Registered: Feb 2003
Location: Oceanside, CA
Posts: 5073

I try starting up my Windows machine last night, and it gets stuck in an endless cycle of
"Hi, I didn't boot up right last time. What should I do?"
--boot in safe mode
--computer fails to boot and restarts
"Hi, I didn't boot up right last time. What should I do?"
--boot with last known good configuration
--computer fails to boot and restarts
"Hi, I didn't boot up right last time. What should I do?"

...etc.

I start up off the windows XP CD, and work my way to something called the Recovery Console, where I first ran "chkdsk", was told I had errors, and then ran "chkdsk /r", where I was told that the errors had been fixed.

I then rebooted, and attempted to start Windows. This time, I got to the "click your name to login" screen, but no names were presented, which made me suspect a problem.

Having decided to go with the "Start Over" approach, I again booted off the Windows XP CD, deleted the drive partition (there was only one), and asked it to format the now raw, blank disk as NTFS. It did so, slowing down a LOT at about the 92% mark (i.e. taking 10 minutes per 1%, and this is only a 40G disk), then finished and told me it had failed to format the partition.

My question: is my HD hosed, or is there something else I could do to fix it and reinstall Windows on it?

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Registered: Aug 2001
Location: is futile
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ouch... I am afraid I can't be of any help, but did you lose any precious files in the incident?

Cheers
-m

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: A New England
Posts: 9166

I'd say your HD is fucked.

You can run the format a few times, and it might eventually map the damaged sectors, and thus avoid them in future, but if I was you, I'd bin it and get a new one.

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Registered: Feb 2003
Location: Oceanside, CA
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The machine is used solely for gaming (the only reason I have a Windows machine is because many games I like are only available for Windows, and because I like putting hardware together). Thus, the only things lost are some saved games, no great loss. I'm just frustrated because while I know something about diagnosis and repair on a Mac, I know almost nothing on Windows, and I want to learn.

I have no idea what could have caused this problem. The HD is not that old, and I don't remember it losing power or getting whomped or anything. I did change cases recently, but that seems unlikely as a source of trouble.

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: A New England
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Maybe the arm/head isn't aligned and is damaging the drive as it reads it?

or

AskMacker.com

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Registered: Apr 2005
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there must be something T can do, surely.

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Registered: Jul 2000
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Considering that this machine doesn't store any critical data I'd go with the "it's fucked, just throw it in the garbage" support. Besides, it's time to get a bigger disk.

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Registered: Aug 2001
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My favorite game of all time takes up less than 20 megabytes on disk (around 10 I believe)

Cheers
-m

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I hadn't run into any problems with the 40G, but it looks like a new 40 is about $45, and a new 80 is about $55. I'll spend the extra $10, what the heck.

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Registered: Nov 2000
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Depending on how old the drive is you might be able to return it under the manufacturers warranty(which is sometimes greater than the base PC warranty). If you know the brand of the drive you should be able to download some diagnostic utilities from the manufacturers website that will allow you to verify the drives integrity, perform a low level format and if need be a RMA number to return the drive with.

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Registered: Nov 2000
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And for skalie:

Depending on how old the drive is you might be able to return it under the manufacturers warranty(which is sometimes greater than the base PC warranty). If you know the brand of the drive you should be able to download some diagnostic utilities from the manufacturers website that will allow you to verify the drives integrity, perform a low level format and if need be a RMA number to return the drive with.

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Registered: Aug 2001
Location: Hilbert Space
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Strangle the little bunnies, gurgling their pathetic life away in your hands.

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quote:

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Originally posted by dogcow
there must be something T can do, surely.

---

shaddup you

I had the same thing happen awhile ago. I had gotten a virus and ended up having to buy windows XP upgrade disk *which was about $100 @Sams*. If there's nothing on it you really want or need, I'd go with the new harddrive.

All hardrives have 2 slots....

ok, ok. (just kidding)

btw Tal, look around a bit. I just got a 120gb harddrive on sale for $50+ tax at Staples.

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Thankee, macker. It's a Maxtor, but while I don't think it's that old, I don't know exactly how old it is, so I can't do warranty. I did download a bootable ISO disk image with their diagnostics and put it on a CD, so maybe that will help. I suspect I'll be buying a new HD, though.

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Registered: Nov 2000
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Some Maxtor drives have up to a 5 year warranty(at least here in the UK). Maxtor have a nice easy online warranty checker on their website which makes it trivial to check the status of your drive.

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You are like unto a god of technical beneficence and wisdom, sir.

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quote:

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Originally posted by T


I had the same thing happen awhile ago. I had gotten a virus and ended up having to buy windows XP upgrade disk

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quote:

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Originally posted by T
shaddup you
I had the same thing happen awhile ago. I had gotten a virus and ended up having to buy windows XP upgrade disk *which was about $100 @Sams*. If there's nothing on it you really want or need, I'd go with the new harddrive.

---

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quote:

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Originally posted by Goatboy
?

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Registered: Feb 2003
Location: Oceanside, CA
Posts: 5073

What, exactly, is the difference between XP Pro and XP Home, anyway? I've looked around online, and what I have found suggests that Pro has better security, encyption, multiprocessor support, and a few other doodads. Is there any difference between the two in terms of running programs or connecting to a LAN?

Thanks for helping my n00bness.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Goatboy
?

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Registered: Jul 2000
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Ahh, no. My point was simply that you said you had the same thing happen, then described a completely different cause.

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Registered: Sep 2001
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Slap it.

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