[qccoles]

Okay a few months ago..I was on facebook, left my laptop on my bed, came back and had a BSOD, so I just said hey whatever, i'll just reboot. Once I rebooted I got the pxe-e61:media test failure check cable error and haven't been able to boot windows since, I was sure the HDD was just dead....my laptops just been rotting away in my closet. So I got it out to fiddle with it a little bit...and put in my win7 disc. I'm at the win7 system recovery options and opened command prompt(this laptop didn't have win7 before, it had xp on it.)

I was messing around...then realized that drive D: allowed me to do a chkdsk...which means the HDD isn't dead...right? Anyway, the problem is, when I try to run the chkdsk /f after running chkdsk itself, I can't because I get " The type of the file system is UDF. Cannot lock current drive. Windows cannot run disk checking on this volume because it is write protected." BIOS detects the HDD too...

How can I fix it or is it really gone? The whole cmd prompt is below, thanks!


The type of file system is UDF.
The volume is in use by another process. Chkdsk might report errors when no corruption is present.
Space Bitmap Descriptor at block 0 is corrupt or unreadable.
Volume GRMCHPFRER_EN_DVD is UDF version 1.02.

CHKDSK is verifying ICBs...
ICB verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying ICB links ...
ICB link verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying link counts and parent entries ....
Link count and parent entry verification completed. CHKDSK is checking system files.
CHKDSK is checking the directory tree for cycles.
CHKDSK is identifying lost files.
lost file identification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying object size for ICBs with alternate data streams...
Creating new space bitmap descriptor at block 1307
Correcting file count to 776 in Logical Volume Integrity Descriptor...
Correcting partition free space for partition 0 to 227 in Logical Volume Integrity Descriptor
Windows found problems with the file system.
Run CHKDSK with the /f (Fix) option to correct these.

2442648 KB total disk space
2441182 KB in 776 files.
858 in 201 directories.
154 KB in use by the system.
454 KB available on disk.
2048 bytes in each allocation unit.
1221324 total allocation units on disk.
227 allocation units available on disk.

This space isn't a recovery partition, it doesn't have a recovery partition. That is the size of the HDD itself.

I ran seatools for DOS and after attempting to run both long and short test, I get "The drive is not responding to commands, check cables and drive power connection. and an error reporting a sector repair failure. If I run the acoustic test, I can hear the harddrive spinning.

That was alot of typing, any ideas?

 

[Networks]

I would try the Windows XP CD and not the Win 7 to repair the file system, However I assume the drive is a seagate ? what brand model is the drive and laptop ? If the drive is a Seagate and seatools fails then the drive has failed time to replace and re-load the OS

 

[qccoles]

I would try the Windows XP CD and not the Win 7 to repair the file system, However I assume the drive is a seagate ? what brand model is the drive and laptop ? If the drive is a Seagate and seatools fails then the drive has failed time to replace and re-load the OS

Seagate ST9250315AS and a lenovo g550....

I don't have a windows XP disc...just a win7 disc. I used to have a burned windows xp disc but not anymore- although i could boot from USB, should I try it that way?

And as you said if seatools isn't really helping then theres really no point in trying anything else?

I would just get a new hdd for $42 from newegg but unfortunately I'm barely getting by as it is...I can't afford a new one.

 

[Networks]

Borrow a cd from someone if bios supports boot from USB try that. It's a long shot from what info you have provided if drive is dead you need a new one then put it back into the closet and wait till you have the funds

 

[qccoles]

What are the symptoms of a dead hdd? Not sending any signal whatsoever? I mean it obviously knows that theres an hd but the whole harddrive not responding to commands thing from seatools...yeah...thats what makes me think I'm gonna need a new one.

 

[dai]

pxe error usually indicates it is set in the bios to boot from a network drive or the hard drive has failed

if the bios is set correctly to boot from cd then hd then replace the drive

 

[cowpuncher]

Well, dealing with first things first, UDF is a format used for OPTICAL DISKS; I suspect the information you've posted from CHKDSK is from the Win7 DVD, and NOT from the Seagate HDD.

Google tells me that the Win7 DVD is labeled as "GRMCHPXFRER_EN_DVD", which means you might have mis-READ it or mis-TYPED it; your label is missing the letter "X"...

You didn't indicate that you were instructing CHKDSK to read the C: drive; the command would be "CHKDSK C:" (no quotes). If you didn't SPECIFY the C: drive, then you ARE in fact seeing the results from the DVD, and NOT from the HDD.

Try the CHKDSK command as I've typed it; I don't know if there is a difference between the way CHKDSK handles WinXP and Win7 file systems, but do NOT use the /F or /R switches with the command. You do NOT want to attempt to FIX or REPAIR a file system that might NOT be "broken", so ONLY run CHKDSK to TEST the file system on the C drive.

