Cannot Format - Hardware?

[Turv]

Well, My other PC Has worked fine for ages, yet, the other day for some reason it seemed to mess up.

When booting up the PC it said System boot failure (IIRC), I thought it was time for a format anyway, so i put the windows disk in, and booted it from there...

Deleted all partitions, made a new one and formatted using NTFS (Quick). It went through to the point where you restart your PC for the first time.

It restarted, but did not load up, It just looped, so restarted every time.

I booted up from the disk again, and tried formatting for a second time, but using NTFS (Not Quick, Standard?), However, it appeared to freeze at 0%, and would not move. So i restarted the PC again, and now the hard drive will not format using NTFS, just freezes at 0%, BUT when i try and format using NTFS (Quick), It goes through there to 100%, then says cannot create /Windows Folder.

Any ideas?

 

[desolationw]

However, it appeared to freeze at 0%, and would not move.

ntfs formatting(not quick) is reported to takes ages to complete. I have never formatted this way but do understand why you tried it.

It goes through there to 100%, then says cannot create /Windows Folder.

Any ideas?

If it completes quick format and doesnt work then it seems serious. You might need to get a new hard drive, as this one seems fooked but wait to see what others say

 

[mkaibear]

>Any ideas?

Dead disk, mate. Sorry.

Test the system with a different disk / test the disk with a different system. It's most likely a fubar'd disk, though.

 

[evongugg]

Try running the manufacturer's drive diagnostics. Boot from a floppy or CD-Rom and run them. You could also use Hitachi drive fitness test:

http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm

If it fails the SMART test replace the drive, because it will fail sooner or later.

 

[phreejak]

Test the drive in question on another computer. This will help determine if it is the drive or the motherboard that has become faulty.

 

[chunkymonster]

sounds like it's time to get a new hard drive...you could try using a Win98 boot disk with chkdsk to identify and isolate bad sectors or use the manufacturers utility to verify a bad disk...but my opinion, get a new drive...

 

[jap0nes]

Test the drive in question on another computer. This will help determine if it is the drive or the motherboard that has become faulty.

Exactly. That's the most reasonable thing to do before assuming the drive is bad. Change the cable sometimes might help too.