How to tell if hardrive is dead?

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics (More info?)

You need to run the manufacturer's tests. Download from their site or run
from a cd if one came with the hard drive.

--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)
"chris" <cachasenh@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:uRUk5ftIFHA.1860@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
>I had Windows ME on my old harddrive and woke up one morning to my screen
>saying low memory. I couldn''t access it anymore. tried safe mode etc but
>nothing worked.
> it goes to the WIN ME screen and stays there. sounds like the hardrive is
> trying to spin but can't go any farther.
>
> Is the hardrive now dead or is it still got data on it?
> I tried to create a master/slave with a new harddrive and Win XP and Ghost
> program also to no avail.
> How do you tell if the hardrive is officially dead or able to work again?
> I had lot of important data that I hadn't put on cd's yet.
> Can computer dealers access it to tell if the drive is still in working
> condition at all?
> thanks for any help.
>

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics (More info?)

On Mon, 7 Mar 2005 00:40:25 -0500, chris wrote:

> I had Windows ME on my old harddrive and woke up one morning to my screen
> saying low memory. I couldn''t access it anymore. tried safe mode etc but
> nothing worked.
> it goes to the WIN ME screen and stays there. sounds like the hardrive is
> trying to spin but can't go any farther.
>
> Is the hardrive now dead or is it still got data on it?
> I tried to create a master/slave with a new harddrive and Win XP and Ghost
> program also to no avail.
> How do you tell if the hardrive is officially dead or able to work again? I
> had lot of important data that I hadn't put on cd's yet.
> Can computer dealers access it to tell if the drive is still in working
> condition at all?
> thanks for any help.

It sounds like the hard drive is booting since you get to the screen where
the operating system is loading. Sounds more like a file system problem
than a dead hard drive. Len gives good advice about using a boot floppy to
see if the drive is still readable.

Not enough details here about the new hard drive and the attempted and
failed XP install to give any suggestions.

--
Sharon F
MS-MVP ~ Windows Shell/User

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics (More info?)

Could also try booting from a floppy. At the A: prompt, type C: . If the HDD
is recognised, you should then be in the C:\ root. Now type "dir" (without
quotes) which SHOULD give you the directory list.
If you get an error (unable to switch to C:, or unable to read directory)
then at the very least your HDD boot partition is corrupt. For reasons
unknown you are posting an ME question in XP ng - from yr post it's
impossible to tell whether the "low memory" error is due to yr HDD being
over-full, a virus/malware problem, faulty RAM or an OS problem.
Advice given above is a basic test for HD readability which can be done by a
user. If the HDD is the problem, then follow Colin's advice. And, if it IS
a problem not recoverable by software, it's an expensive and not-guranteed
trip to a data recovery specialist. Regular backups would avoid it.
Good Luck!
Sincerely, Len

"chris" <cachasenh@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:uRUk5ftIFHA.1860@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
>I had Windows ME on my old harddrive and woke up one morning to my screen
>saying low memory. I couldn''t access it anymore. tried safe mode etc but
>nothing worked.
> it goes to the WIN ME screen and stays there. sounds like the hardrive is
> trying to spin but can't go any farther.
>
> Is the hardrive now dead or is it still got data on it?
> I tried to create a master/slave with a new harddrive and Win XP and Ghost
> program also to no avail.
> How do you tell if the hardrive is officially dead or able to work again?
> I had lot of important data that I hadn't put on cd's yet.
> Can computer dealers access it to tell if the drive is still in working
> condition at all?
> thanks for any help.
>