PC wouldn't turn on - Now can't Format

Hi guys,

Im at my wits end at the moment. Im very close to taking it into a repair shop but it's an absolute last resort as Im low on funds.

Ill make the problem(s) as simple as I can, straight to the point as it were.

Firstly:

During the hot weather (no idea if the heat is relevant or not) my PC all of a sudden wouldn't turn on. It simple went into an endless cycle of restarting itself. (got just past the Windows logo screen, had a brief flash of a blue screen and restarted)


I did a bit a research into the problem; one of the solutions was to try a Format of the hard drive.

Second:

So, I proceeded to do the Format from a dvd disk. (done many times before with no problems) It gets various ways through the Format and comes up with an error and says the Format was unsuccessful. (without doing it again I cant remember the exact error message but it was something about the hard disk corruption of fault)

Could these two problems be connected? If so is there anything I can do to fix it?

Any help very much appreciated!!

(mu knowledge of this kind of thing is limited, but Im by no means a pc novice)

 

I recommend utilizing the Ultimate Boot CD (UBCD).

You need to do two basic diagnostics, one for the RAM and the other for the hard drive.


http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/ultimate_boot_cd_(ubcd).html


You will need to burn the image file to a CD-ROM as an .iso with either a freeware program like ImgBurn, or Nero. Once you do, boot the CD. I would run MemTest first, just to be sure the RAM is good. Any red is bad, and if you have multiple modules (sticks), you can try eliminating any bad ones by elimination. If the RAM checks out, you will need to know the manufacturer of your hard drive, and run their diagnostics from the CD.

Good luck, and let us know how you make out...

 

Hi there mekanic,

Sorry to be a pain, but ive absolutely no idea where to go now. Which memtest do I run?

Ive taken a leap and run TestMem'4'(cant find roman numerals). Is this correct?

 

Its stopped and says:

Error 8000 reading sector 505

It seems to have frozen now too. Hmm. Any ideas what this means?

 

Use MemTest 86. Sorry, forgot to mention that...

 

MemTest86+ is preferable, bootable USB and floppy/CD installers linked lower down that page.

 

Ran the Memtest86+ and it returned no errors at all.

What's the next test I should do? as it seems like the memory is ok.

Thanks

 

Hi my friend , do you run it for 5 hours at least , pass 7 th is most important :wave

 

Thanks for the extra advice. Id seen somewhere actually that one clean test is not definitive of a pass, so running the 2nd test as I type this. (Shall I do about 7 tests, is that what you mean??)

Also, because my problem is formatting related, I've also noticed other tools to wipe the hard drive, are they worth looking at?

Thanks again.

 

The memtest86+ has done tests with 7 passes.

So, I presume this means the memory is ok? Which other test should I do next?

Thanks

 

You will need to know the manufacturer of your hard drive, and run their diagnostics from the UBCD list.

 

Im just running the Seagate 'Seatools' hard drive test at the moment. It's found 1 error so far.
Will these error(s) that it finds be repairable? or is it likely i'll have to buy a new hard drive?

If so, does it have to be a specific hard drive depending on the set up I have or am I able to find one that's more suited for by budget?(ie. cheaper!)

Thanks

 

I swear by Seagate when it comes to platter drives, but I went SSD almost two years ago.

If I had to recommend a platter drive, Seagate would be it.

Sometimes drives are "repairable", but that usually just means SMART isolates bad sectors and won't write data to them. If you want to wipe the drive "smooth as a baby's bottom", I recommend Darik's Boot and Nuke(dban for short).

If you can get an OS up and running, a program like HDSentinel can give you an indication of the HDD's condition, and running a program like Bench32 will tell you how the drive is performing via bandwith (Mb/s). You could try booting Linux from a USB drive, and benching the HDD from there. Depends on how far this goes.

How old is the drive? Usually there is a "born on date" printed on the label.