My friend's busted computer

http://db.tt/UX1RdF4t
My friend's computer just stop working and I am trying to help her out.

We keep getting a "Error Loading OS"
I am assuming it is a busted hard drive. What can we do? She said she would pay for whatever is needed to get it running again. She does have a backup I think

:major:major

 

The first step would be going to the computer bios to see if the HDD is recognized there. Usually pressing F1 or F2 or Del key during post will bring up the system bios depending on the system manufacturer.

If the HDD is listed, it could be a lot of things from a corrupt file system to a lost or corrupt boot sector or even a virus.

If the HDD is not listed, the HDD itself may have failed or any number of other things such as a bad controller, a bad ribbon, a bad power supply and so on.

 

http://db.tt/GatGMghh
It looks like she has several hard drives in there.

The same error comes on both.

 

Normally the first drive is the boot device. That would be the WD1600JS-60MHB5.

There are two Western Digital drives in it. Western Digital has a utility that you can download from their site that will verify the integrity of the 2 HDD's. It's in the form of an ISO that will create a bootable CD. Boot the CD on her Computer and run the tests on the drives. Make sure you don't erase the drive, that would clear all data on it.

If they test good, You could try booting a Windows installation CD and press "R" for the recovery Console. Once there, run "chkdsk /r" to try to repair the drive.

If they test bad, they would need to be replaced. Depending on the age of the drives and/or system they may be in warranty. I think that can be checked on the Western Digital website.

 

would the "Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for DOS (CD)" be what you are talking about?

 

Yup, that would be it.

 

NOTE: I believe that second HD is an extra added HD used for storage, so it did not come with the computer. The OS and everything is on that first one, so then that second one is of no concern right?

 

I would think so, yes if you are at all concerned about the safety of the data on the second drive, disconnection for the duration of the testing is the best option.

 

http://db.tt/4sVNbrTS
http://db.tt/C4KZ51A8
The test failed(as you can see in the pictures) Also I have disconnected that second drive as requested.

 

Hmm, that looks pretty conclusive, especially as the boot seemed to fail so early on, it's probably a complete write off.

Look up that S/N on the WD support site to check whether it's still in warranty and pass on the bad news gently is what I'd advise.

 

Just as added confirmation, here are the code explanations: http://support.wdc.com/techinfo/general/errorcodes.asp

It won't even attempt repair so the drive has to be replaced.

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Since the drive is still visible in BIOS it is possible that some of her data will be recoverable from the bad HD, once she has a new HD with OS installed. It really depends on where the bad sectors were, whether or not a particular file will be usable when recovered.

Or you could try booting the machine with a CD or USB flash drive with a small Linux distro to see if any important files are recoverable in the meantime, if she has concerns about particular files.

 

She does has a backup on a big TB hard drive.

She does not care much for the files on bad HD, but it might be nice to see if anything is recoverable, since you just never know.

Should we replace the bad HD now? I have a brand new SeaGate HD that I can use to replace the bad one.
http://db.tt/S3vAV0I4

 

The Seagate would work well if it's a SATA drive as would the WD250 that was the other HDD in the computer.

 

I also have some brand new Acronis software I have never used. Should I just try to get her backup on this new drive? Or is this more complicated then that?:confused

 

I would think that a clean installation of the OS would be best. Then you could use whatever software you wish to restore the backup.

 

What do I install on this HD?

 

You would need to install what ever Operating System you want or have a COA for. WinXP or Win7 I would suspect. If you have factory restore disks, that should return it to it's original software configuration.

 

Which OS was she running and which program did she use for her backup?

I would think that getting her backup on the HD would be easiest if it is an image of the whole HD or OS partition.

If she used Window's backup, I don't know how to get that onto the new drive but maybe someone else does.

Acronis could try to clone the old HD but depending on which files were in the bad sectors the OS could be unstable or too corrupted to use even from the new HD.

If she has an OS installation disc or a factory recovery disc that would do a fresh install of the OS.

Lots of options--it depends on the specifics of her situation.

Edit: Cross posted with Shnerdly. :-o Do give us the program she used for backup and the OS as that might help narrow down options.

 

DANGER - many factory restore discs wipe the drive and there's no way of modifying the install process = loss of all data if the install is done on the drive that contains the backup files!

I'm away to bed now folks - think twice, post once

 

It was some version of Acronis that was used to backup her HD. XP I I'M pretty sure was the OS on it. What options does that leave?

 

If you have Acronis and create the bootable CD (there will be an option in the program). Then you would install the new HD into her computer. Leave the second data HD unplugged/unattached. Plug the external into the/her computer. Boot from the Acronis CD and select restore and then Browse to the Acronis Backup image on the external to begin Restore. It should give you instructions from there. I'm fairly sure that any version of Acronis will work with an older backup. Take a look at the external HD and see if the backup file ends in .tib that would imply a Acronis True Image Backup. If you don't have extensions showing the right-click the large backup file and select Properties and it should tell you the type of file.

 

Will do. Then there might be a way to see if anything on the bad HD is recoverable?

 

Once you have a working OS on the new drive you could plug the old/bad one in the slot currently used by the extra data HD. See if the OS recognizes the bad drive and then see if it can copy any files. Might have to do a chkdsk /f on it, if the file system is damaged.

If Windows won't copy a particularly valuable file you can still try Linux from a bootable CD to see if it will copy it. Depends on the type of file whether a "forced" copy will give you anything useful. Once data is stored in a bad sector it is damaged. Large movie/music files can often still be useful if tiny bits are damaged but small text files are pretty much useless if any part of them is damaged.

I'd say try Acronis to restore the backup image file to the new HD. Let her see what is missing and then figure out if you can find it by attaching the bad drive to the computer. Then go from there.

 

Respectfully, We were talking about doing the restore to a new drive, not the old one. It was also indicated twice that there was no data on the old drive that was needed.

 

No worries, I scanned through fast, missed the line cramped above the Seagate photo and wasn't sure if the restore was intended to be created on the 250GB drive. This part threw me: " ... as would the WD250 that was the other HDD in the computer.".

 

I wish I could say I have never skimmed a thread too fast.:-o

 

I'M having trouble putting the backup on my new drive. I seems like it might be an older version of acronis and there seems to be many files that are part of that one backup.

Anyway, nothing has worked. So maybe the backup is corrupt?:confused

 

Booting from the CD and then going to Backup and Restore. Does it give you a list of your backups? If not can you Browser to your backups?

You should be able to right-click the backup or folder (with multiple backup files ) and select Verify. Does that give you any more information.

Maybe give a few of the backup file names so we can try to figure out if they are incremental backups or full backups. Or attach a screenshot of the backup folder, in details view, in Windows Explorer from another computer with the external attached. Like picture below (these are for a different backup software yours would be tib files but I want to be able to see names and sizes.):

 

I fixed this computer by putting a new HD in, and installing windows with a CD. But I did have one quick question.....

When I installed windows it had to reformat the HD, so it asked me if I wanted to format(the long version) or the quick format option. In my experience with formatting I would always choose the quick option because it basically just wipes it clean.

Is there any reason you would not want to use the quick format option when you are reformatting something?

 

see what MSoft says about quick formatting at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/302686

 

Ok, so it's format + check for bad sectors.....

Got It.