When I see systems with a PXE error, I usually find that the CMOS settings have become corrupted. A new motherboard battery will probably make the laptop bootable again, though simply removing it and reinstalling it WITH NO POWER to the system, so REMOVE THE POWER CORD and THE LAPTOP BATTERY BEFORE you do this.

Follow these steps:

1. REMOVE POWER CORD

2. REMOVE SYSTEM BATTERY

3. PRESS POWER BUTTON to help drain capacitors on motherboard

4. REMOVE MOTHERBOARD BATTERY, and wait at LEAST 15 minutes

5. INSTALL MOTHERBOARD BATTERY

6. INSTALL AC POWER CORD and try to boot the system. The motherboard battery MIGHT have enough power left to reset the CMOS to the DEFAULT settings. If not, you'll have to find a replacement motherboard battery before you can make the laptop bootable again.

7. Go to a local drugstore and buy an IDENTICAL replacement motherboard battery; shouldn't cost you more than a few dollars.

8. Follow steps 1-5 when you replace the old motherboard battery with the new one.

Good luck with this; please be sure to let us know how this turns out.

 

[qccoles]

Well, dealing with first things first, UDF is a format used for OPTICAL DISKS; I suspect the information you've posted from CHKDSK is from the Win7 DVD, and NOT from the Seagate HDD.

Google tells me that the Win7 DVD is labeled as "GRMCHPXFRER_EN_DVD", which means you might have mis-READ it or mis-TYPED it; your label is missing the letter "X"...

You didn't indicate that you were instructing CHKDSK to read the C: drive; the command would be "CHKDSK C:" (no quotes). If you didn't SPECIFY the C: drive, then you ARE in fact seeing the results from the DVD, and NOT from the HDD.

Try the CHKDSK command as I've typed it; I don't know if there is a difference between the way CHKDSK handles WinXP and Win7 file systems, but do NOT use the /F or /R switches with the command. You do NOT want to attempt to FIX or REPAIR a file system that might NOT be "broken", so ONLY run CHKDSK to TEST the file system on the C drive.

When I see systems with a PXE error, I usually find that the CMOS settings have become corrupted. A new motherboard battery will probably make the laptop bootable again, though simply removing it and reinstalling it WITH NO POWER to the system, so REMOVE THE POWER CORD and THE LAPTOP BATTERY BEFORE you do this.

Follow these steps:

1. REMOVE POWER CORD

2. REMOVE SYSTEM BATTERY

3. PRESS POWER BUTTON to help drain capacitors on motherboard

4. REMOVE MOTHERBOARD BATTERY, and wait at LEAST 15 minutes

5. INSTALL MOTHERBOARD BATTERY

6. INSTALL AC POWER CORD and try to boot the system. The motherboard battery MIGHT have enough power left to reset the CMOS to the DEFAULT settings. If not, you'll have to find a replacement motherboard battery before you can make the laptop bootable again.

7. Go to a local drugstore and buy an IDENTICAL replacement motherboard battery; shouldn't cost you more than a few dollars.

8. Follow steps 1-5 when you replace the old motherboard battery with the new one.

Good luck with this; please be sure to let us know how this turns out.

I'll try this later on...the command prompt opened on drive X and I typed D: and thats where the chkdsk came from...with the hdd's correct storage space.

 

[AustrAlien]

Check disk was run on D: drive ... the Windows 7 DVD: There is no doubt about that.

2442648 KB total disk space

That is 2.44 GB.

What size is your hard drive?

 

[qccoles]

Check disk was run on D: drive ... the Windows 7 DVD: There is no doubt about that.

That is 2.44 GB.

What size is your hard drive?

ahhh crao. I thought that looked iffy as 220 gigs...then again the hdd is 250 gigs...ugh.

Well, back to square 1, it's just dead isn't it?

 

[AustrAlien]

You wrote in your first post: "BIOS detects the HDD too..."
What exactly do you see in the BIOS Setup Menu with regard to the hard drive? If it is detected in BIOS ... that is a good sign ... and there may be hope.

 

[qccoles]

I see the model of the hdd under internal HDD and boot order.

Seagate ST9250315AS-(PM)

 

[AustrAlien]

That is very good.

What happens when you boot with the Windows 7 DVD and at the command prompt, type:
cd C:
and then press <ENTER> ?

If that is successful in getting you to a C:\> prompt ...
What happens if you then type:
dir
and press <ENTER> ?
Do you see a listing of all the files and folders in C: drive (your Windows system drive)?

 

[qccoles]

That is very good.

What happens when you boot with the Windows 7 DVD and at the command prompt, type:
cd C:
and then press <ENTER> ?

If that is successful in getting you to a C:\> prompt ...
What happens if you then type:
dir
and press <ENTER> ?
Do you see a listing of all the files and folders in C: drive (your Windows system drive)?

