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Hard Disk

Hard disk failures are the most common computer hardware problems. And laptop hard disks fail more often than desktop HDs. If you knock hard or drop your laptop even a few inches while it’s working, you may damage the HD.

Symptoms:

  • The laptop starts as usual but when Windows starts to load it goes to blue screen with either “UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME”, “hal.dll is missing or corrupt” or “WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM” (or similar) is missing or corrupt. All these error messages indicate a filesystem problem. Sometimes it can be fixed by just scanning the HD for errors. However in over 50% of the cases these errors indicate that the HD is starting to go bad and is probably developing bad sectors.
  • The laptop starts as usual but Windows freezes on the initial “Windows XP” screen, although the blue bar continues to move, and you can hear feint but continuous clicking. Hard disk have to be replaced.
  • As soon as the laptop is started there are loud clicks or grinding sounds and Windows doesn’t load. Hard disk have to be replaced.
  • Shortly after starting the laptop a message appears (usually on a black screen) “SMART test failed. Backup your data immediately and replace the hard disk” or similar. Well, that says it all. S.M.A.R.T. is a self-test that is build into the hard disk.

In almost all cases the laptop can be started from a “live” bootable CD and everything works normal. In rare cases the HDs PCB (printed circuit board) may short or even burn. Then the laptop wouldn’t start unless the HD is removed.

Troubleshooting:

The first case from above (corrupted filesystem) is by far the most common. There are several ways of diagnosing and fixing the corrupted/missing files. If this was just a software problem, the hard disk will continue to work properly. However keep in mind that this may also be a signs of deterioration and backup daily!

Also the hard disk will need some preventive maintenance. Check it for errors every few days or at least every week. To do that you must be logged in an admin account, then right-click the “C” drive in “My Computer”, select “Properties”, then “Tools”, then click on the “Check Now” button. Select both boxes and click on “Start”. Windows will tell you that the hard disk cannot be checked now but you can schedule a check for the next restart. Click “OK” and restart the laptop. The check will take from about 30-40 min. to over 2 hours, so do it when you’re not planning to use the laptop for some time.

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12 Comments

  • #12 by mohit verma December 9, 2009 at: 9:41 pm

    after turning on it displays”backup your data u have corrupted hard disc press F1 to continue” and also it is detecting disc drive

  • #11 by Delek December 8, 2009 at: 7:22 am

    i have been lock hard disk. so i won’t like to keep it know. so could you tell me that. how can i remove it

  • #10 by Greg December 7, 2009 at: 10:06 am

    I get a message that there are no bootable devices detected on start-up. I removed and reinstalled the hard drive and nothing worked. Then I smacked the notebook really hard and it started up but was glitchy for awhile and then settled down. Does this sound like a HD or something else?

  • #9 by M.SALEM November 12, 2009 at: 5:36 am

    HI
    Please I’m in trouble , I can’t find my old documents on my local HD .
    I din’t format it .
    I’ve tried many ways to recover my files but no matter . and I made (chkdsk)to save to problem but nothing tel now.
    please help me if their is any other ways to save solve my problem.
    Regards

  • #8 by shyam October 8, 2009 at: 8:21 am

    my hp laptop hard disk not detecting but i can use that same Hard Disk in another pc or laptop . * My fault while checking in my HP laptop ( Note : Failure replace your hard disk 1 error code :0000 some thing like this ) what to do now reply me
    sky_***@yahoo.co.in

  • #7 by peggy May 17, 2009 at: 2:08 pm

    Can’t open any files on laptop….Need help to reinstall windows on laptop

  • #6 by andy May 15, 2009 at: 2:56 am

    on booting up my laptop its stats
    smart failure predicted on hard disk 0: fujitsu mhs2040at d-(pm)

    warning immediately back up your data and replace your hard disk drive. failure may be imminent

    press f1 to continue.

    what does this mean

  • #5 by TC April 8, 2009 at: 3:48 am

    I have a HP 6730b laptop and i want to create an image of the harddrive and be able to store it back in case of the harddisk goes blank. I tried CD like Hiren’s boot CD and Bart and MiniPE. All of these seem unable to boot the machine. Any suggestions?

  • #4 by by ladiesman November 27, 2008 at: 5:39 am

    i was using my laptop and i was cautioned about a disk failure.it then froze and i tried restarting it.but after the bios instruction it will read operating system not found.both the hard drive and the disk drive shows intermittently in the bios configuration. pls help my laptop

  • #3 by shahril November 6, 2008 at: 7:49 am

    my laptop at first was infected by virus. after scanning n cleaning using SPybot, i turned off my laptop. the next day, i tried to turn it on, but windows can’t boot anymore. i am using acer aspire 4930. i tried to reinstall win xp, but the blue screen appeared, saying that ‘IF THIS IS THE FIRST TIME YOU SEE THIS BLA BLA BLA… the problem is: i cant install new system. is it hard disk failure or something else?

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