Learn How To Repair Your Hard Drive Problems Fast
535
Computers > Hardware
Mar 1, 2007
Otis Cooper -
Learn How To Repair Your Hard Drive Problems Fast
Since computer users are human, the user can be the primary cause of computer failure. And we operators of our computers are in most cases but that, we operate the computer but know very little concerning software and hardware components and peripherals.
Since this is the case, you should ASSUME NOTHING when diagnosing any computer problem. We diagnosed a new PC with a video display problem. After briefly looking at the video card it took a while to see that the video card was not pushed into the adapter slot completely.
Even though I looked at the card, I failed to check it thoroughly. This cause me to spend more time on troubleshooting that was not needed.The thought of a hard drive failure strikes terror in the heart of every computer user.
This is because a hard drive failure may lead to invaluable data loss. Here are the most common procedures you should perform when you experience hard drive failure.
General Hard Drive Troubleshooting
The hard drive can display problems such as "retry, abort, ignore" or "cannot read sectors" while operating. This is an indication that there may be bad or unreadable spots on the drive. Reformatting and reinstalling the operating system can normally correct this problem. This will cause you to loose all data on your drive so it is important to always have a good backup of yourfiles daily.
There are good good utilities you can purchase that can repair hard drive problems without destroying data. The utility Spinrite is a good utility and only cost $200.00 which is a good price if you want to avoid the hassle of reformatting the drive and restoring the operating system. Here are some general hard drive problems you should start from and we'll be more specific later.
Use Operating System Utilities
First you may be able to correct those bad spots and errors from your hard drive by performing those PC maintenance in the operating system. Windows has Disk Defragment and you should run disk defragment after running Scandisk since scandisk will need to fix any problems it finds. After scanning the drive and defraging the files, run Disk Cleanup to ensure all junk files have been delete.
Check Drive cables and connections
If there is on indication that the drive is receiving power (you don't hear that familiar clicking noise or the drive light is no working) check the 4 wire connector coming from the power supply.
If the connection is secure, you can remove the power supply connector and do two things. You can check to see if there is voltage with a multimeter. But its much faster to connect another 4 wire connector to the drive to see if the drive works. There are normally extra connectors from the power supply or you can use the connection to the cdrom drive to test for voltage from the power supply.
If the connection indicates no or very little voltage (4 volts or less) from the power supply, the power supply may be going bad. Now check and double check all connections, especially if you are someone else have recently worked inside the computer.
If the drive will not boot up...?
Boot the computer with your bootable DOS disk. If you don't have one made, STOP and make one NOW by clicking on Start, Settings, Control Panel, Add and Remove Programs and Startup Disk.
Try to access drive C: by typing DIR C: and press Enter. If you see the directories on drive C: try to make the drive bootable by typing sys a: c: and press Enter. The system files should be restored and the drive may be restored to boot on its own.
If this fails, you may have to reformat and partition the drive with the setup utility that came with your drive or computer.
If the Drive boots but hangs up at boot...?
Turn the computer off, open the system unit and disconnect the ribbon cable at the motherboard end. Turn on the PC AND You will get an error message that the drive is bad and in most cases will go into your BIOS. Change the hard drive type to AUTO and shut off the computer.
Reconnect the ribbon cable and see if the hard works properly. The drive settings should be restored and should operate fine.
A hard drive that fails to boot up may also have a bad controller. If the controller is mounted on the hard drive, there is not much you can do except replace the drive. Otis F. Cooper is solely dedicated to boosting the knowledge and confidence of every computer user. Use his informative articles and videos to understand all about the PC. Read more in depth articles for pc training and repair at www.repairarticles.com
Since this is the case, you should ASSUME NOTHING when diagnosing any computer problem. We diagnosed a new PC with a video display problem. After briefly looking at the video card it took a while to see that the video card was not pushed into the adapter slot completely.
Even though I looked at the card, I failed to check it thoroughly. This cause me to spend more time on troubleshooting that was not needed.The thought of a hard drive failure strikes terror in the heart of every computer user.
This is because a hard drive failure may lead to invaluable data loss. Here are the most common procedures you should perform when you experience hard drive failure.
General Hard Drive Troubleshooting
The hard drive can display problems such as "retry, abort, ignore" or "cannot read sectors" while operating. This is an indication that there may be bad or unreadable spots on the drive. Reformatting and reinstalling the operating system can normally correct this problem. This will cause you to loose all data on your drive so it is important to always have a good backup of yourfiles daily.
