Dead HDD?

[Kilokk]

well i think my HDD died on me yesterday... (dropped the lappy while it was on >.<) and i was wondering if anyone would have some insight on this, as i have never experienced it before personally.   

i tried to boot into windows (vista home basic, but that doesnt matter) and i got a blank screen.  then after waiting (and praying) i got a kernal error, so i tried to repair vista.  when that didnt work i tried a clean install.  that didnt work either, so i tried linux and got "ubuntu install input/output error during read on /dev/sda"  what the hell does that mean?  is it truely dead?  i tried the install about 50 times now, and am currently running a live session.

help 


also, it still (obviously) sees the drive, and that it is 160 gb >.> just sayin.

[Modded Matt]

when the computer starts to boot, enter the bios (f12??) and do a test on the hdd. the hdd is not that expensive, and easy to replace, unless its a mac

[Kilokk]

lol i wish it was a mac, but anything over .50 cents is expensive for me right now >.<

tho yeah that is a good point... rather the HDD than the ram or mobo or something XD

[PspKicks316]

Find a copy of a Hiren Boot CD or Ultimate Boot CD and boot into it. For Hiren, once you boot you need to go to "Hiren menu" or whatever it is (Right above the mini XP option). Navigate to the HDD Diagnostics section and choose the diagnostics for your type of hard drive. If you're not sure what it is, boot into the BIOS (normally F12, Esc, or Del on boot) and check. Serial numbers will give it away if it doesn't say the MFR (ST- is Seagate, HT is hitachi, WD is Western Digital, etc).
If your corresponding diagnostics won't work, run the IBM diagnostics (not sure if it's on UBC or Hiren).

Any error and it should be replaced.

Does the HDD click? It sounds like something is out of place for sure. Most likely a drive head got damaged when it was dropped and it's not reading properly anymore. Theoretically you'd be able to do a platter transplant and put the platters in a different drive but it's risky, tough, and not all drives have the same hardware in them so you'd need a spare same-model drive. If data doesn't matter, don't bother thinking about it.

Best bet seems to be buying a new HDD, but if it passes diagnostics then it might be possible to save it.

[Kilokk]

Find a copy of a Hiren Boot CD or Ultimate Boot CD and boot into it. For Hiren, once you boot you need to go to "Hiren menu" or whatever it is (Right above the mini XP option). Navigate to the HDD Diagnostics section and choose the diagnostics for your type of hard drive. If you're not sure what it is, boot into the BIOS (normally F12, Esc, or Del on boot) and check. Serial numbers will give it away if it doesn't say the MFR (ST- is Seagate, HT is hitachi, WD is Western Digital, etc).
If your corresponding diagnostics won't work, run the IBM diagnostics (not sure if it's on UBC or Hiren).

Any error and it should be replaced.

Does the HDD click? It sounds like something is out of place for sure. Most likely a drive head got damaged when it was dropped and it's not reading properly anymore. Theoretically you'd be able to do a platter transplant and put the platters in a different drive but it's risky, tough, and not all drives have the same hardware in them so you'd need a spare same-model drive. If data doesn't matter, don't bother thinking about it.

Best bet seems to be buying a new HDD, but if it passes diagnostics then it might be possible to save it.

it is not making any type of noise (other than spinning of course) and as i said it still shows a 160gb hdd... so i really dont get it.   i will definitely try the steps you gave me though.
Post Merge: August 18, 2010, 11:13:23 PMapparently i have 527 bad sectors and my hdd is at 18% health.