SATA HDD Problem

damo2002 · 12-06-2005, 11:11 PM

Hey guys, just looking for a bit of help with a problem I'm having with my SATA HDD..
The other day I was browsing the internet and listening to mp3s (which are located on the SATA drive I'm talking about) and heard some clicking noises coming from the PC.. I figured it to be a case fan or similar at first, but after a while it started making my PC freeze for a few moments every time it 'clicked'. Everything on the drive was still perfectly readable. I unplugged the HDD, thinking it was a sign of it dying, and I wanted to back everything up first. Fast-forward to a day later - I've plugged it back in again, and everything ran fine for a while, even reading files off the HDD, then the clicking came back. Shortly after, my PC crashed due to unrelated reasons, so I restarted.. this is where my REAL problem started - when the Windows XP Logon 'Welcome Screen' came up, some error about a file or folder being unreadable or corrupted (or something along those lines), and mentioned "\$BitMap".. Then it just wouldn't boot. Tried booting to safe mode, same problem.. but when I unplug the SATA hdd it boots up fine.
I've since downloaded Seagate's HDD checking utility from their website and scanned the HDD - one of the results says it's "unsupported" but the other result says that all scans have passed and that the HDD is fine.
I'm unsure where to go from here, because it doesn't simply sound like a HDD failure - if that were the case, surely their HDD scanner program would've said it's stuffed, and Windows wouldn't pull this not-booting-up rubbish, it'd simply not load that HDD, right?
I'd appreciate any help anyone can put forth.
If it's of any help, my PC specs are as follows:
AMD 64 3000+
Asus K8V SE Deluxe motherboard
512MB RAM
Radeon 9800 PRO
and the HDD in question is a Seagate Barracuda 250Gb 7200 8Mb cache SATA Hard Disk

**oldmn** · 12-06-2005, 11:19 PM

It could be a failure. I just RMA'd a drive that passed all the tests but would not format.

**leroys1000** · 12-07-2005, 08:17 AM

It sounds like mechanical failure.
The head controller is failing causing the head to crash.
Like was said above,get what you can off it and send
it back for a replacement if it is under warranty.

**johnwill** · 12-07-2005, 08:47 AM

We call that the "Click of Death", and it's a sure sign you need to make backups NOW!

damo2002 · 12-07-2005, 11:16 PM

I'd have thought that if it was a HDD failure, it would just stop working, rather than give an error message on the windows login screen?
In any case, any suggestions on how to get the stuff off it? ...seeing as I can't log in to Windows with the HDD plugged in, and all..

damo2002 · 12-09-2005, 08:48 PM

Okay. After following some instructions by a mate, I downloaded & installed Lindrose, plugged in the SATA drive and booted to that (from CD). Worked fine, SATA drive shows up and it seems like almost everything is on it, except for some stuff.. but the stuff missing was originally all in a big directory - does Linux not load rather large directories properly? Because the free space for that drive listed under Lindrose says the same as what was free when it was working in Windows.. so it seems like everything is still there? Anyway, I've got that working, but I can't figure out how to copy things to my other (Windows) HDD. Any help would be greatly appreciated.. or even another method, if it's easier.

PS. Sorry about the double post, I couldn't find the edit post button.

**johnwill** · 12-10-2005, 11:04 AM

When you boot from a Linux disk, you need to have a FAT32 volume to copy to, since you can't write to NTFS volumes. If you have an external USB drive, perhaps you can format that FAT32...

damo2002 · 12-11-2005, 01:49 AM

Oh.. I see. Well then, it seems Linux will be useless for me, for the main part. I don't really have access to any HDDs which I can format into FAT32.
Any other suggestions? Surely there's a way to access SATA drive through DOS?

**johnwill** · 12-11-2005, 10:50 AM

Not if it's formatted NTFS.

damo2002 · 12-11-2005, 06:47 PM

Really?
I've downloaded a few programs which claim to make NTFS HDDs readable in DOS, with an interface so you can copy files to/from other HDDs and so on - I just can't get it to pick up my SATA drive.
It's starting to look as though my only option is buying another SATA drive and formatting it into FAT32 so I can copy things across from Linspire.

