Weird problem with one of my Hard Drives

Huzefa · 25-04-2009, 10:24 AM

I use WinXP and I have two HD's one a Seagate barracuda 120 GB(2 yrs old) and the other is a older 80 GB(4 or 5 yrs old) Sony/Samsung drive dont know for sure as I cant read the label n forgot which one it is...
Both are connected, and this morning as I tried to switch on the PC, it started up but got hung at the CMOS stage... ie the boot up stage, I tried to enter the cmos setup n it refused, giving no error message at all...
What I did then is a process of elimination, I removed the cables of both the HD's and then restarted... now it allowed me to access the cmos setup n when I tried to boot up, the error I recd was boot up failure, which is normal as HD's are not connected...
I reconnected one of the HD's , the 80GB and the same thing happend... then I connected the 120 GB, the one containing the OS, n now the system seems to be running fine minus the 80GB HD...
My Q is could it be a HD crash ? the LED of the CPU HD Indicator blinks when both are connected...
I have lots of data on my 80GB, how do I access it, if the computer refuses to even go to the cmos setup screen with both connected ?
Do help Quick guys...
This is the forum I turn to for my PC problems and I want to say this, from among the rest u guys are the best, mods n supermods/admins n the individual members do a gr8 job...
I know a reply may take time, but I request a quick reply...
thnkx

pimpom · 25-04-2009, 12:03 PM

Unlike some people who ask for help here, you've done a good job of investigating the problem yourself with a process of elimination.

Unfortunately, it seems your 80GB drive is dead. The PC hangs at POST probably because it is trying to detect the 80GB drive and fails. From the age of your HDDs, I assume that they are IDE (PATA) drives. You did not mention how the cables are arranged and shared between the 80GB, 120GB and optical drive(s). Here are a few things you can do:

1. Make sure all drive jumpers are set correctly to master/slave configurations. (You did not mention whether you made a recent change to the way the drives are connected).

2. Change the IDE cable.

3. Make sure the Molex power supply connectors are firmly in contact. After you plug in the Molex connector, push the individual wires in firmly.

4. Disconnect all drives and turn on the computer. Go into BIOS and set all drive settings to Auto detection.

5. Remove the 80GB from its bay, connect only that drive and turn the computer on. Put your ear close to the top of the drive and see if it spins up. A medical stethoscope or a rolled sheet of paper is useful for this.

Report you results from these tests and we can go on from there.

Huzefa · 25-04-2009, 02:23 PM

thnkx for a quick reply pimpom...

Quote:

You did not mention how the cables are arranged and shared between the 80GB, 120GB and optical drive(s).

the two HD's share a common data cable, the optical one has a independent one... wht I did is disconnect the power supply of the other HD n its data cable... same one is being used even now...

Quote:

1. Make sure all drive jumpers are set correctly to master/slave configurations. (You did not mention whether you made a recent change to the way the drives are connected).

no changes made to the system, no new added HW or SW... n master/slave configuration same as b4

Quote:

2. Change the IDE cable.

would this help ? as the same cable is being used now, one part is connected to the other HD n system is working fine...

Quote:

3. Make sure the Molex power supply connectors are firmly in contact. After you plug in the Molex connector, push the individual wires in firmly.

the wires seems to be proper...

Quote:

4. Disconnect all drives and turn on the computer. Go into BIOS and set all drive settings to Auto detection.

havent done this, If I do this, wat if Auto detection dosent detect the Seagate barracuda 120 GB ? it may be a bigger problem than b4...

Quote:

5. Remove the 80GB from its bay, connect only that drive and turn the computer on. Put your ear close to the top of the drive and see if it spins up. A medical stethoscope or a rolled sheet of paper is useful for this.

the spinning sound seems to be there I can hear it spin

thnkx...

pimpom · 25-04-2009, 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Huzefa

thnkx for a quick reply pimpom...

the two HD's share a common data cable, the optical one has a independent one... wht I did is disconnect the power supply of the other HD n its data cable... same one is being used even now...

no changes made to the system, no new added HW or SW... n master/slave configuration same as b4

would this help ? as the same cable is being used now, one part is connected to the other HD n system is working fine...

the wires seems to be proper...

OK. That pretty much eliminates a few other possibilities. Though there is still a remote possibility that one connector of the cable works and the other is defective - unlikely but still within the bounds of possibility.

Quote:

havent done this, If I do this, wat if Auto detection dosent detect the Seagate barracuda 120 GB ? it may be a bigger problem than b4...

Highly unlikely that your BIOS will fail to detect the 120GB drive if it's in normal working conditions. In fact, most people leave the hard disk detection in auto mode all the time. The only advantage of manually setting the HDD identity is that it makes POST slightly faster. Your IDE detection mode may be in auto mode even now.

Quote:

the spinning sound seems to be there I can hear it spin

OK. That means at least the drive motor is still spinning.

Here are two more suggestions. Try No.1 first:

1. Clear the BIOS. I seem to be making this suggestion to a lot of people lately

. If your BIOS settings got screwed up by itself or by a virus, clearing it will make it start as with a new motherboard.

2. If No.1 still does not work, remove the 80GB drive and put it in your 'fridge (but not in the freezer compartment). Leave it there for about an hour. Get everything else ready, leaving the 120GB drive connected. Take out the 80GB drive, quickly connect it and turn your computer on before the 80GB drive has had time to warm up. If your computer detects the drive and can boot into Windows, quickly copy all your vital data to the 120GB drive.

P.S. When you put the drive in the fridge, wrap it in a waterproof bag. Antistatic plastic bags are ideal for this.

The Sorcerer · 25-04-2009, 08:22 PM

You havent even given us your configuration? We all would be running around in circles taking a wild guess without knowing what kind of system you have.

pimpom · 25-04-2009, 09:38 PM

He's already made it clear that he's using two IDE HDDs and one optical drive and he's described how the drives are arranged. He said at the start that he uses Win XP. In any case, he's clearly indicated that his computer hangs at POST when the 80GB drive is connected. So the OS hardly matters anyway.

What more info about his configuration is needed? The amount of RAM or the type of CPU and GPU makes no difference in this case.

It is probable that the 80GB drive is dead or dying. My suggestions were intended to verify this and the last point was a last-ditch attempt to temporarily revive the drive so that he can back up important data.