hard drive failure imminent

[cvar]

Why in heck do you need to re-partition? Why install another O/S? That makes no sense. Only computer geeks would benefit from that added complexity and extra complication. A regular user would not, and would be just totally confused by it. Keep it simple.

FYI, Windows has a built-in partition program. But re-partitioning a failing HDD will not help, at all. Like asking a laborer: "Having trouble carrying that heavy load, well here's another 100 pounds for you to carry at the same time; hope that helps". Yeah right.

[shane96ranger]

Jim, give this a try and see if it works (several different ways to initiate chkdsk):

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/67...sk-chkdsk.html

[nutpantz]

First off don't instal another operating system.
Second what is the mail program you are using? Windows mail? Or outlook? Or something else.

You can boot off a Ubuntu live CD.you do not need to instal Ubuntu just run it from the CD/DVD/USB stick. It will only use your hard drive a tiny bit when running. You can make the CD/DVD/USB stick on another computer.
Then when you have a full working operating system you can use (not the corrupted crippled windows vista) you can find and back up the files you need to.

Google the mail program you are using and hopefully there is a way to back up your info like a previous user mentioned.(copying outlooks .pst file)

When you have done all you can to back up your info then you can go back to using your corrupt vista and try to fix it or check if the hd is really ready for Kevorkian to visit.
Trying to use a corrupted windows instal from safe mode if like trying to 4x4 with half the spark plugs and only every other gear.
It can be done but who wants to?

Our if you don't want to mess with a boot disk, just pull your hard drive out if the laptop, go to a computer store buy a USB case (should be less than 30$ for just a case)for it.plug it into a desktop and copy all the files to back then up.

Then research your mail program and hope you can get your mail off the back up. It might take some super nerd powers..but it should be doable.
At least your data will be backed up.
And do all your fiddling with a back up of your back up just incase you destroy the file you are working with.
If your screen is all black like it is when you first start the computer (before windows loads) when you get the error about the drive.it should be the bios telling you the drive is pooched, not windows. So it should not be a virus.
Running a bunch of disk checking stuff on your drive will just shorten it's life. Back it up while you can.then try to fix it.

[Mark_88]

Originally Posted by cvar

Why in heck do you need to re-partition? Why install another O/S? That makes no sense. Only computer geeks would benefit from that added complexity and extra complication. A regular user would not, and would be just totally confused by it. Keep it simple.

FYI, Windows has a built-in partition program. But re-partitioning a failing HDD will not help, at all. Like asking a laborer: "Having trouble carrying that heavy load, well here's another 100 pounds for you to carry at the same time; hope that helps". Yeah right.

The point is quite simple...to test to see if the hdd is failing...that is all...

Jim has stated, several times, that he cannot do simple functions and is not sure at this point, whether it is a virus or an actual HDD failure. Testing the drive is what I was getting at...he does NOT have to, nor would he actually need to, install another OS. Although I would recommend a dual boot system that would allow him to access information from another system in anything short of a complete HDD failure.

It is a simple test. I haven't seen any suggestions that would actually test that. If that fails then Jim would have a couple of options...

Trying to recover data from a failing HDD or a system that is hindered by viruses will NOT work...I've tried it and got nowhere with intact data...and is more frustrating than attacking a problem from a different angle.

Edit: And even if his OS has a built in partition (which I was not aware of and it doesn't matter) will he be able to access it? Will it function if the OS is corrupt? Who knows...

[cvar]

I agree with nutpantz.

And, FWIW, I did already suggest the following:

To test the health of your physical hard drive, download freebie Hitachi "Drive Fitness Test" (DFT), burn it to CD, then boot to that CD, and let it thoroughly test your hard drive for errors. It does testing offline (self-boot) and not while that HDD is in use by Windows).

https://www1.hgst.com/hdd/technolo/dft/dftnew.htm

BTW, download "DFT" (the CD image) & burn it to CD using a DIFFERENT (healthy) computer, then stick that CD into your failing laptop, and boot with it. Notice this kind of boot to CD will keep your laptop's HDD offline (not in use). DFT is a dinky little single-purpose (stand-alone) program for HDD hardware testing, not an O/S. It doesn't even care whether your HDD is formatted. It doesn't care if any actual files might exist on your HDD, but any of those will remain intact. It only tests the health of the HDD, to see if it's failing. That's all it does, nothing else. Hitachi wrote DFT to decide whether or not a HDD was a real candidate for servicing/returns. Very handy!

[Mark_88]

Originally Posted by cvar

I agree with nutpantz.

