys,

I'm a pretty tech savvy guy but this problem has left me scratching my head.

Got home today and turned on my PC only to find that Windows 7 will not start. It was working fine the night before.

The BIOS starts up okay, and I don't get any POST errors. My RAID array starts up fine, then I get to the Windows 7 (64bit) loading screen and this is where the problem is: I get no further than that logo. The logo will continue to "breathe" so it's not a hard-lockup, but nothing happens. Let it go for well over 5 minutes and nothing. This part normally takes between 8-12 seconds, depending on whether it was a hot or cold boot.

My instincts are telling me something is wrong with the hard drive. I noticed the HD activity light is solid when it stalls and I don't hear any sounds of it reading information. I have a RAID0 array and the drives are near capacity. I don't think anything is wrong with the RAID array, but if I had to implicate something being wrong it would be the HD based on this light being on with no activity. Again, no BIOS post errors regarding HD failure.

Now, after several "resets" and "power ons/offs" I booted successfully and managed to play some video games. After an hour or two the computer froze with a "Windows 7 loading symbol" and I had to kill the power. Now I can't boot again -- the HD activity light was solid on when it froze with no sound of HD activity.

At this point I'm preparing to do a full backup if I do manage to get back into Windows again but the larger problem at hand is whether I can get into Windows period.

Oh and I tried booting without any devices connected, I know that sometimes causes boot anomalies.

Any suggestions guys?

Thanks.

 

[volcane]

Might be worth trying this. Take out all your RAM sticks except one, and try booting with that.

My friend's dell PC had all the RAM slots filled and also hanged at the Windows 7 loading screen. Took out two sticks, problem solved.

Also, any busted capacitors on your motherboard? My old PC would hang randomly last time too and I was at my wits end (replaced ram, reformatted hdd, reinstalled windows) until I took a look at the motherboard and found a leaking cap!

 

[novaprospekt89]

I can't tell whether any capacitors are busted and in the meantime I made an Ubuntu bootable flash drive to try and access the windows partition to save some files.

Not entirely sure whether this will work but I'm hoping for the best.

Next will try to pull out the RAM.

UPDATE:

Can't get linux to mount the drive. Another bad sign.

And now periodically I hear a sustained buzzing sound of the hard drive trying to read while loading Windows. It isn't a click, it's the sound of it reading -- but it's a sustained, almost buzzing sound instead of the usual randomness of a hard drive being accessed. Not sure if that means it's dead either.

I would assume that since it even knows that Windows exists as a partition that the drive (drives--RAID) isn't bad...then again the fact that these are two drives in RAID0 probably just complicates everything in trying to diagnose the problem.

 

[Motorheader]

Does your motherboard have another set of SATA ports that you could move the RAID volume to without breaking the volume? Is it an intel based raid or another maker? Did you have an autoupdate for software recently? Any chance that you updated or could update the systems bios- at times they will contain updated versions of the onboard SATA controller.

Were you successful in booting with the bootable flash drive?

 

[novaprospekt89]

Does your motherboard have another set of SATA ports that you could move the RAID volume to without breaking the volume? Is it an intel based raid or another maker? Did you have an autoupdate for software recently? Any chance that you updated or could update the systems bios- at times they will contain updated versions of the onboard SATA controller.

Were you successful in booting with the bootable flash drive?

I built this box and if I recall right, this motherboard has 4 total SATA ports but only two of the four are capable of handling a RAID-0 array and they are what's in use. It is an NVIDIA-based raid controller that is integrated in the motherboard.

Windows update does its thing all the time, sometimes without me even realizing. I know for sure that when I used the computer over the last few nights, there hadn't been an update. And I did manage to boot into Windows earlier this afternoon (before it eventually froze after playing a game) while this problem had started.

I have not updated/flashed the BIOS since I built the computer. Never really needed to -- I live by the "if it aint broke..." motto when it comes updating BIOS stuff. I probably could update it if necessary since I built this back in 2008.

In the meantime, I have popped in my Windows 7 installation CD and went to try and repair the hard drive. I think it found something wrong because right now it says "Attempting repairs: repairing disk errors. This may take over an hour to complete..."

 

[oynaz]

I would buy a new drive. Using your current is flirting with disaster.

 

[novaprospekt89]

So I've done some more investigating to try and identify the problem.

