Harware Failure?
I have a Toshiba Laptop that has recently begun acting really slow with minimal CPU usage. I though that it may have been a virus or spy ware problem, but after thorough scans nothing was found. The hard drive light stays on a lot and I have received the blue screen a couple of times. I decided to run scan disk but on step four of the process it only gets so far and then locks up. I can get back into Windows after it takes a VERY LONG TIME to load and usually takes longer to run programs. All of this leads be to believe that the hard drive is bad. Do you all agree? If so, what can I do to fix it without loosing the information stored on it? Thanks!
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PUNKY
Or you can get the adapter and hook up to other desktop system as Callandor recommended, then do ghost the drive to new one! Put new one back to laptop, you wont loose anything.
From the description, it really sounds like you got it right and the Hard Drive is going bad. Using either device manager or your invoice, find out the manufacturer of the drive and download diagnostic tools from their website. This is a much better option than using MS ScanDisk and they will sometimes be able to "repair" the drive by blocking out bad sectors of the drive. If the manufacturer's scan doesn't reveal anything, then it might be as simple a solution as running a "Windows Repair" to resolve the issues that you're having.
As far as data is concerned, I've used Callandor's method mentioned above when a desktop PC is available, and that method works well. You could also try connecting to another PC through a local network and backing your data up that way, however if the hard drive is bad some data may not be recoverable.
Good luck.
As far as data is concerned, I've used Callandor's method mentioned above when a desktop PC is available, and that method works well. You could also try connecting to another PC through a local network and backing your data up that way, however if the hard drive is bad some data may not be recoverable.
Good luck.
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Moh,
I tried the Knopixx idea and let me just say, Ingenious!!!! I would have never have thought to take that route even though I played with Knopixx in my college stuidies. The Linux OS is operating flawlessly on my laptop and I am actually typing this message from it. So would you all agree that since this works no problem that my hard drive is bad? Did it just happen or could a virus have caused a hard drive corruption? Well, I am not too familiar with Linux but I was wondering if there any way to check my hard drive now using something like scandisk? I am going to try Callandors idea but I have to get the part first. Great suggestions!!!
I tried the Knopixx idea and let me just say, Ingenious!!!! I would have never have thought to take that route even though I played with Knopixx in my college stuidies. The Linux OS is operating flawlessly on my laptop and I am actually typing this message from it. So would you all agree that since this works no problem that my hard drive is bad? Did it just happen or could a virus have caused a hard drive corruption? Well, I am not too familiar with Linux but I was wondering if there any way to check my hard drive now using something like scandisk? I am going to try Callandors idea but I have to get the part first. Great suggestions!!!
Hello jbyrd1981
Basically The OS now which you have typed your message from, have nothing to do with the HDD.... However when you boot up to linux by knoppix it only works using the CD-ROM and the RAM, That's why they call it Live linux, But If you can reach to your HDD through this then yes I agree with you, Try to do a virus scan, also try to diagnose your HDD for any bad sectors which might be corrupting windows or/and prevent it from starting up.
If you have two partitions, try to copy any data from Windows partition to the other one, and do a repair or fresh installation.
Good Luck
Basically The OS now which you have typed your message from, have nothing to do with the HDD.... However when you boot up to linux by knoppix it only works using the CD-ROM and the RAM, That's why they call it Live linux, But If you can reach to your HDD through this then yes I agree with you, Try to do a virus scan, also try to diagnose your HDD for any bad sectors which might be corrupting windows or/and prevent it from starting up.
If you have two partitions, try to copy any data from Windows partition to the other one, and do a repair or fresh installation.
Good Luck
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Is there any way to scan the hard drive through the Linuix OS?
You can use diagnostic software to check your hard drive. Check your hard drive vendor, and go its website to download diagnostic software.
The smartmontools I believe are on the knoppix cd so assuming your disk is hda as root run...
smartctl -a /dev/hda
If not you can run "fdisk -l" to list your disks
smartctl -a /dev/hda
If not you can run "fdisk -l" to list your disks
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Nemisis, Thanks for the seatools link. I ran it and came up with several bad sectors on the hard drive. Going back to my original question, would this confirm the need for a new hard drive?? I got the adaptor in the mail today and I am going to see if I can salvage some of my information on it. I just need to know if I should try to salvage the harddrive. Either way I have a new one on order.
Once a hard drive exhibits errors that don't go away, I don't trust it anymore. My time is worth more than the cost of a new hard drive.
If the HDD has Bad Sectors it is definatley dieing and definatley should be replaced. You COULD block off the bad sectors and try to continue using the drive but whatever caused these bad sectors will probably cause more. The drive may work perfectly for years to come once the bad sectors are blocked, or it may screw up the moment you try to use it. Its a huge gamble, especially if the data you want to store on it is valuable.
Is it really worth the extra space if it means that at any moment you could use EVERYTHING?
Its up to you, glad I could be of assistance.
Good Luck
Is it really worth the extra space if it means that at any moment you could use EVERYTHING?
Its up to you, glad I could be of assistance.
Good Luck
*lose everything :)
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Thanks for everyones help!!!