12-06-2005, 11:11 PM	#1 (permalink)
damo2002 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 7 OS: Windows XP	SATA HDD Problem Hey guys, just looking for a bit of help with a problem I'm having with my SATA HDD.. The other day I was browsing the internet and listening to mp3s (which are located on the SATA drive I'm talking about) and heard some clicking noises coming from the PC.. I figured it to be a case fan or similar at first, but after a while it started making my PC freeze for a few moments every time it 'clicked'. Everything on the drive was still perfectly readable. I unplugged the HDD, thinking it was a sign of it dying, and I wanted to back everything up first. Fast-forward to a day later - I've plugged it back in again, and everything ran fine for a while, even reading files off the HDD, then the clicking came back. Shortly after, my PC crashed due to unrelated reasons, so I restarted.. this is where my REAL problem started - when the Windows XP Logon 'Welcome Screen' came up, some error about a file or folder being unreadable or corrupted (or something along those lines), and mentioned "\$BitMap".. Then it just wouldn't boot. Tried booting to safe mode, same problem.. but when I unplug the SATA hdd it boots up fine. I've since downloaded Seagate's HDD checking utility from their website and scanned the HDD - one of the results says it's "unsupported" but the other result says that all scans have passed and that the HDD is fine. I'm unsure where to go from here, because it doesn't simply sound like a HDD failure - if that were the case, surely their HDD scanner program would've said it's stuffed, and Windows wouldn't pull this not-booting-up rubbish, it'd simply not load that HDD, right? I'd appreciate any help anyone can put forth. If it's of any help, my PC specs are as follows: AMD 64 3000+ Asus K8V SE Deluxe motherboard 512MB RAM Radeon 9800 PRO and the HDD in question is a Seagate Barracuda 250Gb 7200 8Mb cache SATA Hard Disk

12-06-2005, 11:19 PM	#2 (permalink)
oldmn TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Gig Harbor Wa Posts: 2,150 OS: XP Pro SP3 X 3 My System	It could be a failure. I just RMA'd a drive that passed all the tests but would not format. __________________ AVG \| MEMTEST86 \| Zone Alarm \| XXCLONE \| Adaware \| Beyond Compare \| Everest If TSF has helped you, Tell us about it! or Donate to help keep the site up! Sorry no PM's for problems.[/center]

12-07-2005, 08:47 AM	#4 (permalink)
johnwill Manager, Networking Forums Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania, US Posts: 41,654 OS: Windows 7, XP-Pro, Vista, Linux Blog Entries: 1	We call that the "Click of Death", and it's a sure sign you need to make backups NOW! __________________ If TSF has helped you, Tell us about it! or Donate to help keep the site up! Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience

12-07-2005, 11:16 PM	#5 (permalink)
damo2002 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 7 OS: Windows XP	I'd have thought that if it was a HDD failure, it would just stop working, rather than give an error message on the windows login screen? In any case, any suggestions on how to get the stuff off it? ...seeing as I can't log in to Windows with the HDD plugged in, and all.. Last edited by damo2002; 12-07-2005 at 11:17 PM.

12-10-2005, 11:04 AM	#7 (permalink)
johnwill Manager, Networking Forums Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania, US Posts: 41,654 OS: Windows 7, XP-Pro, Vista, Linux Blog Entries: 1	When you boot from a Linux disk, you need to have a FAT32 volume to copy to, since you can't write to NTFS volumes. If you have an external USB drive, perhaps you can format that FAT32... __________________ If TSF has helped you, Tell us about it! or Donate to help keep the site up! Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience

12-07-2005, 08:17 AM	#3 (permalink)
leroys1000 Tech Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 770 OS: Windows XP	It sounds like mechanical failure. The head controller is failing causing the head to crash. Like was said above,get what you can off it and send it back for a replacement if it is under warranty.

12-09-2005, 08:48 PM	#6 (permalink)
damo2002 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 7 OS: Windows XP	Okay. After following some instructions by a mate, I downloaded & installed Lindrose, plugged in the SATA drive and booted to that (from CD). Worked fine, SATA drive shows up and it seems like almost everything is on it, except for some stuff.. but the stuff missing was originally all in a big directory - does Linux not load rather large directories properly? Because the free space for that drive listed under Lindrose says the same as what was free when it was working in Windows.. so it seems like everything is still there? Anyway, I've got that working, but I can't figure out how to copy things to my other (Windows) HDD. Any help would be greatly appreciated.. or even another method, if it's easier. PS. Sorry about the double post, I couldn't find the edit post button.

12-11-2005, 01:49 AM	#8 (permalink)
damo2002 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 7 OS: Windows XP	Oh.. I see. Well then, it seems Linux will be useless for me, for the main part. I don't really have access to any HDDs which I can format into FAT32. Any other suggestions? Surely there's a way to access SATA drive through DOS?

12-11-2005, 10:50 AM	#9 (permalink)
johnwill Manager, Networking Forums Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania, US Posts: 41,654 OS: Windows 7, XP-Pro, Vista, Linux Blog Entries: 1	Not if it's formatted NTFS. __________________ If TSF has helped you, Tell us about it! or Donate to help keep the site up! Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience

12-11-2005, 06:47 PM	#10 (permalink)
damo2002 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 7 OS: Windows XP	Really? I've downloaded a few programs which claim to make NTFS HDDs readable in DOS, with an interface so you can copy files to/from other HDDs and so on - I just can't get it to pick up my SATA drive. It's starting to look as though my only option is buying another SATA drive and formatting it into FAT32 so I can copy things across from Linspire.