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Windows XP setup cannot access the disk

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by asher2jk

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My hard disk has crashed.. have left all hopes to salvage any info.. all that i am concerned with right now is to get the HDD working.. the BIOS detects the drive... its a SP0802N Samsung HDD (80 GB)...
When i tried to install a new copy of XP.. came to the last stage where you have to select the a partiton where you want to install the window files.. there it gave me the prompt windows can't access the disk where it shows the partitions.
Any key that i press would restart the computer.
What can i do to the HDD back to life.. am clueless now.. any help would be very helpful :) Thanks

27 replies

by dumphrey

and requires no small bit of luck. Depending on whats wrong, it may or may not work. On the free end of things, I would download and burn a copy of http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/
They have nearly every manufactureres HD diagnostic/repair tool. I have found that the Maxtor low level format will work on samsung drives (some times). What you want to do is run the disk check program for your HD. To do this, boot your computer from the UBCD cd. At the boot menu choose Hard Disk tools, then select shdiag (try latest version listed, then work backwards if they do not work). You can also try hutil.

If these report no errors, but you still can not get windows to load, probably your MBR is messed up. That would require another post of the same length as here, so lets just eliminate major HD problems first =)

by oh smeg

And plugging it into another Computer which can read the Partition Type that you have. So if you have a NTFS Partition either Windows XP/Vista/2000 Pro or NT4 though the NT4 doesn't support USB so you would have to install drivers for USB. If you have a FAT32 Partition then XP/Vista/2000 Pro/NT4 or 98-5 will read this. Again the NT4 and 98-5 do not natively support USB devices so you'll need to install a driver for the external drive to work.

Look at the drive and see if you can see anything at all on it, if you can copy off your data and then wipe the Drive. Depending on the OS that was being used and is being used on the Computer that you are viewing from you may be required to Unhide Hidden Files/Folders and you may need to take Ownership of your Files. Both of these Directions are in the Windows Help Files but if you need to Take Ownership of the Files the XP directions are here

http://tinyurl.com/3aw7

If your Data is important you can try using the Emergency Boot CD to repair your Windows OS it's available here Free

http://tinyurl.com/2q6n95

If you don't care about anything on the Drive you can wipe it and start the install process all over again with a wiping utility like Boot & Nuke

http://tinyurl.com/4rfur

This removes every trace off the HDD so it appears to the OS Installer to be a New Blank HDD.

But before you start you need to check the HDD with the Drive Makers Testing Utility. If it fails in the computer remove it and test again in a different computer. If it still fails there the Drive is Shot and needs replacing if it passes in the second computer the Drive Controller on the M'Board of the original Computer is shot and needs replacing. The testing Utility from Samsung was listed above so get yourself a copy of it and test your HDD.

Col

by asher2jk

i had attached the drive to a friends computer and there it was able to detect the drive but did not show any partitions.. even went to the disk management and there also nothing.
downloading the ultimatebootcd now.. it has the diag test and more in it.

by asher2jk

am not so sure as to how to run this diag on the drive.. i should make a bootable cd outta it right??

by asher2jk

Alrighty.. am downloading the ubcd now... will let ya know how far i have progressed or regressed :)

by asher2jk

Okay.. ran the UBCD.. (Robo it has an inbuilt SHDiag).. went through the SHDiag which was specific for samsung drives.. it went through all the test beautifully but when it came to scan the surface of the disk.. it froze at just 2%.. now am stumped as to what to do with that.. does that mean have lost this disk.. Man will have to shell out loads of money.. My parents will kill me.. Help anyone.. HELP :)

by asher2jk

Now have ran both the utilities.. and got the same result.. it stumbled during the surface scan.. all the other test went fine except this one.. any ideas as to what is to be done.. the HUtil had an option for HD erase.. should i go for that.. and there was a low level format option also in the same.. am so tempted to do that right now.. but will be a good boy and wait for some explanations..

by Former member

Get a new hdd and load on your windows disk, then follow the instructions below (put your old drive in the freezer first (read below).

But you do have a time limit (meaning very little time and it will be just one shot). Do you have a freezer? If you do then wrap the drive in three plastic bags (freezer bags come in handy), then put this drive in the freezer for a couple of days. Then (as suggested with the other posts) place the drive in a external usb hdd case (caddy) and plug this in to your usb socket on your computer and switch on the caddy, in your "my computer" icon you will be able to extract your files and docs.

Please post back if you have anymore problems or questions.

by asher2jk

Well i don't think its the cables fault.. cause the BIOS is detecting the HDD..and when i ran the SHDiag.. it also detected the drive.. (do tell me if i am wrong).. now wondering what to do.. will try this HUtility also.. thanks for the advice

by oh smeg

And then if it fails the test in another Computer.

What that does is tell you if the HDD is Dead/Damaged and unusable or if the problem is connected with the M'Board Data Lead or anything else in that case.

If the Drive Fails tests in Both the Original Case and in another computer the Drive is Dead and needs replacing. If it fails in the first computer but not the second that means that something that it is attached to has failed. IDE Leads are always a good starting point as they have 40/80 Cables in the ribbon and if one of these has broken you can get a failure while the drive appears to work. Also the Actual Plugs on IDE Leads can pull off the leads so check each and every plug where it is connected to the Cable.