1) Tried Windows Startup Repairs which said the ETA would be about an hour but ultimately was taking nearly 4 hours so I shut it off.
2) Cannot mount the RAIDed drives in Ubuntu. Gets an I/O error
3) FDISK sees the partition and recognizes they are in RAID
4) NVIDIA RAID controller says the array is healthy and functional
5) Ultimate Boot diagnostic tools for Western Digital Hard Drives has helped me to determine:

• Drive 2 of 2 of the RAID array is perfectly functional and passes all diagnostic tests.
• Drive 1 of 2 has something physically wrong with it. Diagnostics cannot even run and something seems to be wrong trying to read data off the platter (no the head isn't clicking). The program cannot begin the diagnostic to even tell me what the problem is, it just "freezes" when I hit start and the drive makes the noise in the video.

I made a YouTube video in an attempt to capture the sound the drive is making when the WD diagnostic tool tried to troubleshoot the drive. This is the same sound it makes periodically when something is trying to be read.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmCF220kqy4

Not sure if that is a spindle failure or anything, but I hit the drive a few times to see if the head was stuck and that didn't seem to dislodge it. Anyone know what this sound means? And is there anything I can do to recover the data at this point? Wishing it wasn't a RAID right now because the other drive is fine and though the array is okay, I cannot isolate the drives

 

[Motorheader]

Okay - from seeing the video you have a couple of 150gb Raptors in Raid. Unfortunately I recognize that noise too well.

Now personal experience with the 150gb Raptors. Several years ago 6 of 8 drives all replaced under warranty on the same system. Dual Raid config and over the course of less than a year - 4 of them died making that noise. They had cooling fan blowing right across them and never received any type of warning - just one day boot up and the stupidity started. Updated hardware/firmware Rev with the third replacement set and sold them without even hooking them up. Wouldn't use them again if they were given too me.

 

[novaprospekt89]

Okay - from seeing the video you have a couple of 150gb Raptors in Raid. Unfortunately I recognize that noise too well.

Now personal experience with the 150gb Raptors. Several years ago 6 of 8 drives all replaced under warranty on the same system. Dual Raid config and over the course of less than a year - 4 of them died making that noise. They had cooling fan blowing right across them and never received any type of warning - just one day boot up and the stupidity started. Updated hardware/firmware Rev with the third replacement set and sold them without even hooking them up. Wouldn't use them again if they were given too me.

Yikes, that's what I was afraid of.

It's funny because they are sitting up right against a cooling fan also like yours and I don't think I really subjected these babies to much stress (in fact, I hadn't used the computer much the past year since I was away at school and had my laptop). Western Digital HD's have a great reputation too, and I had an older generation of 10,000 RPM raptors back in the day that never really had problems.

Looking back on things, I'm sure there were some warning signs (i.e. weird noises, or lockups I experienced) but I couldn't always chalk that up to imminent HDD failure -- hindsight is 20/20 after all.

And had I backed up things recently, I probably wouldn't care that much and just dump the bad hard drive and either buy a new one or use the good 150GB in a non-RAID situation.

However, if there is any way of getting this bad HDD functional again (even temporarily) that you know of... to get some files off... then please let me know. If it's a physical problem with the drive's motor, I can pull it out of the case and maybe give it a few light "slams" on the desk if that might help. I'm not sure what that sound is though (is it the head trying to read the platter or is it a whining from the motor being impeded?)

Thanks

 

[Matt1970]

So I've done some more investigating to try and identify the problem.

1) Tried Windows Startup Repairs which said the ETA would be about an hour but ultimately was taking nearly 4 hours so I shut it off.
2) Cannot mount the RAIDed drives in Ubuntu. Gets an I/O error
3) FDISK sees the partition and recognizes they are in RAID
4) NVIDIA RAID controller says the array is healthy and functional
5) Ultimate Boot diagnostic tools for Western Digital Hard Drives has helped me to determine:

• Drive 2 of 2 of the RAID array is perfectly functional and passes all diagnostic tests.
• Drive 1 of 2 has something physically wrong with it. Diagnostics cannot even run and something seems to be wrong trying to read data off the platter (no the head isn't clicking). The program cannot begin the diagnostic to even tell me what the problem is, it just "freezes" when I hit start and the drive makes the noise in the video.