The system cannot find the drive specified...that does not sound good.

 

[AustrAlien]

Indeed ... that is not good.

Anything you do with the hard drive now has the possibility of damaging it further and making the recovery of data &/or the operating system impossible (if it is not already). I therefore need to ask/establish:

1. What are your recovery options for the operating system (presumably still XP) on this laptop? Do you have XP disks to re-install Windows XP (I believe you wrote earlier that you did not ... ) or is there a recovery partition on the troublesome hard drive that is intended to be used to restore the operating system to "out of the factory" state?
2. Is there any data of value to you on the troublesome hard drive that you need/wish to recover?

 

[qccoles]

There is no recovery partition...and i've installed XP via usb many times on different computers...so that's probably how I'd do so.

As for data...theres really nothing on here that I couldn't live without. If I were asked to trade either the data or a clean, working laptop, i'd take the laptop.

I was messing around with DISKPART in command prompt and basically it just keeps telling me that there is no volume and/or partition selected.
If I do LIST VOLUME the only thing that shows is the win7 disc.
If I try LIST PARTITION then I get there is no disk selected to list partitions. Select a disk and try again.
If I try LIST DISK, it's basically showing no disk.

Could it be possible thats it's just a huge unallocated space somehow?

 

[AustrAlien]

We have nothing to lose in that case by mucking about with that troublesome hard drive: It pretty much amounts to flogging a dead horse, but for the curious, it is something we do for fun.

There is a chance ... just a chance ... that by wiping the hard drive it might just re-vitalise the sectors that are apparently giving some trouble (assuming no mechanical problem). If that is successful .... again just a chance ... that you could either:

1. Format the hard drive (Full format ... not Quick) and use it.
2. Test again with SeaTools for DOS and come back with a passed (after repair) result > format and use it.

I don't want to raise you hopes to any great extent: There is a chance, and that's about all it is.

If you wish to go ahead and wipe the hard drive ...
Download dban (Darik's Boot and Nuke):

"Darik's Boot and Nuke ("DBAN") is a self-contained boot disk that securely wipes the hard disks of most computers. DBAN will automatically and completely delete the contents of any hard disk that it can detect, which makes it an appropriate utility for bulk or emergency data destruction."

If you do not already have a suitable burning program for writing .ISO images to disc ...

• Download and install ImgBurn.
  Ensure that you UN-check the box agreeing to install the Ask toolbar during the installation.
• Place a new (blank) CD disc in the drive tray.
• Choose Write image file to disc.
  • Under Source, click on the Browse button: Navigate to and select the .ISO file that you wish to burn.
  • Place a check-mark in the box beside Verify.
• Click
  
  
  When the CD has been burned and verified as successful, it will be bootable.

Boot from the CD, and with ONLY the one hard drive connected to the system ...

• Warning: This will completely wipe ALL drives connected to the system!

Type autonuke at the prompt and press the <ENTER> key.
Allow to complete.

• Be patient: It may take some considerable time, depending on the size of the HDD.
  (autonuke will wipe the HDD three times, by default)

 

[qccoles]

Boot from the CD, and with ONLY the one hard drive connected to the system ...

• Warning: This will completely wipe ALL drives connected to the system!

If it wipes all of the drives, would it still be possible to do that from a usb stick?

Disregard this, just found out how to do that.

 

[AustrAlien]

I was messing around with DISKPART in command prompt and basically it just keeps telling me that there is no volume and/or partition selected.
If I do LIST VOLUME the only thing that shows is the win7 disc.
If I try LIST PARTITION then I get there is no disk selected to list partitions. Select a disk and try again.
If I try LIST DISK, it's basically showing no disk.

Could it be possible thats it's just a huge unallocated space somehow?

I just noticed that you edited your first post to add some more ...

There is often a problem using a Windows disk when the file system is corrupted and the hard drive has a problem. In situations like this it is then often necessary to resort to other tools/bootable CDs based on Linux to find out exactly what is going on or repair or recover data.

So, what you are seeing after booting with the Win7 disk is not unusual. It is not "just a huge unallocated space" ... otherwise Win7 would report it as such.

If it wipes all of the drives, would it still be possible to do that from a usb stick?

That's a good question ... and one for which I do not know the answer. I would have to investigate the possibility of running dban from a flashdrive ... if it was imperative. Is it imperative?

Note: It is just about time that I hit the sack for the night.

If it wipes all of the drives, would it still be possible to do that from a usb stick?

Disregard this, just found out how to do that.

Create a DBAN USB Flash Drive from Windows | USB Pen Drive Linux

No worries!

 

[qccoles]

Haha yeah I found that after I asked, already running dban lol.

It's done but it says DBAN finished with non-fatal errors.
ERROR /dev/sdd (Process crash)
ERROR /dev/sda (Process crash)
Was it supposed to be that quick?