Can't get new hard drive working

Cyclone · Post by **Cyclone** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 3:43 am

Hi,

My old western digital 20GB hardrive made this weird constant clunking sound when i tried to boot up my computer the other day. I took the drive bay out(did not unplug the drive) and tried it again and this time the hard drive boot up but would hang on the windows loading screen. The repair option didn't work so I tried reinstalling windows xp using the xp boot cd. It would always give me errors saying cannot copy file while installling. I left the failed windows installation on the drive and tried installing a second XP installation on the drive. This time it worked for some odd reason. Now I have dual OS's...

Next I a bought a new 160GB hard drive to replace the 20GB. First thing I did was hook it up and did a a full format using the XP boot cd. That worked fine but then I got errors while installing windows.. again problems copying files... but now I can't do a full format without the format screen hanging...

The configuration was:
Primary IDE:
160GB Slave
160GB(NEW) Master

Secondary IDE:
20GB Slave
DVD Drive Master

I tried the above configation and I also tried unplugging the power cables from all drives except for the new hard drive and left it in Master configuartiion.

Is this a fualty hard drive, some hardware/software issue wih my computer or am I just doing something wrong?

Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

Cyclone · Post by **Cyclone** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 5:11 am

I got it to formatted in windows using the western digital software cd and tried tried copying a few files to the drive but I get this error message \"Cannot Copy: The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error\"

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 7:02 am

If it isn't the drive, its the controller. Only way to know for sure is to try a known good drive in it, or try one of the drives in another computer and see if they work fine there.

CDN_Merlin · Post by **CDN_Merlin** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 7:36 am

Could it also be the cable that is defective?

Zantor · Post by **Zantor** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 11:32 am

The possibility of a bad cable is valid. Check for any cuts in the insulation or where there is fatigue in the wires.

The possibility of a bad controller is also valid. In this case, you will have to replace your motherboard; if it is under warranty, you should be able to get it replaced at little to no cost to you.

Cyclone · Post by **Cyclone** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 1:55 am

Thanks for the suggestions.

I checked the cables and they seem fine. I tried each of the cables with the new hard drive and none of them worked. My dvd drive works fine so I doubt its the cables.

Has anyone heard of windows format wrecking hard drives and is there anyway of testing the controler using software? I don't have any other computer to test the drives in.

Thanks.

AlphaDoG · Post by **AlphaDoG** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 4:58 am

Remove all drives but the new one. Chances are it's good. Try re-formatting and re-installing XP. If you get errors then, chances are it's your controller.

Of course , you'll have to have your cd/dvd drive hooked up.

AceCombat · Post by **AceCombat** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 2:38 pm

Cyclone wrote:Thanks for the suggestions.

I checked the cables and they seem fine. I tried each of the cables with the new hard drive and none of them worked. My dvd drive works fine so I doubt its the cables.

Has anyone heard of windows format wrecking hard drives and is there anyway of testing the controler using software? I don't have any other computer to test the drives in.

Thanks.

there is a stand alone piece of diagnostics software out there, but it costs $400 to buy

http://www.pcdservicecenter.com/index.php

BUBBALOU · Post by **BUBBALOU** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 1:13 am

SWAP your optical drive for the Install or better yet...use a authentic genuine Windows XP DISK

Cyclone · Post by **Cyclone** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 7:52 pm

I Finally found a different computer to try the drive on. I inserted the XP boot disk and tried to format the drive. Same thing as before. It would hand at 2% and give me a drive read error.

Is it possible that the XP format software damaged my drive? The first time it formated fine but would give me errors while installing XP. I can't get it to format after that.

The old 20gb drive I can format but it gives me errors while installing XP. The odd thing is if I try again leaving the failed install on the drive it installs fine after that...

I would return the new drive and get a new replacement but I'm not sure if my computer wrecked it... so confused.

oh and I am using a genuine XP CD.

fliptw · Post by **fliptw** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 8:30 pm

could be a dud drive.

it happens. exchange it.

AlphaDoG · Post by **AlphaDoG** » Sat Jun 06, 2009 4:25 am

Cyclone wrote: Is it possible that the XP format software damaged my drive? The first time it formated fine but would give me errors while installing XP. I can't get it to format after that.

No, don't think so.

Cyclone wrote:The old 20gb drive I can format but it gives me errors while installing XP. The odd thing is if I try again leaving the failed install on the drive it installs fine after that...

The reason this happens is because the bad sectors are allocated during the failed install.

Cyclone wrote:I would return the new drive and get a new replacement but I'm not sure if my computer wrecked it... so confused.

RMA it, it's not your fault.

Cyclone · Post by **Cyclone** » Sat Jun 06, 2009 11:24 pm

That makes sense. Thanks.