There are good good utilities you can purchase that can repair hard drive problems without destroying data. The utility Spinrite is a good utility and only cost $200.00 which is a good price if you want to avoid the hassle of reformatting the drive and restoring the operating system. Here are some general hard drive problems you should start from and we'll be more specific later.
Use Operating System Utilities
First you may be able to correct those bad spots and errors from your hard drive by performing those PC maintenance in the operating system. Windows has Disk Defragment and you should run disk defragment after running Scandisk since scandisk will need to fix any problems it finds. After scanning the drive and defraging the files, run Disk Cleanup to ensure all junk files have been delete.
Check Drive cables and connections
If there is on indication that the drive is receiving power (you don't hear that familiar clicking noise or the drive light is no working) check the 4 wire connector coming from the power supply.
If the connection is secure, you can remove the power supply connector and do two things. You can check to see if there is voltage with a multimeter. But its much faster to connect another 4 wire connector to the drive to see if the drive works. There are normally extra connectors from the power supply or you can use the connection to the cdrom drive to test for voltage from the power supply.
If the connection indicates no or very little voltage (4 volts or less) from the power supply, the power supply may be going bad. Now check and double check all connections, especially if you are someone else have recently worked inside the computer.
If the drive will not boot up...?
Boot the computer with your bootable DOS disk. If you don't have one made, STOP and make one NOW by clicking on Start, Settings, Control Panel, Add and Remove Programs and Startup Disk.
Try to access drive C: by typing DIR C: and press Enter. If you see the directories on drive C: try to make the drive bootable by typing sys a: c: and press Enter. The system files should be restored and the drive may be restored to boot on its own.
If this fails, you may have to reformat and partition the drive with the setup utility that came with your drive or computer.
If the Drive boots but hangs up at boot...?
Turn the computer off, open the system unit and disconnect the ribbon cable at the motherboard end. Turn on the PC AND You will get an error message that the drive is bad and in most cases will go into your BIOS. Change the hard drive type to AUTO and shut off the computer.
Reconnect the ribbon cable and see if the hard works properly. The drive settings should be restored and should operate fine.
A hard drive that fails to boot up may also have a bad controller. If the controller is mounted on the hard drive, there is not much you can do except replace the drive. Otis F. Cooper is solely dedicated to boosting the knowledge and confidence of every computer user. Use his informative articles and videos to understand all about the PC. Read more in depth articles for pc training and repair at www.repairarticles.com
Write a Review
Add to My Favorite
Refer it to Friend
Report Article
Other links owned by this user
The word Tweaking simply means to fine tune.You want to fine tune your computer so that it will boot up faster.Tweaking your computer so that it will run at peek performance will cause you to enjoy your computer like you never imaged. There
Category:
The motherboard is the most expensive computer component so be sure to treat and handle it with great care.There are a few things you should do to ensure no motherboard damage occur as you prepare for the installation. Be sure you have a
Category:
Do you think the keyboard is important?Try using your computer without it.Your computer will be almost useless without the keyboard.And like all other PC peripherals,the keyboard can and will put you down. The keyboard is a simple peripheral
Category:
If you have not decided already,you will soon want to network your two or more computers in your home. You want to be armed to the teach with knowledge of just at it takes to connect your computers to one another. You first should decide
Category:
Since computer users are human, the user can be the primary cause of computer failure. And we operators of our computers are in most cases but that, we operate the computer but know very little concerning software and hardware components and
Category:
Your computer use output devices such as your Monitor to send data to the computer user.This same user must also use input devices to send data to the computer. Even though you won't open your keyboard to make any repairs other than to
Category:
Other links at Computers > Hardware
In the world of home ink jet color printing, there is some confusion concerning CMYK color and RGB color. Many photo enthusiasts don't realize what kind of color space their digital cameras output and are confused when it comes to printing images off of
Category:
Wave after wave of electronic innovations are thrust upon us like a never-ending tide as the sea is this thrust upon the land. Information overload upon people can be the result. Here we will explore one of these new technologies; that of the inkjet print
Category:
As technology progresses, new electronic parts come into the picture. But what does one do if one has to locate some obsolete parts?
Category:
You are probably familiar with the saying ?different strokes for different folks?. Well, this phrase rings especially true when it comes to computers and their uses. While a computer may be perfect for one person, it may be useless to somebody else.
Category:
Here you will get a basic idea about the how to get the best deal out of your computer purchase.
Category:
Site Sponsor
Directory Statistics
Articles: 68214
Categories: 501
Yahoo Entertainment
