hard disk issue

L

leeth31

New Member
Hi all

i got my self a big problem with my 250GB hard disk it has been given me problems for the past 24 hrs now i had just changed the sata power connector because it had become loose.

the problem is when i load into windows XP or windows 7 it is telling me the MBR is corrupt and windows can't repair it the thing is the computer knows the 2 partitions are there but i am unable to access them

this is a second hard disk in my PC used for saving personal data one of the partitions was set aside in the case my main drive decided to go tits up now my issue is how can i fix the MBR getting the drive back to normal without loosing over 100GB worth of data

i have tried looking at the active partition recovery software but it needs a reg Key and not really willing to spend without knowing if it will cure the problem so anyone have any ideas of some good software i can use and also save my data

the last issue is i know some will say try to back up the data if possible my problem is i dont have another hard disk in the size i would need to back up

so any and all ideas welcome

many thanks all
 
What brand of hard drive is it? The first thing you should do is download the drive makers disk diagnostic utility and run to check the drive for errors.
 
johnb35 said:
What brand of hard drive is it? The first thing you should do is download the drive makers disk diagnostic utility and run to check the drive for errors.
Click to expand...
Hi Johnb35

thanks for your reply the drive is a western digital

i have already downloaded the diagnostic software from western digital website and sadly it didnt do anything

i will try and give as much info about the issue as possible

i have tried running the drive in 2 different ways first of all inside my computer and second way in an external casing now both ways the computer knows the drive is there but saying that it takes a while for windows to pick up on it

windows also knows the drives size i have also partitioned the drive and as far as i can see it is showing the partition but for some reason it fails to format

while the drive is inside my PC i have noticed the drive will slow down the loading of XP or windows 7 ( the drive with the issue is a second drive ) also while running any programs within windows some times it will seem like its crashed then after a few second comes back to normal this is something its doing all the time while the drive with the issue is plugged in.

i have tried some diagnostic software for example HDD regenerator that is picking up on bad sectors and delay reading sectors or something of that nature an some other software i tried wont even touch the drive.

its kinda important i try every possible step to get this drive running normal again because it has or had over 100GB of very important data and would love to try at least to get most of it back...

so again i hope the added info will help in trying to solve this issue before i end up hitting it with a very large hammer..

many thanks
 
johnb35 said:
What do you mean it didn't do anything??? Were you able to test the drive?
Click to expand...

it was unable to test the drive

i am not sure but someone said to me it could also be the hard disks controller because of the delay in reading it but i am no tech so i really don't have a clue.

i am going to attempt old school by loading Dos onto another spare drive i have and try some Dos based software to see if i can get any results.

but any other ideas would be most welcome

oh and i noticed it has a warranty sticker on the bottom of the drive talk about typical it expired 24th last month
 
When you plug HDD as an external HDD...is there ANYTHING showed in MY COMPUTER???
If yes,then try to check the disk for errors immediately.If it has more than 1 partition then do the same thing for all of them.
Start with the most simple CHKDSK tool:
chkdsk.gif





Cheers!
 
Last edited:
S.T.A.R.S. said:
When you plug HDD as an external HDD...is there ANYTHING showed in MY COMPUTER???
If yes,then try to check the disk for errors immediately.If it has more than 1 partition then do the same thing for all of them.
Start with the most simple CHKDSK tool:
chkdsk.gif





Cheers!
Click to expand...

Hi S.T.A.R.S

thank you for your reply

the drive shows in My computer but it do take a while to appear after start up once the drive is shown if i attempt to click on it or do anything it just hangs

it also shows in Disk Management again while loading D/M it takes a while to show all drives

so it seems the drive is lagging quite a lot

and i have tried this both way external and internal with the same problem but with the external way it will after a while start the auto load with the box with the flashlight if you know what i mean.

i don't think i added this info when making this post but when switching on the PC at post the main hard disk check is fine but when it comes to the second drive the one i am talking about here there is some lag before it moves on to boot stage and again in Bios the drive is shown with all its info

so hope the added info helps

and again many thanks for all your time in helping to solve this issue
 
Your main problem is that yo do not have any place where you can back up your data to.So what you need to do is to find some place to back up your data to from that external HDD and then completely format the entire HDD with the Active Kill Disk DOS software and after that in the DISK MANAGEMENT create only one partition which is going to be big as the entire HDD.That should fix your problem.After that just move all your data back to that external HDD.

NOTE: When formatting HDD with Active Kill Disk,be SURE that you select the HDD and NOT SOME OF IT'S PARTITIONS!!!On that way the ENTIRE HDD will be completely erased/formatted.




Cheers!
 
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