Hard Drive issue

[Chikunnism]

Drawing blanks here and need some help.

I am currently building my first computer, and today I got the final parts to finish it. One of the parts was a Hitachi DeskStar 500GB Sata II 3Gb/s Hard Drive. I've been having a few issues with it, and have my heart set on fixing whatever is wrong with it. So, I would boot up my computer (With Windows 7 CD in the disk drive) and start installing my OS. I click custom, partition the Hard Drive, start installing and then would get an error message.

It would tell me that BOOTMGR missing along with the error code "0x80070017." I have been browsing around for quite awhile (it's about 3:30 right now...) and I have tried pretty much everything I can think of. Startup repair, removed and swapped out my RAM, chkdsk, reinstalling, and even using different CD Drives. Don't know what to do now, and would really appreciate some help...

Here are my specs. It may help you

Motherboard: Ta880gb+ Biostar Mobo
Processor: Athlon ii x4 (3.0GHz)
RAM: Gskill Eco (2x2gb)
Graphics Card: Radeon 6770 1GB DDR5
Hard Drive: HITACHI HDS721050CLA362 500GB Hard Drive
PSU: Corsair CX500w Builder Series

 

[Hawkeye22]

Make sure the hard drive you are installing to is listed as the first drive in the boot list in the bios. The boot order should be set to cd/dvd first then hard drive. Check your motherboard manual for these setting if you don't know where to find them.

 

[Chikunnism]

I have already tried this. This was actually the first thing that I had tried. Still no luck.

 

[Paperdoc]

If you have tried several times to Install and failed in the middle somewhere, the HDD MAY have some incomplete info on it that is causing confusion. On your next Install, first use the menus to Delete any existing Partitions so the HDD is empty, then proceed to Create and Format a new Partition for the fresh Install to use.

 

[Chikunnism]

I've tried reformatting already and it still gives me the same errors.

I just tried booting up a windows 7 ISO from a USB Universal Installer (For linux/windows) and that doesn't seem to help. Gave me the same error as well, but now when I try to reboot, it stays stuck on "Setup is Starting." It isn't a problem with my External Hard Drive, because it did this a few times last night with my CD.

Do you think updating my BIOS (ta880gb+) would fix the errors?

 

[Hawkeye22]

Can you put the drive in another machine then use something like disk checkup to view the SMART values? Perhaps there are bad sectors on the drive.

Also, did you delete and recreate the partition or did you simply reformat the partition? Make sure to delete and recreate the partition if you haven't already done so.

 

[Chikunnism]

No, I can't.

And yes, I did reformat, delete, then created a new one. Multiple times.

 

[jdenova007]

Sounds like a DOA Hard Drive... usually your BIOS gets stuck when it is trying to detect something and has a problem(usually trying to detect the Hard Drive)....

Can you run a diagnostic on the new Hard Drive; like Seagate tools...?

Also, when installing Windows 7 make sure you have nothing connected but your Keyboard, Mouse, and Video cable... don't keep external HD's or printers or USB flash drives connected.

 

[Chikunnism]

Yeah, chances are this thing is DOA. I've heard bad things about Hitachi drives but saw this one had quite a few good reviews, and for 500GB at the low price of $75 at this time had me sold. Turns out I should be willing to dish out more for a better Hard Drive. Getting a Western Digital drive and sticking with quality.

Luckily Newegg accepted my RMA and offered a full refund upon return.