If the drive constantly fails the Surface test you can try using Boot & Nuke to wipe the surface and write zero's to every sector but I would personally be replacing the drive as it's on its way out and even if you get it working it's going to fail much sooner than latter.

If the Surface Test is showing multiple Unreadable Errors the most likely thing that has happened is that the unit has been jolted a decent amount while the Drive was running and the Impact has caused the Heads to contact the Platters and scrape the Magnetic Material off the Platters and damage the Read Write Heads so they are no longer in Alignment and can not reliable read the Platters.

Col

by rob miners

If you have uncorrectable errors it indicates that there are evident defects of the disk surface and/or there are problems in the hard disk drive mechanical subsystem.

I think that it is time for a new drive. I wouldn't trust a Drive that has Bad Sectors.

by dumphrey

and as such, may have problems reading from usb. When you ran HUTIL was it in the USB caddy or in the computer its self?

Also, If I remember right, UBCD has some SMART monitoring tools, can you see if you can find them (Under Hard disk management, program called SMARTUDM) Just let it run and see if it throws up any obvious errors.

True Blue recommended replacing the ide cable, I second this. 1/2 when I have HD trouble its a bad IDE cable, wire shorting from being bent for 6 years etc...

Let us know what comes of this. If its a surface scan error, chances are a low level format can help, but my question is why did it get bad enough to get past the built in error checking. You should be able to get this disk up and going, but Im not sure how much I would trust it from here on out.

Ohh, is the HD making any weird noises? Clicking or grinding that seem different then normal?

by asher2jk

Well its not making any wierd noises.. that would have straightaway meant a bad HDD right.. As for the cable, can't get one right now but what i will do is get a friends HDD who lives next door..
As for the SMARTUDM it gave me the following error
"! T.E.C. detected with life critical attribute"
and when i look into the table it is under Uncorrectable sector..

by asher2jk

All the work is being done in the computer itself.. as for the IDE cable would it still be bad when both the BIOS and UBCD are detecting the HDD.. and the cause i guesss would be someone switched off the computer directly from the UPS.. the last time :( i saw it in a working state when i left it to download juno with the monitor turned off.. could that have caused all this mess

by asher2jk

Well had taken it to another computer.. but there i did not boot from it.. just plugged out the power and IDE from CD-ROM and plugged them into the HDD.. There it detected the drive but no partitions.. If the HDD is dead, am dead, my parents will freak out.. they will blame me :)

by dumphrey

to find and fix the problem, they may forgive you =) But, as Oh Smeg said, you should eb able to get up and running by using DBAN or the samsung utility to zero the drive. The partition information is stored on one part of the disk, if thats the part that goes bad, bye bye partitions...

by dumphrey

go completely out. What ahppens is they gt intermittent shorts, or increased interference. But if SMARt found unrecoverable sector, thats a critical HD flaw. At this point, your best bet is to "zero" the drive using a HD format utility..
http://www.samsung.com/global/business/hdd/support/utilities/ES_Tool.html

download estool and burn to cd 9make sure to get cd version). Boot from it and run the low level format option. Accept its default values. This will go over your entire HD, and mark out any sectors it knows to be bad. This may or may not work depending on the cause of the unrecoverable sector/s. If it does work, it should allow you to reinstall windows, BUT, I would highly recommend looking into a new HD, as once they start to go, they rarely stop...

If the machine was on a ups, and some one turned off the ups during a write, you may have damaged the platter a little... should not have, but possible. Low level formatting can take HOURS. So be prepared. I doubt its your cable, that would cause high level problems, not reported in SMART.
Try this, and PM me on monday and let me know how it went.

Just read Oh Smegs last post, and bumping moving the HD could do this much faster then power off. But then again, it could also just be wearing out...
DBAN he mentioned is another good product, and very simple to use. Just be VERY careful booting it on any system with data on a HD you want to keep.

by asher2jk

Oh well the darn HDD i guess is as good as dead (so am i).. can't format in now.. by either NTFS or FAT.. Though it solved my question :) Windows Setup can access the disk now but it can't format it.. i guess because of the Unrecoverable sector.. its always stuck at 7% and if i do a quick format then it comes up with an error Windows can't format the disk.. If you are using a SCSI disk check if it is terminated properly.. If you've got any more ideas please do let me know :)
Thanks for all the help everyone.. really appreciate it

by Former member

You can post your drive to me and i can sort it out for you, that is part my business, retrieval of data. If you want to that is..

Please post back if you have anymore problems or questions.

by asher2jk

Peconet if only i had been in Finland :) would have been more than glad to accept your offer.. but posting it from India to there.. My Parents would kill me twice :) you see the thing is the HDD is out of its warranty.. if only had got the hint 4 months ago.. anyways thanks once more

by pratyush77

Ok this might sound very stupid, but it worked. I had the SAME problem with my PC last night and I removed the cable joining the hard disk to the motherboard and reconnected it the other way round. The end that was to the motherboard is now attached to the hard disk and the one to the hard disk to the motherboard. I have a Seagate 160 GB HDD unlike the samsung one that is mentioned here.
Thanks a lot for everyone's comments...

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