-=Help! HDD Failure=-

-={420}=- · Nov 6, 2002, 08:37 PM

After leaving my computer on the logon screen for a while, I came back to find an error message in the bottom left corner of my screen that read:
Pri Master HDD Error
Run SETUP
Press F1 to Resume

After pressing F1, I got a BOOT FAILURE message.
My computer won't boot up so I am typing this from another one.
What should I do now?

~~Sourcer_2002~~ · Nov 6, 2002, 09:33 PM

Pray! or run the XP restore utlity.

Ryoko · Nov 7, 2002, 01:36 AM

calm down.

turn the computer off, then turn it back on. go into the bios, detect primary master. if it detects, exit the bios and boot the computer. if it doesn't detect, check your cables. if your cables are fine, your hard drive is dead. if it detected and you booted your computer, does it give you an error message booting? if it does, your hard drive is dying and you need to get all the data that you can off of it. if it doesn't give you an error, backup your data and scan the drive using your drive scanner of choice. if you get bad sectors, replace your drive. if you get nothing, it was just a glitch.

-={420}=- · Nov 8, 2002, 01:29 PM

It does detect the hard drive in the BIOS. Also, when I start my computer, the screen showing all the HDDs and CD-ROMs hangs for a while. Then I get the "Pri Master HDD Error" message. I checked all the connections but it really seems like there's something wrong with the hard drive itself. What really gets me though is that it seemed to have happened all by itself for no reason. The hard drive is fairly new (about a year old) and I left my computer at the logon screen (WinXP) when I left. When I came back, I got nothing but a black screen with an error message. This sux.

I think I'm gonna send my hard drive to Ontrack so they can get my data off of there. It seems that this is the best solution. Unless you guys have any other ideas.
One thing I though of doing was buying the same exact hard drive, taking the platters out of my old one, and putting them in the new one. But the person I talked to from Ontrack said that this would not work. I forgot why. If this is possible though, please tell me because it's a much less expensive solution.

shuki · Nov 8, 2002, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by -={420}=-
I think I'm gonna send my hard drive to Ontrack so they can get my data off of there. It seems that this is the best solution. Unless you guys have any other ideas.

have you tried hooking it up as a slave drive and pulling your own info off? then do a format c: /s or insert the winXP cd and reformat and reinstall everything again. Thank god for disk image

Shaith · Nov 8, 2002, 11:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by -={420}=-
It does detect the hard drive in the BIOS. Also, when I start my computer, the screen showing all the HDDs and CD-ROMs hangs for a while. Then I get the "Pri Master HDD Error" message. I checked all the connections but it really seems like there's something wrong with the hard drive itself. What really gets me though is that it seemed to have happened all by itself for no reason. The hard drive is fairly new (about a year old) and I left my computer at the logon screen (WinXP) when I left. When I came back, I got nothing but a black screen with an error message. This sux.
I think I'm gonna send my hard drive to Ontrack so they can get my data off of there. It seems that this is the best solution. Unless you guys have any other ideas.
One thing I though of doing was buying the same exact hard drive, taking the platters out of my old one, and putting them in the new one. But the person I talked to from Ontrack said that this would not work. I forgot why. If this is possible though, please tell me because it's a much less expensive solution.

This won't work because you do not have the clean room facilities to do this properly, and what you'll actually do is cause the drive to obliterate itself in very, very short order. Dust, condensation, and a myriad of things floating around in the air don't seem like much, but for precision magnetic media a speck of dust is like hitting a speed bump the size of Mt McKinley in a Yugo. Remember, the heads do not actually touch the drive - they fly over it, floating on a static cushion of air that's created by the spinning of the drive platters. Get a speck of dust in that...

yowza.

Recovery is expensive as hell, about $1/megabyte. Is your data really that valuable to you monetarily, or are you better off simply reinstalling your software?

I hate to say this, but in my opinion, you're better off taking the loss and starting over.

Oh, and buy a different brand of drive

peroni · Nov 9, 2002, 04:34 PM

Get the Maxtor utility Powermax.
This will tell you what is wrong on the drive and might give some tips on how to fix it.

-={420}=- · Nov 15, 2002, 12:15 AM

dang it kinda 2 late now. i already sent it in. theyre gonna evaluate it and im gonna see how much it's gonna cost. hope its an easy to fix problem so it wont be too expensive.

