Is my Hard Drive broken if I can see the details of it in CMOS Setup?

Discussion in 'General Hardware' started by LUCK, Sep 23, 2011.

  1. LUCK

    LUCK Geek Trainee

    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    3
    Dear!

    I am not very sure my Hard Drive is broken or not. When I went to CMOS Setup and found the Hard Drive in CMOS Setup with 80GB.

    I am using Windows 7 (32-bit). I don't know why my computer can't log in Windows 7 as usual. It's that after I turn on the computer, I get "Slave Hard Disk S.M.A.R.T Command Failed" and "Press F1 to continue". So I press "F1" to continue and then I can see Windows 7 is starting symbol, but I can't log in Windows 7 as expected.

    1. Primary IDE Master (Not Detected)
    2. Primary IDE Slave (IC35L090AVV207-0)

    When I click on (2) Primary IDE Slave, I get 80GB of the Hard Drive.

    It seemed that my Hard Drive is not working well.

    Please let me know whether my hard drive is really broken or it is not working well.

    Thanks a lot and I am looking forward to hearing from you.

    My best regards,

    LUCK
     
  2. Wildcard

    Wildcard Big Geek

    Likes Received:
    26
    Trophy Points:
    28
    Hi,

    It is possible that your hard drive is failing if the IDE cable didnt make a difference for you. SMART is a feature on hard drives that acts kind of like a warning system, it is supposed to tell you if a hard drive is failing. It is not always accurate but it could be trying to tell you that your drive is failing. It is possible for a HD to be seen by the BIOS but still have problems. Parts inside the drive could be failing but its controller/bios could still be reporting to the BIOS.

    From what you see in the BIOS, I think your hard drive is either an IBM or a Hitachi. You can download a program from Hitachi called Drive Fitness Test that can be put on a CD and booted to. It will test your hard drive to see if it can find any errors. Here is a link to the download pages for them :

    http://www.hitachigst.com/support/downloads/

    You would want the Drive Fitness Test program on the CD image. It will download an iso file that you will need to then burn to a CD. I am not sure if this program works with other brands of Hard drives or not. If you do not have a Hitachi/IBM hard drive, you can still try it. If you have a Seagate or Western Digital drive, both of those companies have their own drive testing software you can download from their websites.
     
  3. LUCK

    LUCK Geek Trainee

    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    3
    Dear!

    I clean install and delete the drives (C and D), but it doesn't let me do so though I try it many times. Does it mean that computer's hard drive is broken?

    I am looking forward to hearing from you.

    My best regards,

    LUCK
     
  4. Wildcard

    Wildcard Big Geek

    Likes Received:
    26
    Trophy Points:
    28
    Hi,

    It is possible that your hard drive is failing. You can try running a check disk using your windows 7 DVD to see if it finds any errors. If a check disk finds errors it can try to repair them, or if it cannot, it can flag sectors on the drive as bad so that the operating system will not use them. I found these instructions on how to use checkdisk from your windows 7 DVD :

    "1) Use the Windows 7 DVD to start the computer in Windows Recovery (WinRE).
    2) In WinRE, open a command prompt. To do this, follow these steps:
    On the Install Windows screen, select the appropriate Language to install, Time and
    currency format, and Keyboard or input method options, and then click Next.
    3) Click Repair your computer.
    4) Click the 7 installation that you want to repair, and then click Next.
    5) Click Command Prompt.
    At the command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:
    chkdsk drive: /f and chkdsk drive: /r."

    When you go to type in the command prompt, you would write something like chkdsk C: /F /R
    and then hit enter. This will try to find and repair errors on the disk if possible. Once it finishes you can try reinstalling again to see if it makes a difference.

    Also, if you have not done so already, I would try to run the hard drive diagnostic software from the vendor of your hard drive to see if it reports errors.
     
  5. LUCK

    LUCK Geek Trainee

    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    3
    Dear!

    I have the Setup DVD Windows 7 and I was trying to run Setup and I get Windows 7 is loading files until 100 percents as in "http://www.techtalkz.com/windows-7/514412-windows-7-installation-guide-tutorial.html". After that, I get my screen black without any details though I was waiting more than 30 minutes, so I can't get Command Prompt?

    "1) Use the Windows 7 DVD to start the computer in Windows Recovery (WinRE).
    2) In WinRE, open a command prompt. To do this, follow these steps:
    On the Install Windows screen, select the appropriate Language to install, Time and
    currency format, and Keyboard or input method options, and then click Next.
    3) Click Repair your computer.
    4) Click the 7 installation that you want to repair, and then click Next.
    5) Click Command Prompt.
    At the command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:
    chkdsk drive: /f and chkdsk drive: /r."

    Sorry for being unaware of my knowledge of setting up.

    Thanks a lot for your great contact and reply. I am very grateful to you.

    I am looking forward to hearing from you again.

    My best regards,

    LUCK
     
  6. Wildcard

    Wildcard Big Geek

    Likes Received:
    26
    Trophy Points:
    28
    Hi,

    Do you have another hard drive that you could try in this computer in case it is your current drive causing the problems? You may also want to try resetting your BIOS on the motherboard back to its defaults in case something has gotten changed. You can do that by unplugging your computer and then taking out the coin shaped CMOS battery on your system board. Then hold down the computer power button for10-20 seconds to let the board discharge any remaing charge it has. Then put the battery back in and try booting the computer to your Win7 dvd again. I would also reseat (take out and put back in) your RAM, Video card, and all the cables and connectors inside the computer to be sure nothing is loose or is seated improperly.
     

Share This Page