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System boot problem

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3 replies

by conect2

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I am running older PC just to test HD etc. (it has no operating system installed)

Everything was working fine till now.

I was erasing HD with Hiens CD (for security reason) when power when off.

On next boot (Bios is setup to boot from CD
and CD is in the cradle), it will not get in to CD and I can't do thing about it.

When pc starts it goes trough the motions, mem, boot sequence, then it peeps, monitor goes black and has blinking courser on the top left and stays like that.

I checked the bios 100 times for proper sequents (CD first).
Bios see both (HD and CD)
Changed CD (just in case is faulty)
HD is 136GB
No operating system on PC.
Just booting from CD (Hiens or other recovery is all I need - then I can take over and finish formating)

Is it hard ware?
What should I look for?

TIA

BTW: I swapped to test another HD and everything went fine as usual.

So it's the HD that is giving bad signal.

How can I fix that?

TIA

3 replies

by thumbsup2

Chances are that when the power went off, the spike killed the HDD. It may have damaged the electronics, or it could have caused the heads to touch the platter.

You've already confirmed that another HDD works fine.

The original is dead. There is no fix.

by oh smeg

Above Poster did I really think that the HDD itself is the problem here.

But just in case the other HDD that you tested with required significantly less power to operate you could try changing the PS with a [b]Known Good[/b] one as the PS may have taken a hit and degraded enough so that it is no longer producing sufficient Current to power this HDD and the system is just hanging due to a lack of power.

Or you could also check the BIOS Beep Codes to see if there is a problem there

http://www.pchell.com/hardware/beepcodes.shtml

Depending on what is on the HDD however you may be able to replace the Circuit Board with one from an Identical HDD to wipe this unit. That may address a Circuit Board Failure that has resulted from the Power Loss but if it's the HDD Motors that was affected there is nothing you can do here. Though removing the top cover and unscrewing the Platters would have the same effect of rendering the Data on this HDD unrecoverable. But if you wanted to make 100% certain that no one could every recover any data off the platters all you need do is scrape off, Burn off the Coating on the Platter/s.

However if this HDD has taken a Power Spike and been damaged it really shows that you have an Inadequate Power Supply in place and it should be replaced with a Good Brand Name unit like an Antec to prevent this happening in the future.

Col

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