How to diagnose "PC did not start correctly"? Did my harddrive fail?

JNero

Reputable
May 20, 2015
1
0
4,510
Since this morning, everytime I try to start my PC i get a blue screen with bold white text at the top saying "Your PC did not start correctly.". Ive been googling all morning but I cant find a way to diagnose this problem. I think it could be my harddrive but Im unsure how to check. According to taskmanager, its constantly at 100% load while the computer worked. There have also been some weird noises coming from my PC for the last few months.

Im also concerned it could be my EVGA GTX 660 GPU as it runs a little on the warmer side and is almost 2 years old, or my relatively new EVGA powersupply?

Some solutions I found but couldnt attempt are :
Reinstall with Windows CD, but i dont have the reinstallation CDs
Restore computer, I never created a restore point on my computer although ive been meaning to.
Reset the computer, the blue screen prompts for installation CDs to do this.
Check HDD in another computer, I dont have another desktop to check it against.

Is there any way I can check myself without having to drop $40+ at a local repair shop?
 
Solution
It's almost certainly a failed hard drive. But just to be certain, download and run Seatools for DOS and test the drive:

http://www.seagate.com/support/downloads/item/seatools-dos-master/
Hi there JNero,

I would also say that the drive is most probably dead. You can try the downloading tool that darkbreeze already suggested. In case the results confirm that, you can just get another drive and perform a clean install.
In case you need the data on the drive, you will need to use some kind of data recovery software for DOS. Check this one for example: https://www.google.bg/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=data%20recovery%20for%20dos

Also, it will not hurt to try something simple as just using different cables(SATA and power one) as well as connecting the drive to another SATA port.

Cheers,
D_Know_WD
 
As D_Know mentioned, and I failed to, if it fails either the Short DST or long generic, try replacing the cable and retesting. If it still fails, try a different SATA port and restest. If it still fails, try testing the drive in another machine if possible but by then it's almost certainly been determined that it's the drive. Especially considering the drive's been making noise. Generally a storage controller issue or cable problem isn't accompanied by noise unless there's also an issue with the drive mechanically.