And, FWIW, I did already suggest the following:

Yeah, I saw that...but we don't know if Jim tried that or if he is still working on trying to get it to save his files...just one of the problems with trying to help someone without being there or constant contact...

And I'd agree with nutpantz if it weren't for the fact that many people don't want to get near Ubuntu or any other OS...not that they are not good but it is another learning curve...and I was thinking along the lines of "What does he have at his disposal to try to test this..."

I'm pretty sure Vanessa has a computer he could use to download the tools you suggested...but, again, who knows?

And thanks for that link to the HDD test...I used to have many tools but have been trying to rebuild the repertoire...

EDIT: I just read the site and there are limitations that may or may not apply...

Notes

• Ultrastar 10K300, Ultrastar 15K73 and DK32XX users, do not use DFT — Use the OGT Diagnostic Tool.
• Does not support Microdrive Digital Media products.
• Supports all Travelstar HDDs, except 8E, 10E and C4K series.
• Does not support Endurastar products.
• Does not support external USB or Firewire attached drives.
• Compatible only with x86-based processors.
• Does not support the PC which loads Intel ICH9M chipset. HitachiGST are working to fix this situation.

[Mark_88]

I went looking to see if I could find what type of HDD they typically install in these units, but would probably have to go and try to order one to get the name brand...probably not needed...

Here is a link to the service manual for the Acer model you have. There is a section on HDD acting wonky on page 135...essentially virus scan and system restore...and there is also mention of an optional second HDD that you may or may not have already...that may be where your data is actually stored by default...but you'd have to check that...

Acer Service manual...pretty thorough for a tech manual...and seems to be written by people in North America...

http://tim.id.au/laptops/acer/aspire%206530.pdf

[cvar]

Excellent digging! That says HDD is either a Seagate, Toshiba, or Western Digital. That's good news for Jim.

In all the years I've used DFT, I've never found an internally mounted HDD that it could not test, in either laptops or desktops.

Aside: For testing flakey RAM memory chips, is "memtest86" ( http://www.memtest86.com ) already in your tools repertoire?

[Mark_88]

Thanks...for some reason I didn't see the system specs where it listed the HDD types...but just opened it again and there they were...lol

I have an earlier version of the memtest86 program on CD somewhere...but thanks again for the link...seems like nothing is free any more...

I saw a "tool kit" listed for repair techs a few months ago and was going to try to buy it...turned out to be $150 before taxes for a base kit and over $300 for the advanced kit...for the amount of tech support I do on computers it wasn't feasible, but I'd like to get one just to have...

Being in Canada and not having a CC makes buying stuff like that a bit challenging...and when I started doing repairs I could pretty much find anything free on-line...

[AllanD]

Originally Posted by Mark_88

I had used to use some computers at a place I worked and they gave similar error messages...blah, blah, blah...it was definitely a virus and it was hijacking the computer to their website for virus removal...for a small fee, of course...but they were actually scamming credit cards...

I'd try the virus removal steps above as cvar stated first...

And I've never had a hdd warn me of a crash...they get sluggish and/or simply stop working...

I have.

S.M.A.R.T. is a "real thing" which is why scammers copy it to run their scam.

I've had "SMART" warnings three times and all three have been very real.

The first one was actually disturbing, but it was a fresh, literally hours old
Install on a HDD I had unwrapped from a sealed package.

I've known for a long time that "new" is NOT equal to "Good"
(the UPS man only has to drop it ONCE)

When I called WD for an RMA their person asked "how do you know it's bad
I replied "SMART says so" and I got an RMA without a quibble.

I would recommend downloading and installing:
http://www.piriform.com/speccy/download/standard

When it loads click the item for "Hard drives" and look under "SMART" for "Reallocated Sectors Count"
any number>0 is a bad sign (Any Number >0 and I repurpose that drive to non-critical use)
"Seek Error Rate", "Spin Retry Count", "Recalibration Retries", "Reallocation Event Count",
"Current Pending Sector Count" should all be -0-.

if "Uncorrectable Sector Count" is >0 that drive would go right from my bench to the trash bin.

If all these things are -0- in speccy, download (on another computer to a thumb drive)
and RUN: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/downl...ils.aspx?id=16

Originally Posted by nutpantz

If you think your laptop is virus infested I would not do a windows7 update, it's cheaper to buy another laptop.lol. Seriously with out your vista instal w7 will not instal clean to a new drive.(it will only update)
You can boot from a Ubuntu/Linux live disk (not instal)and copy anything you want to a pen drive. And test everything while you are at it. You can also clone your drive and a bunch of other things. But it's a steep learning curve. Good side you are unlikely to ever see a virus or trojan.ever.
"hirens boot disk" also is freely download able. And has a ton of tools on it. From virus scanners to drive tests.to clone software. Even a semi usable bootable winXP.

