Get a replacement HD, resinstall OS, then hook up the failed HD inside the computer and open command prompt (assuming its Windows), find out the drive letter of the bad HD and run this command (will use D:\ as example)
chkdsk d: /f /r
If you see any bad sectors after it completes the 5 stages of scanning you know the HD is going bad--chkdsk could fix simple boot issues as well (less than half the time). If it does not complete the chkdsk (through the various stages or takes days to complete) you know theres something physical going wrong with the HD. At that point you could use spinrite to try to overwrite the bad sectors of the HD (1's and 0's) for a chance at recovering the usability of the HD. If you notice any sort of loud clicking or abnormal noises emitting from the HD, thats another tell tale sign of HD failure.
If your computer is still under warranty, contact the distributor or the manufacturer of the HD for a possible RMA claim.
Note that a rescue disk would not fix a HD failure as rescue discs have to do with OS recovery, not issues outside of the OS (bad sectors on HD for instance) and could only be used if the OS became corrupt.
If you happened to have had important data (personal, financial or tax info) that you absolutely need recovered from the HD, you could contact a forensic data recovery company (in which they will dismantle your HD and scan the HD platters sector by sector to recover irretrievable files, after which you would purchase back your data and get it sent back on an external HD, USB Drive, or DVD disc.
Now, if the issue is related to the OS (computer is able to see the HD in BIOS, and youre able to somehow get into safe mode) you could try running chkdsk on the HD and then run the following command in command prompt (run as admin)
sfc /scannow
System file checker will scan the integrity of the current build of the operating system, if it finds issues it will attempt repairs--if it doesnt fix the issues in order to boot normally you could try Combofix as a last resort, or run another chkdsk prior to this.
Good luck!
(11-14-2014, 12:15 AM)dirmaster0 Wrote: Get a replacement HD, resinstall OS, then hook up the failed HD inside the computer and open command prompt (assuming its Windows), find out the drive letter of the bad HD and run this command (will use D:\ as example)
chkdsk d: /f /r
If you see any bad sectors after it completes the 5 stages of scanning you know the HD is going bad--chkdsk could fix simple boot issues as well (less than half the time). If it does not complete the chkdsk (through the various stages or takes days to complete) you know theres something physical going wrong with the HD. At that point you could use spinrite to try to overwrite the bad sectors of the HD (1's and 0's) for a chance at recovering the usability of the HD. If you notice any sort of loud clicking or abnormal noises emitting from the HD, thats another tell tale sign of HD failure.
If your computer is still under warranty, contact the distributor or the manufacturer of the HD for a possible RMA claim.
Note that a rescue disk would not fix a HD failure as rescue discs have to do with OS recovery, not issues outside of the OS (bad sectors on HD for instance) and could only be used if the OS became corrupt.
If you happened to have had important data (personal, financial or tax info) that you absolutely need recovered from the HD, you could contact a forensic data recovery company (in which they will dismantle your HD and scan the HD platters sector by sector to recover irretrievable files, after which you would purchase back your data and get it sent back on an external HD, USB Drive, or DVD disc.
Now, if the issue is related to the OS (computer is able to see the HD in BIOS, and youre able to somehow get into safe mode) you could try running chkdsk on the HD and then run the following command in command prompt (run as admin)
sfc /scannow
System file checker will scan the integrity of the current build of the operating system, if it finds issues it will attempt repairs--if it doesnt fix the issues in order to boot normally you could try Combofix as a last resort, or run another chkdsk prior to this.
Good luck!
very clear explanation +1, i will try it on one failed hd
You can still access all your data on the "broken" HDD via bootable USB. I recommend using Fedora 20 Live USB (with persistent storage). You can use your friend's PC to set it up. All you need is a functional USB stick (that does not contain any data you need) with at least 1 GB storage + space for your files.
Follow these instructions. One tip: If Live USB Creator cannot find the Fedora .iso file, just change the extension of that file from .iso to .raw
Don't forget to set up enough persistent storage (for your files). Wait for the operation to complete. Plug the USB stick into your PC and restart it. If needed, go to BIOS and change the boot order (set USB as first in the list).
Fedora is fully graphical and user-friendly, just play around and soon you'll find the "explorer". Go to your hard drive (yes, you can access it) and copy all the files you need to the USB. You can even use some external HDD or another USB, Fedora should recognize it.
Ye. Had a faulty drive on my old PC, or so i thought. Turned out the HDD controller on the board was on it's last legs. It literally packed up at 9.43PM on the 24th of December. PC screen went to BSOD, wouldn't boot. No HDD detected. Then this year, put that HDD in my new PC to get stuff off it and it went boom. So i guess both were pretty busted lol. But on a serious note, i'd advise you get like a portable HDD or something and back up everything on that drive while it still works (If it does). Also, i learned staying away from the Western Digital Blue (Sadly it's stock in my case). This one i got is barely a year old and it makes some loud noises, and sometimes windows Black screens out and i need to do a hard reset. Definately the HDD since it's had problems since day one, probably going to replace it soon. Seagate is probably your best bet for a HDD or a high-end WD. The errors i got are on an Asus machine which that came with stock. This is kinda a warning for those who are planning on getting an Asus machine with a 800GB WD Blue, they're crappy drives..
Don't be so quick. The PC should start unless the supply bucket went on vacation. HDD can sometimes fail to start because of static electricity. If it were to fail you would see that during boot time.
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