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recovering a hardrive - Printable Version

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+--- Thread: recovering a hardrive (/showthread.php?tid=72279)


recovering a hardrive - 8FS_austin - 26.11.2010

hi

just over a month ago i had a hardrive crash and purchased a new one. i was able to transferee all my windows data to my new harddrive.

two days ago i was playing battlefield 2 and i disconnected from a server and the screen just kinda froze. i have this problem before, not a big deal but i did what i usually did and restart the computer by holding the power button down. well it did the same thing my old hardrive did when it crashed. basically my computer didnt start up and windows failed to load and i got a bluescreen. so i took my harddrive out and put it in the old computer as a slave drive and did the test. there were some errors and i ran the error check and told it to fix the problems and it took a good while. so i put the HD back in my computer and windows starts up just fine and it seems like nothing ever happened. im still wondering if i really fixed it or not? and if something freezes up again how do i safely turn my computer off with out damaging the HD?

S~

Re: recovering a hardrive - Jambo - 26.11.2010

Hi 8FS_austin,

you may have problem with your software and not with your hardware!?
For a long time I had serious trouble with my HDD - until I found out that my BIOS didn't support a USB-Stick while starting my PC.
Every time I forgot to disconnect my USB-stick - my computer froze - and I thought it is my harddrive! I bought a new one as well... :-?
Do you have Intel or AMD? Are your software and your device drivers up to date?

I don't believe it's your HDD! Or even the two of them!

Jambo :wink:

Re: recovering a hardrive - 8FS_austin - 26.11.2010

in this case i think it was because it was it was shut down while writing. it must have been the HD because it had some corrupted areas.
and i understand what your saying. i have a keyboard that has to be un plugged when booting because my motherboard doesnt support the lights on the keyboard. but i dont use it anymore.

and im running intel.

what software and device drivers are we talking about?

thanks

S~

Re: recovering a hardrive - RadPig94 - 26.11.2010

why didnt you ctrl+alt+del. holding the power button is for emergencies

Re: recovering a hardrive - 8FS_austin - 26.11.2010

i tired the ctrl alt delete kept locking up to.

Re: recovering a hardrive - Jambo - 26.11.2010

Hi 8FS_austin,

I mean the software, running at the time when this incident happens. It might be a program or just a device driver for your graphics card.
Normally when you shut down Windows - it will write data from your RAM onto your HDD and it will close every program and then turn off.

Mh, when you're playing on-line - you're only using Battlefield, right?
When your PC freeze - what exactly happens then? Anything at all?
How long do you wait until you boot your PC again? Give it time - even 10 min...
Next time start your Task-Manager before you start playing and have a look at the processes from time to time...
Before you start playing, close every program and software you know and you don't need - except your Internet Security!
Your Internet connection - is it normally reliable or do you have problems, like interruptions?
Your Windows is up to date? Defrag your HDD!
I'm quite sure its not the fault of your HDD!
Have patience and give your PC always time!
I'm sorry that I have not a solution for you or even an idea... I would prefer to sit next to the PC.
Normally they just give up and start to behave proper! :lol:

Jambo :wink:

Re: recovering a hardrive - 8FS_austin - 26.11.2010

yea i dont run any background apps.
and i doubt it was my HDD either.
i was changing the screen res for the game and thats when it locked up. i hit CTRL+ALT+DELETE and the task manager was kinda locking up to. so i guess when i hit the power button the HDD was writting and when it shut off something got corrupted.

S~

Re: recovering a hardrive - {HVY-E}Jinxx - 26.11.2010

Unfortunately what you have done is the same thing that a lot of my customers have done.
Shut down a system (Windows XP and earlier) by doing what we call a 'Hard Shutdown'.

Basically what has happened is that the read write head of the H/D dropped onto the H/D platter while it was spinning instead of moving to the 'Parked' position.
Good news is that you probably don't have any permanent damage, YET. It's most likely damage to the boot sector/boot registry file.

