Is my Hard Drive dead?

Author
Discussion

Woody3

Original Poster:

748 posts

203 months

Wednesday 4th February 2015
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Just been working away on my laptop, everything was going fine, then all of a sudden all running programmes went into "Not responding" mode.

Pressed ctrl + alt + delete, but to no avail, so held on/off button down to reset.

Now when I turn the laptop back on, I get the Samsung logo initially, followed by a setup page (Aptio Setup Utility).

Looking at this, I think I may have found the problem, it states:

SATA Port 1 - NOT INSTALLED
SATA Port 2 - TSSTcorp CDDVDW SN-208N

I took the HDD cover off and can hear the HD spin up when I switch the laptop on, but get this page each and every time and I can't get any further.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Laptop is a Samsung NP350V5C and about 15 months old.

Cheers!

Doctor Volt

336 posts

124 months

Wednesday 4th February 2015
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Visit http://gparted.org/ and download Gparted to a working PC

GParted is a Live CD, you download it as an ISO and write it to a CD as an image

You put the CD into the faulty Laptop and it should boot from it and load (if the laptop doesnt boot from the CD you must enter the laptop BIOS at startup and chane the boot order to 1st Boot from CD

Once you are at the Gparted screen when it has loaded you will see everything that is on your HD and it may well help you diagnose the Hard Drive

The other way is to download any other small Linux Live CD like Porteus and boot from it, you can then get to all your files and see if you can rescue them all before playing about with your OS and HDD

If you are using windows you could also try a Windows rescue Disc

It is important that you attempt to backup all important files with one of the above before you start messing about trying to get the laptop working again

So -

1) Recover important files

2) Attempt to get the laptop working again by checking the HD as above or try a clean install to see if it works

Recover files then play is the best way forward

You should state what OS you have installed as it is of much help

trashbat

6,005 posts

152 months

Wednesday 4th February 2015
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The case of the totally disappearing hard drive is more unusual and more hopeful than one that's still there but gone seriously wrong.

You should dismantle the machine sufficiently to check the physical data connection (power is usually a separate connection, hence why it spins up) and also try it in a caddy or another machine.

If it doesn't appear in the BIOS, then no amount of recovery software is going to help.

Woody3

Original Poster:

748 posts

203 months

Wednesday 4th February 2015
quotequote all
Thanks for the replies chaps.

I'm running Windows 8.1.

I'm going to try all options listed above. Will report back with my findings.

Hopefully I will recover 5 hours lost work from this morning...

Thanks again!

marshalla

15,902 posts

200 months

Wednesday 4th February 2015
quotequote all
As said above, if the system isn't showing the drive connected at all, it's most likely to be a fault on the drive electronics, the connection to it or the controller on the motherboard (least likely since there's another drive visible).

No amount of software will fix that.

If the drive appears to be connected OK, swap it with the drive that is recognised and see what is reported. That will give a hint about whether it's something on that connection, or the drive itself. If you can't swap it, get a cheap USB caddy and see if it can be found as an external drive by some computer.



Doctor Volt

336 posts

124 months

Wednesday 4th February 2015
quotequote all
Woody3 said:
Thanks for the replies chaps.

I'm running Windows 8.1.

I'm going to try all options listed above. Will report back with my findings.

Hopefully I will recover 5 hours lost work from this morning...

Thanks again!
I forgot to mention something

There could be one of many problems but there is also the possibility of a faulty Motherboard or a corrupted BIOS

First things first - try a few test from above

Any PC repairer will be able to remove your Hard Drive and put it into a docking station to test it for you and it only takes 5 minutes to do

Should you remove your hard drive and take it to a laptop repair shop that would be cheaper and quicker

The other thing that you can do is remove your hard drive and hook it up to a Desktop PC Motherboard with a SATA cable and that will test it for you

Good luck

Woody3

Original Poster:

748 posts

203 months

Wednesday 4th February 2015
quotequote all
Bit of an update and I'm a bit stuck in all honesty...

I've got it to boot with Porteus on a CD and I'm on the desktop. All good.

However, where would I find my files if there are any? There seems to be lots of folders with funny names none that I recognise. Will my files be within one of these folders?

The second question is:

To get my computer to boot from the CD drive, I followed the following instructions:

- Select " Advanced" and change the Fast BIOS Mode to OFF. This is a necessary condition for the system to boot from the USB.
- Then select "Boot", and in that, change the Secure Boot to OFF. Below that, the OS Mode Selection must be "CSM OS".
- Then save the changes and reboot.

This enabled it to boot from the Porteus iso file on the CD.

However, when I reboot now, I can't get back to the BIOS page. It just says insert CD to disk drive.

Any ideas how I can reinstate the BIOS page?

HELP?

(Talk about a steep learning curve!)

Edited by Woody3 on Wednesday 4th February 19:53


Thanks Doctor Volt - only just saw your last reply. Will do that tomorrow. Any pointers on the above?

Edited by Woody3 on Wednesday 4th February 19:55

trashbat

6,005 posts

152 months

Wednesday 4th February 2015
quotequote all
A little bit of guesswork going on here, but...

You technically can't get back to the BIOS screen you were at originally, as it was only presented because you had nothing to boot off, and now you've configured it so that you do.

You can get into the main BIOS by pressing a key at startup. I don't know what yours will be, maybe F2 or Delete or F8 or something like that. You can probably Google it. Then you'll have a similar display that you can access in some way to tell you what disks are present.

