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Can a repair install fix a No Boot Device errror message?

When I boot a 98SE HD, I get No Boot Device (or similar) sometimes and other times Disk Data error (or similar). Both errors come at the end of the BIOS information display and as it is trying to boot. (I did not go into the BIOS). The HD makes a lot of clicking noises before these errors occur.

IS it worth mounting the HD as a secondary on my Win XP Home SP2 PC and running CHKDSK /F on this HD?

Or would a 98SE repair install be better idea?

Or is it hopeless for this HD?

Mike

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Nick Denny

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Gary Case

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scrathcyboy

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mgross333

ASKER

There is no useful data, the entire point of the Question was to continue using the drive indefinately.

scrathcyboy

Lots of clicking is a seek problem, and if the bad sector is the fat sector, there is absolutely NOTHING you can do with the drive. Now a Unix OS doesnt depend on a certain cluster for a FAT, so it might be useable there, but not on a PC OS. Sorry.

Gary Case

"... There is no useful data ..." ==> well, you clearly anticipated the answers here. You did ask "... is it hopeless for this HD?" The answer was simply YES.

If you recognized that it was hopeless (based on your comment "... The HD makes a lot of clicking noises before these errors occur.") you shouldn't have asked the question. If you didn't recognize that, then I'd say the responses were useful.

mgross333

ASKER

Garycase,

I did NOT know that the clicking noises meant the HD was hopeless.

Mike