Rasta Monsta · Nov 15, 2002, 12:44 PM

Wow, did you try to recover with XP CD?

That's a pisser.

rasta

-={420}=- · Nov 15, 2002, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Rasta Monsta
Wow, did you try to recover with XP CD?

That's a pisser.

rasta

I didn't try that but the hard drive wasn't being detected so it wouldn't have worked anyway. It must be a physical problem with the drive.

Rasta Monsta · Nov 15, 2002, 01:37 PM

I thought it was being detected by the BIOS. . .what you are describing might have been a boot sector/boot record failure correctable through the recovery console. . .

rasta

-={420}=- · Nov 15, 2002, 01:40 PM

As I said before, it's too late now anyway. Yes, the BIOS detected it but when I tried to run a data recovery program, it didn't get detected in that. If it's too expensive, I'll try the other methods.

shuki · Nov 15, 2002, 01:40 PM

day late dollar short type of deal now....

Rasta Monsta · Nov 15, 2002, 01:53 PM

Yeah, sorry, but maybe it could help you or someone else in the future. . .

Good luck,

rasta

-={420}=- · Nov 15, 2002, 02:40 PM

Well, thanx anyways

shuki · Nov 15, 2002, 02:49 PM

did you try it as slave drive?

-={420}=- · Nov 15, 2002, 03:41 PM

Yes I tried that but Windows ME wouldn't recognize it because the drive is in NTFS. I haven't tried it with Windows XP cuz I didn't have that available but I don't think that would have worked.

~~DriveEuro~~ · Nov 15, 2002, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by -={420}=-
As I said before, it's too late now anyway. Yes, the BIOS detected it but when I tried to run a data recovery program, it didn't get detected in that. If it's too expensive, I'll try the other methods.

Wow...I had a problem similar to this before...I got an estimate over the phone and it was close to $1000 and I was like HELL NO! Turns out that when I threw the drive in as slave it worked on another computer...I had accidently deleted the partition because I threw it in a computer set as master...Repartitioned both discs...

...but I was able to retrieve my stuff...Man, why send it in a wait, I bet it's something simple that you can restore...

-={420}=- · Nov 15, 2002, 05:57 PM

Maybe you can help me then. I would have to have Windows XP installed on the master drive, right? Since my drive is in NTFS format. I might just try that if it's too expensive.
Also, I saw something called a hard drive duplicator that not only copies drives but also fixes some drive errors. The price to fix my hard drive will be in the range of $600-$2800. If it's in the low range, I might go for it (depending on the situation). Please give me any more tips u might have. Thanx so far.

Rasta Monsta · Nov 15, 2002, 06:06 PM

If what has occurred is a disk error (which it could be), using an imaging program like the one you mention will give you an image with the same defect.

Try booting into your XP CD and using the recovery console. Fixboot and fixmbr may bring you back to life.

Here is an article about the utility:

http://support.microsoft.com/default...;en-us;Q314058

Good luck,

rasta

~~DriveEuro~~ · Nov 15, 2002, 06:27 PM

What the hell do you have on the drive that is so important to you? Personally I wouldn't spend more than $50 to get back any of my missing data...Althout I don't have squat on my main drive. Is it worth the time and money? If the drive is corrupt then go pick up a 120GB from www.pricewatch.com .... really cheap.

-={420}=- · Nov 15, 2002, 11:05 PM

I don't think it's corrupt and yes, my data is very important to me. I have things on there that cannot be replaced. And besides, I won't be the one paying for it anyways.

~~DriveEuro~~ · Nov 15, 2002, 11:22 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by -={420}=-
I don't think it's corrupt and yes, my data is very important to me. I have things on there that cannot be replaced. And besides, I won't be the one paying for it anyways.

Oh so it's got stuff on it from work....I see.

Shaith · Nov 16, 2002, 12:06 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by -={420}=-
I don't think it's corrupt and yes, my data is very important to me. I have things on there that cannot be replaced. And besides, I won't be the one paying for it anyways.

Then why do you care what the cost is?

Just send the thing in.

-={420}=- · Nov 16, 2002, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by -={420}=-
dang it kinda 2 late now. i already sent it in.

Already did.

Nov 18, 2002, 10:30 AM

RUN FOR THE HILLS!