Is this a bad hard drive? Acer

Bob_Johnson1 · 11-04-2008, 09:16 AM

Hi all

I have an Acer Aspire 5000 - Windows XP, AMD Turion 64 processor (around 1.6 ghz, I think).

A few days ago it wouldn't boot up and I came to the screen that allowed me to choose "boot to last known good config."

That didn't work. I thought I might have had a nasty virus.

So I tried the Alt + F10 to use Acer's recovery process. That didn't work and the error message was something along the lines of "can't find preload.tag file." (Googling turns up several references to the same error with Acers."

There is nothing on the hard drive that I need, so I tried to boot from a disk and use the recovery CDs. The process started and began formatting, but stops and gives the same message that it can't find the preload.tag file.

Has my hard drive gone? Is it as simple as swapping out a $50 2.5 inch hard drive from Tigerdirect and then running the recovery CDs? Is there a limit to the size of the hard drive I can use as a replacement? I think the current one is 120 gigs.

Anything else I need to know?

**manic** · 11-04-2008, 01:42 PM

Yes you can swap out the drives, and run the recovery cd's.
Look for the manufacturer of hdd, go to there website, download
there diagnostic tool, boot to it, then you will be sure that the drive
is good or bad.
As far as limits, yes, until you have sp2 installed there is a 137gig
limit. Once sp2 is installed you can allocate the extra space, either
by partitioning, or sometimes it will automatically acquire the space.

Bob_Johnson1 · 11-06-2008, 08:42 PM

Thanks.

I put a new 160 gb drive in, and ran the recovery CDs and all is fine. Except that the drive reads as 137 gb, as you said.

Got to work on the SP2 part. I'm a bit lost, and had to search "SP2" just to find out what that was.

Thanks.

**manic** · 11-06-2008, 11:31 PM

Most likely you will have to enable automatic updates, if you dont for
some reason it wont let you install sp2. I never really liked enabling
auto updates, for the operating system, I always wanted to decide
when to update, more control I guess. But with xp, I just gave up
and enabled, such a hassle if you dont.

11-04-2008, 09:16 AM	#1 (permalink)
Bob_Johnson1 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 2 OS: Win XP	Is this a bad hard drive? Acer Hi all I have an Acer Aspire 5000 - Windows XP, AMD Turion 64 processor (around 1.6 ghz, I think). A few days ago it wouldn't boot up and I came to the screen that allowed me to choose "boot to last known good config." That didn't work. I thought I might have had a nasty virus. So I tried the Alt + F10 to use Acer's recovery process. That didn't work and the error message was something along the lines of "can't find preload.tag file." (Googling turns up several references to the same error with Acers." There is nothing on the hard drive that I need, so I tried to boot from a disk and use the recovery CDs. The process started and began formatting, but stops and gives the same message that it can't find the preload.tag file. Has my hard drive gone? Is it as simple as swapping out a $50 2.5 inch hard drive from Tigerdirect and then running the recovery CDs? Is there a limit to the size of the hard drive I can use as a replacement? I think the current one is 120 gigs. Anything else I need to know?

11-04-2008, 01:42 PM	#2 (permalink)
manic Mod Hardware Team Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Florida Posts: 5,238 OS: xp	Re: Is this a bad hard drive? Acer Yes you can swap out the drives, and run the recovery cd's. Look for the manufacturer of hdd, go to there website, download there diagnostic tool, boot to it, then you will be sure that the drive is good or bad. As far as limits, yes, until you have sp2 installed there is a 137gig limit. Once sp2 is installed you can allocate the extra space, either by partitioning, or sometimes it will automatically acquire the space. __________________

11-06-2008, 08:42 PM	#3 (permalink)
Bob_Johnson1 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 2 OS: Win XP	Re: Is this a bad hard drive? Acer Thanks. I put a new 160 gb drive in, and ran the recovery CDs and all is fine. Except that the drive reads as 137 gb, as you said. Got to work on the SP2 part. I'm a bit lost, and had to search "SP2" just to find out what that was. Thanks.

11-06-2008, 11:31 PM	#4 (permalink)
manic Mod Hardware Team Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Florida Posts: 5,238 OS: xp	Re: Is this a bad hard drive? Acer Most likely you will have to enable automatic updates, if you dont for some reason it wont let you install sp2. I never really liked enabling auto updates, for the operating system, I always wanted to decide when to update, more control I guess. But with xp, I just gave up and enabled, such a hassle if you dont. __________________