bad hard drive but not bad hard drive?

servo.tsc · 10-14-2008, 09:28 AM

I have a dell xps i am trying to fix. It first came up with a bsod even in safe mode stating the video driver was bad. I tried to reinstall windows in a non destructive way just to grab the files so the drive could be nuked and paved. When i try Windows says the drive could not be read and had to be formatted. I figured wth I'll format at least the system will be working right? Wrong! Upon reboot the computer got stuck in a reboot loop just after post. I unplugged the hard drive and got past post. It is a sata hard drive and i moved it to another sata port on the board with the same result. i changed the sata cable and got past the post. i ran the hard drive diagnostic from Dell and it passed! So i attempted to reinstall windows yet again. This time it froze during format. I rebooted and tried again now it hangs after post. So is it the hard drive or the board or both or something else ...... ?
Thank you

Lexluethar · 10-14-2008, 10:35 AM

Hard drive is bad.

Easiest way to grab the files off the drive before it totally dies is just to connect it to another computer that already has a bootable OS and just pull the files off.

Formating IMO is a pain in the arse way to just pull files off of a system.

servo.tsc · 10-14-2008, 10:38 AM

Formatting was not the plan it was the only option. Windows couldn't read the file sytem when i tried to reinstall windows over top

eric68046 · 10-14-2008, 11:11 AM

If you can get to a command line i recommend running a chkdsk

servo.tsc · 10-14-2008, 01:15 PM

i tried it said to many unrecoverable errors to run. Yet this drive passes dell's diagnistic

eric68046 · 10-14-2008, 01:23 PM

Have you tried a fdisk /mbr, but to be honest thats a total stab in the dark, but at least it gives you a fresh go as far as the Master Boot Record.

Do you know if its a IDE or a Sata drive?

servo.tsc · 10-14-2008, 01:33 PM

sata drive

servo.tsc · 10-14-2008, 01:34 PM

there is 1 sata drive so no raid issues to worry about

eric68046 · 10-14-2008, 01:35 PM

I'd recommend checking out newegg.com and seeing how much a new HD will run you. I don't know how big of a drive you got so, I can't say for certain how much it will cost.

SirCyber · 10-14-2008, 01:41 PM

nother useful HDD tool is Norton DiskDoctor, might see if you can find a copy of that... but from the sounds of it your drive may be unfixable from software

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