Easiest way to fix it is to reinstall Windows over the top of your drive.
Bypass the first 'Repair' option.
You'll select the normal install F8 option.
Next tell it to use the existing Windows directory.
You will then get a warning that the directory is not empty, ignore it.
Now, depending on weather or not you're using a 'Real' Windows CD, and it's from an install you did your self, you should see a 2nd 'Repair' option come up.
Now choose repair.

Windows will now install and fix corrupted core and boot files without harming your previous install, settings etc.

If you don't get the repair option, it's probably because you're using a 'Cracked' version of Windows or it isn't the same install disk that was used the first time.

S!

Re: recovering a hardrive - 8FS_austin - 29.11.2010

i dont have the money to have that done right now. i have a friend at a computer shop who does stuff like that for me. il probably buy a copy of windows soon so i can do it myself.

can you tell me a safer way to shut down when i get lock up or freeze like that?

Re: recovering a hardrive - {HVY-E}Jinxx - 29.11.2010

Use a H/D and Motherboard that has S.M.A.R.T enabled. This will help some.
Turn off write behind caching on the H/D so that Windows won't use delayed writes. This will force the system to finish what it is doing before the next task.
Unfortunately, this is going to result in a performance hit, but if you are continually having problems with power outages, crashes etc, it may be a viable option for you.

Let me know if you require more assistance with this and we'll look up your MB & H/D combo.
There may be something else we can do to fix this without sacrificing performance.

S!

Re: recovering a hardrive - Razorback_Pilot - 07.12.2010

I had the same problem last summer, oddly enough with..Battlefield 2 I think(but I use it just the same!)
I tried a diagnostic that scans your harddrive.
Since I have a Lenovo computer, I have this "ThinkVantage" button that if you press on startup gives you plenty of startup options.
Including diagnostic tools. (you look for any options on startup) My suggestion is to take it to Best Buy/Geek Squad or some computer repair place.
If your computer fails to start up or you get blue screens, you more than likely have lost your HDD.

Re: recovering a hardrive - {HVY-E}Jinxx - 07.12.2010

Razorback_Pilot Wrote:I had the same problem last summer, oddly enough with..Battlefield 2 I think(but I use it just the same!)
I tried a diagnostic that scans your harddrive.
Since I have a Lenovo computer, I have this "ThinkVantage" button that if you press on startup gives you plenty of startup options.
Including diagnostic tools. (you look for any options on startup) My suggestion is to take it to Best Buy/Geek Squad or some computer repair place.
If your computer fails to start up or you get blue screens, you more than likely have lost your HDD.


Honestly,

The only thing the Freak Squad is going to do that you can't do yourself is charge you over $50.00 to tell you they can't fix it unless you buy a new H/D from them or a new Laptop.
Anything they can do, you can do yourself by asking right here.

I've lost track of how many systems I've had to fix, repair, recover due to the gross negligence of places like Best Buy, Circuit City and Office Depot.
Most of the people working there are High School and College students that know just enough to be dangerous.

Getting off my soap box now.....

S!

Re: recovering a hardrive - 8FS_austin - 07.12.2010

true. geek squad isnt a good choice haha.

S~

Re: recovering a hardrive - Razorback_Pilot - 08.12.2010

I have no clue why I wrote Geek Squad. Geek squad(or any of these big box electronics chains) is for people who know much about computers as I know about neurology.

They couldn't....1) help me with my external hard drive(when it broke)
2) help much with getting a new battery
When my grandmother got her new Acer desktop I told her not to have Geek Squad install anything, that I would do it, and......oops....no...they did it and guess how fast it runs?
BF1942 runs fine, BF2? Even when I'm in a 16-player map, nobody except myself it lags horribly. I blame the four anti-virus programs and useless programs Geek Squad put on there.
If you still have a warranty on your computer you may want to send it off. It's how I fixed mine.