Out of options.

DeepPurplex · 09-02-2005, 08:36 AM

Hello,

I have run into a situation with my computer that has gotten me into a pretty severe predicament. I was having problems with spyware, and had had enough of it, so I decided to reformat. All was going well until I put in my recovery CD-rom that came with the computer, to reinstall the drivers. It got to about 25%, and gave me an error of a corrupted file, and was unable to continue. I tried it a bunch more times, same thing. I then decided to try to use when of my families other OS discs. Before I even got to the process of reinstalling windows, I was prompted that scandisk needed to be run, at which point it froze, and has every time I have tried it.

My personal thoughts are that the hard-drive is fried, or something of the likes, and that replacement of the hard-drive should fix it. What are you guys' thoughts? Thanks for your help.

**UncleMacro** · 09-02-2005, 08:16 PM

If two separate OS CDs are causing problems then it could be your hard disk. You can tell for sure by downloading the hard disk diagnostic utility from the hard disk manufacturer. Since you reformatted already you can use the utility to do a low level format (actually it just writes it completely full of zeroes) and then do a very thorough surface scan of the hard disk. The surface scan can tell you for sure if there is any problem with the hard disk. If the hard disk passes the manufacturer's diagnostic test then something else is wrong. All the major manufacturers (Maxtor, Seagate, WD) have these utilities on their web sites.

09-02-2005, 08:17 PM

There might be numerious reasons causing this. I would suggest trying a Low Level Format for your hard drive. If it is not a physical problem LLF would solve the problem. What is a low level format ? Simply it takes your hard drive to the day it was bought For more details view this thread . The utility for LLF can be downloaded from the hard disks manufacturers site. You will need to open up the case and see what brand your hard disk is. If you post it here i can do the search for you and provide you a link. After low level formatting your hard drive you need to have Win ME cd and a boot disk (floppy) which are in a good shape for the installation. If after all these the installation is unsuccessful let us know for further instructions.

Kindest Regards.

09-02-2005, 08:36 AM	#1 (permalink)
DeepPurplex Registered User Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 18 OS: ME	Out of options. Hello, I have run into a situation with my computer that has gotten me into a pretty severe predicament. I was having problems with spyware, and had had enough of it, so I decided to reformat. All was going well until I put in my recovery CD-rom that came with the computer, to reinstall the drivers. It got to about 25%, and gave me an error of a corrupted file, and was unable to continue. I tried it a bunch more times, same thing. I then decided to try to use when of my families other OS discs. Before I even got to the process of reinstalling windows, I was prompted that scandisk needed to be run, at which point it froze, and has every time I have tried it. My personal thoughts are that the hard-drive is fried, or something of the likes, and that replacement of the hard-drive should fix it. What are you guys' thoughts? Thanks for your help.

09-02-2005, 08:16 PM	#2 (permalink)
UncleMacro TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: San Diego Posts: 2,133 OS: Vista SP1 My System	If two separate OS CDs are causing problems then it could be your hard disk. You can tell for sure by downloading the hard disk diagnostic utility from the hard disk manufacturer. Since you reformatted already you can use the utility to do a low level format (actually it just writes it completely full of zeroes) and then do a very thorough surface scan of the hard disk. The surface scan can tell you for sure if there is any problem with the hard disk. If the hard disk passes the manufacturer's diagnostic test then something else is wrong. All the major manufacturers (Maxtor, Seagate, WD) have these utilities on their web sites.

09-02-2005, 08:17 PM	#3 (permalink)
PurpleSky Guest Posts: n/a OS:	There might be numerious reasons causing this. I would suggest trying a Low Level Format for your hard drive. If it is not a physical problem LLF would solve the problem. What is a low level format ? Simply it takes your hard drive to the day it was bought For more details view this thread . The utility for LLF can be downloaded from the hard disks manufacturers site. You will need to open up the case and see what brand your hard disk is. If you post it here i can do the search for you and provide you a link. After low level formatting your hard drive you need to have Win ME cd and a boot disk (floppy) which are in a good shape for the installation. If after all these the installation is unsuccessful let us know for further instructions. Kindest Regards.