Ok, here's a quick rundown on what's happening (and it's been very frustrating so I apologise for the multiple help requests.)
Recently wiped my hdd with KillDisk and reinstalled Win7 Home Edition. Was working fine for the last 3days and was supposed to install Mint last night. When I rebooted, I got the Boot Manager, which never happened before. Selected Win7 and got stuck at the "Starting Windows" screen.
Tried to repair it, didn't work. Tried to restore, didn't work. Tried to reset to factory settings, still didn't work.
Just finished wiping it, twice. Now attempting to reinstall Win7, and still stuck at the "Starting Windows" screen.
Can someone please tell me what is happening? The last thing I did was install Ccleaner; the last thing it did was install updates. Thanks in advance...
I managed to reinstall win7 but it wont load, not even in safe mode. It goes to a boot screen where the only option is Windows EMS.
So I ran KillDisk again. What I dont understand is why I see the previously set-up partitions:
C:\ (40% of hdd for windows)
D:\ (60% saved for Mint)
Q:\ (for MS Office starter/trial whatchamacallit)
I can't really say since I don't know what it looks like now or previously except you might have just chosen a partition to wipe and not the whole drive.
Download the ISO image for either Seatools or DataLifeGuard in my signature. Burn the image to CD using IMGBurn and boot off of the newly created CD and run the short and long tests on the drive. If either test fails, the HDD needs to be replaced.
Excuse the uber delayed response, couldn't pry myself away from work lately.
I just ran Seatools and it says no hd detected. Before I assume I'm screwed here, aside from removing/replacing the hd, is there anything else I can do?
Did wiping the hd cause this? Or is there anything that could've caused this based on the history I mentioned?
It may just be coincidental that the HDD failed after wiping it. Boot into Setup (Bios) and see if the HDD is listed there. If not, it will need to be replaced. You can also remove the HDD and place it on a USB Adapter or put it in a USB Enclosure and see if it spins up, if so attach it to a working computer.
I checked BIOS and the hdd is identified (brand, model, serial #). I also tried running Seatools on this (working) machine and it also says no hdd detected. Am I missing something?
On a hunch, I tried to install Mint; it worked! Just finished installing it and will "break it in" for the next couple of days or so.
Btw, just in case I didn't mention it before, I do not have a full version of Win7. I am only using the recovery disks; Win7 came OEM. I don't know if that makes a difference or if the recovery disks can only be used so many times. Thanks again!
Your recovery disc may be smudged or scratched and not loading fully or there may be files missing. Clean it with a lint free cloth. If it still fails, try another disc.
Download the ISO image for WD DataLifeGuard from my signature, burn the image to CD using IMGBurn from my signature and boot off of the newly created CD to test the HDD. If either test fails, the HDD needs to be replaced.
Is D: where you are installing Windows? It's usually C:
If you properly ran DBAN or Killdisk, it would totally wipe the HDD.After it's done, There will no longer be any partitions on the HDD. It will be totally blank.
Then you would boot off of the Recovery CD and it would create the partition, format it and install Windows.
If the HDD tests fine, and the Recovery CD's work on another computer, then the CD drive is not reading the discs properly. Try a different CD drive.
Is D: where you are installing Windows? It's usually C:
If you properly ran DBAN or Killdisk, it would totally wipe the HDD.After it's done, There will no longer be any partitions on the HDD. It will be totally blank.
Then you would boot off of the Recovery CD and it would create the partition, format it and install Windows.
If the HDD tests fine, and the Recovery CD's work on another computer, then the CD drive is not reading the discs properly. Try a different CD drive.
Hello again, spunk.funk! Please excused the delayed response, work's been up to my neck lately.
I'm installing Windows on C: while running the recovery discs from D:.
Also, I am not sure why but I am unable to run DBAN (2.2.7 won't load; 1.0.7 is giving me a bad sector error). Killdisk does not show any existing partitions after wiping the HDD using the same. The HDD seems to be fine (based on the tests you asked me to run) and unfortunately, I do not have a second cd drive.
Are recovery discs exclusive to a machine? If not then I'm thinking of getting an image from my friend's machine before I purchase a new HDD.
EDIT: I read in one of the threads of googling a Win7 SP1 ISO for downloading. Is this a good replacement for recovery discs?
A Diagnostic CD that points to Bad sectors is not pointing to the burned CD usually, they point to a Bad Sector on the HDD. In other words, the HDD needs to be replaced.
No, Bios password should have nothing to do with the HDD diagnostic.
Overlooking your thread again, I am almost inclined to think that your CD drive is not reading the Boot discs properly. You may need to try a different CD drive
If you need another opinion about the HDD, download the ISO image for DataLifeGuard from my signature, and burn the image to CD using IMGBurn and boot off of that CD and run the short and long tests on the drive.
I still think your HDD is damaged. You can test this theory by removing the HDD from the computer and attaching it to a different computer via a USB Adapter or put it in a USB Enclosure. If the HDD doesn't spin up, or you cannot run a diagnostic program on it, the HDD needs to be replaced.
I guess I'm better off replacing the hdd; I'll use this as a back-up of sorts.
Thanks for your patience, spunk.funk!
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