As for where you're at with this Live CD, as I said earlier, it's a waste of time *until* you can get the computer to physically recognise the disk at the basic level. It's kind of like worrying about an ECU problem when the engine has physically fallen out of the car and been left behind.

You either want to check whether the laptop recognises a different disk, or whether another machine recognises your one. You might also find that unplugging the disk and reconnecting it solves the problem.


Doctor Volt

336 posts

124 months

Wednesday 4th February 2015
quotequote all
What I was thinking was that if the problem is with the OS a LIVE CD will find the Hard Drive

If you have Porteus working you will find it has GParted built into it, take a look at the Hard Drive with GParted and see what it finds

The other thing I forgot to mention was, if you Boot into BIOS (Google for what F Key needs tapping at start up for your model of laptop) If when in BIOS You dont see the Hard Drive then you will have to remove it and refit it to be sure it isnt a bad contact (A bad contact is very doubtful but can happen)

If you still dont see the Hard Drive things are not looking good, the problem could be Motherboard, Hard Drive or even BIOS corrupted

See what Porteus can do for you or download GParted ISO and burn that to disk and run it or get your Hard Drive tested

The important thing is to rescue what you can before attempting to get the Laptop up and running again

trashbat

6,005 posts

152 months

Wednesday 4th February 2015
quotequote all
Aptio (as per the OP) is the BIOS, so it's not going to be the OS.

Apparently you press F2 upon seeing the Samsung logo.

Doctor Volt

336 posts

124 months

Wednesday 4th February 2015
quotequote all
trashbat said:
The case of the totally disappearing hard drive is more unusual and more hopeful than one that's still there but gone seriously wrong.

You should dismantle the machine sufficiently to check the physical data connection (power is usually a separate connection, hence why it spins up) and also try it in a caddy or another machine.

If it doesn't appear in the BIOS, then no amount of recovery software is going to help.
Ignore my post about BIOS. I hadnt read the trashbat post

My apologies trashbat

Doctor Volt

336 posts

124 months

Wednesday 4th February 2015
quotequote all
Dont forget what I posted earlier, you can plug your HD into any SATA Desktop PC and test it that way

Woody3

Original Poster:

748 posts

203 months

Wednesday 4th February 2015
quotequote all
Thanks again chaps.

Yep F2 is the key and I've got it back to square one again, so thanks for that!

I don't have another computer with SATA, so can't test it tonight, but I've just spoke to a mate who used to work at Knowhow and he's hopefully going to pop across tomorrow evening to take a look.

If I can just get the data off the Hard Drive, I'd be more than happy.

All your help is much appreciated. smile


tribbles

3,970 posts

221 months

Wednesday 4th February 2015
quotequote all
A couple of mates at work have had problems with hard drives not spinning up.

If this is the case with yours, then it'll probably click a bit as it tries to spin when you power on.

Now - this is kind of a "last resort; once you get it working copy your important data off" thing to do.

What you need to do is give the drive a little 'flick' by starting the platters rotating. So, just twist it in your hand in the same orientation as the platters. Doesn't really matter if it's clockwise or anticlockwise; just do it fairly sharply.

The drive may then spin up - and you can boot off it, and copy your data across.

If you're feeling particularly bullish, then you could keep the drive and do this whenever it goes wrong again. But I wouldn't do that myself smile

Oakey

27,523 posts

215 months

Wednesday 4th February 2015
quotequote all
Isn't that 'clicking' the sound of the heads trying to park? And giving the drive a little 'flick' sounds like a surefire way of causing head crash.

tribbles

3,970 posts

221 months

Wednesday 4th February 2015
quotequote all
Oakey said:
Isn't that 'clicking' the sound of the heads trying to park? And giving the drive a little 'flick' sounds like a surefire way of causing head crash.
It can be - that's why it's a "last resort" method, and I wouldn't attempt it if the drive was spinning. I've recovered data three hard drives in that way.

Oakey

27,523 posts

215 months

Wednesday 4th February 2015
quotequote all
Good to know! Thankfully no drives have failed on me for a while

trashbat

6,005 posts

152 months

Wednesday 4th February 2015
quotequote all
Click of death is usually repetitive, once every few seconds, at least for a while before it gives up and spins down.

Doctor Volt

336 posts

124 months

Thursday 5th February 2015
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This is getting funny now

The OP states the drive spins up

Woody3

Original Poster:

748 posts

203 months

Tuesday 10th February 2015
quotequote all
Update to thread:

The HDD is a no go-er. Can't recover anything from it - ARGH!

My mate plugged it into numerous devices and used various recovery software, but to no avail. Gutted is an understatement!

The HDD can be heard spinning, but nothing is picking it up. Currently using another HDD in my laptop to see me through.

Can anyone recommend me a decent HDD for my laptop? AND Can anyone recommend a free online storage service?

The HDD that has just failed on me is a Hitachi 750GB (5400RPM)

On a separate (and happier) note, a few years ago, I spilled lemonade on my upside down laptop (don't ask), which made it sizzle and refused to turn on. When I took it to a computer place to get my data recovered from the HDD, they told me it was dead and write it off. Anyway, while my mate was around, I passed him the dead Laptop and the HDD (which I had removed), sticks the HDD into another machine, uses some recovery software and lo and behold, the HDD works! Plugged the "lemonade" laptop in and even that started up! Couldn't believe it. Now I have photos of my past cars that I thought were long gone! Wahoo! And the ease of using Windows XP over Windows 8 is rather worrying!