I made a YouTube video in an attempt to capture the sound the drive is making when the WD diagnostic tool tried to troubleshoot the drive. This is the same sound it makes periodically when something is trying to be read.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmCF220kqy4

Not sure if that is a spindle failure or anything, but I hit the drive a few times to see if the head was stuck and that didn't seem to dislodge it. Anyone know what this sound means? And is there anything I can do to recover the data at this point? Wishing it wasn't a RAID right now because the other drive is fine and though the array is okay, I cannot isolate the drives

Don't bang on your drives. You will cause bad sectors on the good one. If the head was stuck it wouldn't even read. Try the freezer trick to get your data off. Put the drive in a paper bag in the freezer overnight and then try to get it to fire up. If you do get it to run, get your data off quickly, you won't have much time.

 

[Motorheader]

I haven't had the freezer trick work since I used it on a 5400rpm drive years ago.

I was never successful with any type of data retrieval or raid recognition once the noise or boot warnings started with the drives. For some reason the 150gb drives seemed to be subject to this type of issue - just random drive failure with little or no warning.

Hehe - tapping on a 10,000 rpm drive like an old TV. They can take shock and will adjust for it (I believe by parking the heads immediately) but the damage is already done.

 

[novaprospekt89]

I haven't had the freezer trick work since I used it on a 5400rpm drive years ago.

I was never successful with any type of data retrieval or raid recognition once the noise or boot warnings started with the drives. For some reason the 150gb drives seemed to be subject to this type of issue - just random drive failure with little or no warning.

Hehe - tapping on a 10,000 rpm drive like an old TV. They can take shock and will adjust for it (I believe by parking the heads immediately) but the damage is already done.

Heh well if the drive is shot, I guess I have nothing left to lose by freezing the bastard... And yeah I like to hit things that aren't working to try and get them to work, even a 10,000 RPM hard drive. I know it's like bumping a racecar going 250mph on slick terrain but ya never know.

Threw it in there an hour ago and double zip-lock bagged it. I'll pull it out tmrw morning and see what happens and let ya guys know. The fact it is a RAIDed drive might screw with things but whatever.

In the future, I'll probably stop buying 10,000 RPM hard drives considering the speed benefit conferred by the extra RPM has decreased as 7200 RPM drives have improved with latency and as flash media becomes more and more prevalent. The trade-off in reliability and durability probably isn't worth it anymore.

 

[frozentundra123456]

I am not familiar with raided drives, but I have had some luck recovering data from a hard drive by putting it in an external usb enclosure and plugging it into a computer that works.
The drive was partitioned into a boot and data particion. I could not reinstall windows or boot from the drive, but I could read the data portion from a USB external hard drive cage.

 

[novaprospekt89]

I am not familiar with raided drives, but I have had some luck recovering data from a hard drive by putting it in an external usb enclosure and plugging it into a computer that works.
The drive was partitioned into a boot and data particion. I could not reinstall windows or boot from the drive, but I could read the data portion from a USB external hard drive cage.

Yeah, everything in this situation is complicated by the fact it is a RAIDed drive. In order for for the data to be read/accessed, both drives must be intact and functional. I can't isolate the one good drive, (nor can I the bad drive), and still be able to access the files.

What is especially annoying though is that everything seems to be okay at first glance but not when examined in detail. For example, the partition data is intact--- FDISK recognizes the array, the filesystem, and size. But Ubuntu is unable to mount the drive/partition (giving me I/O errors and other ominous feedback), Windows is unable to boot (nor is Windows repair able to recognize and fix the boot sector). And WD diagnostics cannot even run a diagnostic on the problematic drive.

It seems like a purely physical problem and it's frustrating to know that when your data is preserved virtually.

I tried the freezer trick and initially the RAID array was not detected and got some errors. As the drive "thawed" it detected the array, but just didn't seem to boot and eventually I was back to square one with what seems to be a stalled array. I know one hard drive is good, and everything I just said above (FDISK recognizing the array) could be because of HD2's communication rather than HD1 having some limited communication despite being crippled

Either way though, I noticed I have a 5yr warranty with Western Digital and may just send the bad drive back and get a replacement. Unfortunately (or fortunately) I don't think I can establish a new RAID array with the replacement drive and the older, working hard drive because they aren't identical and brand new.

 

[Motorheader]

The drives are the bottleneck either way so there is no sense in RAID 0. I'd be more inclined to RAID 1 just for the uptime and the fact that you've just encountered one of the drives dying.