I returned the drive but couldn't exchange it as they didn't have any in stock. There is a Western Digital 500GB Caviar GreenPower SATA from Staples that I am concidering. It's the same price too!

http://www.staples.ca/ENG/Catalog/cat_s ... xedcode=WW

My motherboard has 2 SATA connectors one says \"supported by Promise PDC20378 controller\" and the other connector says \"supported by ICH5R\"

SATA is better then PATA right and I should have no problem using both types of drives in the computer at the same time? I'm not sure if my mobo supports SATA speeds of 3gb/s or the older 1.5gb/s. It's around 4 years old and is an ASUS PC-DL Deluxe.

Sorry for the questions. I'm new to all this stuff. Never had HDD issues before.

Thanks

Zantor · Post by **Zantor** » Sun Jun 07, 2009 5:11 pm

If your motherboard uses SATA version/revision 1 (aka the 1.5 Gb/s), make sure the drive you purchased is backwards compatible. Odd as it may sound, some SATA drives are not backwards compatible. Double check compatibility before you purchase a drive.

the WD drive looks good. I would get it; I've had the best luck with WD drives in recent years. RMA the defective one; chances are it's a lemon. It is extremely unlikely (as in 99% unlikely) that the windows format has screwed up your drive. It seems to be the drive or the controller, not any software.

PATA and SATA can be used together as each are handled by separate controllers and the BIOS knows how to make them coexist.

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Cyclone · Post by **Cyclone** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 11:02 pm

The manual says that the SATA ports on my motherboard support speeds of 150mb/sec. I think that translates to 1.5Gb/s.

Unfortunately that HD I mentioned in my previous post is sold out as it won't let me add it to the 'shopping' cart...

AlphaDoG you're correct about the bad sectors. Western Digital's dignastic tool give me an error saying too many bad sectors. There are over 1000 bad sectors. I'm guessing that when the HDD made that clunking sound it damage part of the disk.

Is there anyway to install a fresh copy of windows on to this drive around all those bad sectors? I tried google but couldn't find anyway to do it.

Thanks again for the help.

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Sun Jun 14, 2009 7:45 am

A drive with bad sectors (especially numbering in the thousands) is probably not going to be working for much longer, don't even bother trying to run your system off it because the drive will likely fail completely before very long. The sound you heard was probably a head crash, which usually damages the heads and the disk. So as the drive is running, the heads continue to bump the disk and cause more damage and more bad sectors.

Cyclone · Post by **Cyclone** » Sun Jun 14, 2009 11:55 am

I agree. I just don't have a big enough budget for a good hard drive. I know they're cheap but I was looking for one of the better drives. All the cheap ones I have found are out of stock... so for now I will continue to use the old drive for the OS and nothing else. If it fails nothing important is lost and I can always install the OS On my other drive if it does.

Zantor · Post by **Zantor** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 1:41 pm

What is your budget? I might be able to dig something up that fits your needs.

I'd recommend this drive; I got it for $59 but the price has gone down a bit:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822136200
It's an enterprise-grade (higher endurance & 5-year warranty) 160GB SATA drive, backwards compatible to SATA I. I've had it for over a year and it's a great drive.

Cyclone · Post by **Cyclone** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 9:58 pm

Great. Thanks Zantor. Awhile back I looked at newegg but they didn't ship out of the US. Nice to know that they now ship to Canada. I think I decided I'm going to save a bit more and buy the HDD from Newegg. They have a good selection.

Zantor · Post by **Zantor** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 10:21 pm

That's a smart move. I use Newegg almost exclusively for all my computer parts and accessories; they're the walmart of computers and parts, and consumer electronics.

ShamWOW · Post by **ShamWOW** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 10:58 pm

http://www.newegg.ca/ Buy the full insurance on shipping.

Cyclone · Post by **Cyclone** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 9:39 pm

I think I decided on this hard drive here.

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.as ... 6822136313

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 10:00 pm

That is an awful lot to spend on a 1 TB hard drive, nearly double the market price. I'd say for most people rather than paying a high price for an industrial drive that won't be much better in the long run, get an inexpensive desktop drive and a $5 cooling fan to blow over it. Even a 10 CFM fan is sufficient to keep a modern HDD cool, that and preventing any moderate or greater physical shock is the best medicine to keep them working for a long time.

Try this one, comes with the same 5 year warranty: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.as ... 6822136284

Zantor · Post by **Zantor** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 3:55 pm

The WD Caviar RE3 is a little over the top. An RE2 or older would suit you fine, as would one of the newer WD Black line.

Cyclone · Post by **Cyclone** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 8:22 pm

Yea it is kinda expensive, I just read the reviews on newegg and lots of the other drives I looked at had a lot of complaints about dead or failing drives. I have used nothing but WD drives in the past with no problems but i'm not sure if that's the same case these days. So I wanted something reliable. If that's the case with the cheaper drives then I would deffinitely go cheaper.

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 8:25 pm

None of the major brands of HDDs are really any more reliable than the next, I've seen my fair share of failures from every brand. And if you are looking for a reason why more people say the other drive failed, the answer is rather simple: more people bought it because it was cheaper. Its only natural you will hear more complaints about a drive that has over 12 times as many reviews.

Can't get new hard drive working

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