An OEM (OEM means no free phone support) installer for Windows7HomePremium is only $99 from Newegg,
you can get it as cheap as $80 if you wait for a sale.

Originally Posted by nutpantz

You can boot more than one OS with out partitioning. Different windows directory 's on the same position. I prefer separate partitions but it's not required.
I have 3 OS's booting from separate partitions on my desktop.

Dual/multi booting is generally a bad idea, because you still have only one BOOTLDR and if that part corrupts
you lose BOTH operating systems.

And that doesn't matter if the dual-boot is on a single partition on a single drive, seperate partitions on
a single drive or if the dual boot systems are on seperate drives, it's like Raid0 it's not even false
redundancy if you actually understand how it works.

Dual booting on a single drive / single Partition has another issue, doing disc cleanup with EITHER OS can remove
important files from the other OS... Oops!

If you want more than one OS for a single machine put them on seperate drives and shut down
and swap drives (or disconnect cables) to switch from one to the other, that way they are ENTIRELY
"divorced" and cannot in any Cluster-fook each other.

Multi-OS installations are a "Geekier than thou" thing, and serve little real purpose otherwise.
Frankly as I've already stated they are more trouble than they are worth.

and there is a degree of "False-geek" in a multiboot, because a REAL "geek" would have
spare HDD's floating around... and thus would not worry about useing seperate drives.

If you've never thrown away a 5gallon pail completely filled with hard drives you are less of a geek than you think you are

Originally Posted by Mark_88

Being a pop up would mean virus...but if it was one of those pixelated DOS type windows showing some attention is required it could be an actual system error...I've never seen one but that doesn't mean they don't exist...

However, trying to do something in a corrupted OS can be nearly impossible...that's a good time to try something like partition a drive and install a second OS...if the computer seems to function properly under those conditions then it is probably fine...it's when a simple task like formatting a partition becomes sluggish that would indicate a true HDD malfunction...

How you go about that is really a matter of what resources you have available now...if you have partition tools or can get them it would tell you pretty much if the system will function without hardware swaps...if you don't have the resources and there is nobody near that can provide them I'd have to recommend taking the laptop to someone who can...

There must be someone from TRS close by that that has a partition program...I have one somewhere and would gladly ship it off to you when I find it...but that could take a week or so...

S.M.A.R.T. will generate both a DOS "Black Screen" warning and in Vista/7 can and will
throw "Notification area" or "Action Center" failure messages.

IF the drive is FAILING you want to absolutely minimize run time.
Farting around with partition programs is a good way to run the drive into the ground and lose the data he's trying to protect.

What I would do is hustle my ass to the nearest BestBuy, buy a 320gbSATA Notebook Hard drive.
MAke sure I had a USB SATA drive enclosure and USB cable for it

Go to a Desktop computer with a CD-Burner and download:
http://clonezilla.org/downloads.php

Connect both drives, insert the CD and boot from the CD.

(Call me and I'll talk you through it)

After which you'll have a complete functioning COPY of the installation with ALL data and
not be worrying about an actual physical drive failure.

IF it IS a virus you would be no worse off than you are now.

It it IS an actual impending failure every little bit of monkeying around increases the risk of permanant data loss.

[nutpantz]

Originally Posted by AllanD

If you've never thrown away a 5gallon pail completely filled with hard drives you are less of a geek than you think you are

That is too funny.I still have a 750 Mb from the last century running good in computer. (I think it is that old I would have to look)
Honesty I've only had one drive fail on me so far (and it was 3 months old). the smallest leave my house when I give away my oldest computer.(usually 3 or 4 drives in one case by then) I have only thrown out 2 drives and that was because I found them and they were pre ide.

Back up back up back up.
And not to another hard drive.
DVDs are not fast media but I still have CDs that I burned 2x

[AllanD]

I have a concrete lined "Fireproof" file cabinet full of hard drives
that ALL predate the use of the IDE interface.

Anyone want any MFM or RLL hard drives?

I think I have some Connor and some Miniscribe hard drives still sealed in their
original packaging.... if you've actually got a use for any 120Meg HDD's

But at this point I think they are worth more for their precious metal content than a new SATA drive retails for... the anti-abrasion coating that they used on the platters
was a fairly thick plating layer of Ruthenium (a platinum group metal)

they have since learned to use far thinner layers of the stuff and have learned
how to make the read heads "fly" over the platters without actually touching, greatly reducing the need for an anti-abrasion coating