Thinkpads Forum

Ok I have an issue with my hard drive I hope someone can help me out with.

Everything was running well until yesterday.

Started yesterday I had a bunch of stuff running and computer froze, then blue screen of death and physical memory dump. Ok, that happens...

Then ran "chkdsk c:" after reboot and said found problems, so I ran "chkdsk c: /f" and rebooted. Went through no problem, but when I ran "chkdsk c: /f" again just to see there were still problems, there were and some indexes were fixed (but the process never completed) and now, it partially freezes every time after step 3 of 3 (Security descriptor verification completed). Very little HDD access on a cyclic pattern but nothing seems to be going on....

It freezes in the same way when I run "chkdsk c: /f" and reboot also, no progress after step 3 of 3 "Security descriptor verification completed."

Ran PC Doctor Test and failed multiple tests:
http://ubfm.net/HDD/PC_Doctor.jpg

And from the PCDoctor log file here is the output of the failed tests:

PCDrSMART (8 ) | Failure prediction threshold exceeded.
engine (1) | Test failed.
engine (48 ) | Started Short Self-Test of pcdrsmart module, version 4.2.66.1074.
PCDrSMART (23) | The read element of the test failed.
engine (1) | Test failed.

engine (48 ) | Started Surface Scan2 Test of pcdrharddrive module, version 4.2.112.1069.
DriveTest (18 ) | Error reading block number 6390720: Data error (cyclic redundancy check).
DriveTest (18 ) | Error reading block number 6400800: Data error (cyclic redundancy check).
DriveTest (18 ) | Error reading block number 6409620: Data error (cyclic redundancy check).
engine (1) | Test failed.


Is my hard drive toast? Are there other steps I should perform? Any idea on what exactly is happening? I have backups of all data, however no XP disk to reformat (laptop did not come with one to my knowledge, although there is a licence affixed to the bottom of the laptop).

I can still boot into Windows and run reasonable well if I bypass chkdsk, but it's somewhat laggy and has frozen when running chkdsk from a command line.

Right now I am running a "chkdsk c: /r", and it currently has passed step 3 of 5 with seemingly NO ERRORS. It is working on step 4 of 5 (verifying file data) which will take a long time so I will have to wait and see what happens after.

Last thing I want to do is reformat, or even worse have the HDD profesionally repaired. I have had a similar small occurance to this happen countless times on various Win machines, and each time it is perfectly fine after running chkdsk on reboot. So I'm hoping it's something I can correct, without resorting to other methods.

Thank you for reading this, I greatly appreciate any advice.

Ok I'm at 82% complete with a "chkdsk c: /r", however at 78% logged the following error:

windows replaced bad clusters in file 116036 of name \pagefile.sys.
82 percent completed.

So seems there was a bad sector in the pagefile...not sure what to make of that at this point but I can say the process has slowed considerably since the error. Will post back when/if it completes.

Now, it completed the verifying file data (with just the one aforementioned error), then finished the 5 of 5 step (surface scan) and then output:

"Free space verification is complete"

Problem is, it's frozen right there. Just like when I ran the 3 of 3 steps, it freezes right after the last step is complete (this time with the 5 of 5 steps).

It's problably unsafe to force shut down right now, correct? I'm going to let it just sit there for a while and force shutdown after. Unless I post back that is the status as of now, not sure what I can try next.

After looking at your PC-Doctor screenshot and the symptoms you describe, I think it is fairly safe to say that your hard drive is failing and won't last much longer. I would suggest you buy a replacement drive ASAP. If you need any files off of the drive, try to get them off now.

You can also look in event viewer for more confirmation. Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Event Viewer. Look for ATA/ATAPI errors, or SMART errors. But at this point, this is just redundant IMO.

GomJabbar wrote:After looking at your PC-Doctor screenshot and the symptoms you describe, I think it is fairly safe to say that your hard drive is failing and won't last much longer. I would suggest you buy a replacement drive ASAP. If you need any files off of the drive, try to get them off now.

You can also look in event viewer for more confirmation. Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Event Viewer. Look for ATA/ATAPI errors, or SMART errors. But at this point, this is just redundant IMO.

Alright I just left it at that screen and after a looong time it finally continued on to Windows. In addition I did some additional research from google and found that "Failure prediction threshold exceeded" is the S.M.A.R.T. system notifying end user of eminent failure or something similar?

I checked the event log and there were events logged under System:
- The device, \Device\Harddisk0\D, has a bad block. (disk)
- The device, \Device\Ide\IdePort0, did not respond within the timeout period. (atapi)
- {Delayed Write Failed} Windows was unable to save all the data for the file . The data has been lost. This error may be caused by a failure of your computer hardware or network connection. Please try to save this file elsewhere. (ntfs)
and tons of
- An error was detected on device \Device\Harddisk0\D during a paging operation (disk)

I truly appreciate your input and that's certainly not a good sign, however I have some additional 'newbie' questions.

I'll definitely leave recommendations on a 7500 rpm drive replacement to another thread, but is there any particular reasons from the data I have gleaned as to why the drive failed or is that too much of an odd question and is based on a variety of unknown variables and such?

Also what does one do when they don't have the actual Win XP disk? Is there a way to obtain a disk using the license on the bottom of the computer, or would I purchase an entirely new Windows XP disk?

Last but not least is there a beginner's guide or reference for replacing-a-drive method? I have total confidence I can do it, I just don't know where to begin.

Thank you for the help!

If you can borrow an OEM XP disk from someone, the key in the sticker on the bottom (assuming it is for XP) will work. I just did something similar. See my recent post in the Sticky at the top of the Windows OS forum for How to Fresh Install Win XP (Step-by-Step Guide).

If you can't get an OEM XP disk, then your next best option is to buy the Product Recovery Discs from Lenovo. I believe the price is ~$50 or so.

The drive is easy to remove and replace. It is located under the IBM logo, below the palmrest. Remove one screw from underneath, and pull the drive out. Note that the display lid has to be open to remove the drive. When you first pull the drive out, look carefully at the connector so that you know which is the top, and which is the bottom. When you put in the new drive, be sure it's the same way. A replacement drive I bought as a backup has to go in, in what appears to be an upside down position (with the circuit board facing up, and the metal cover & label facing down). You can put the drive in without the caddy, but if you do, make sure the connector lines up properly. It's probably better to put the drive into the caddy. Either way, you do need to install the end cover to the drive.

Find step-by-step instructions in the Hardware Maintenance Manual. FRU Part numbers are in the HMM too. Look there for the FRU number of the Product Recovery Discs.

Well that was an accurate assessment. The drive is dead. The error now upon Win boot is blue screen "Unmountable boot volume". So in other words, the HDD is gone and time for a replacement.

Thank you for the link to the step-by-step guide, I plan to utilize that information after obtaining an OEM copy of XP and with my code from the laptop do a fresh install on a new hard drive.

I'll get a replacement 7200 rpm drive: either a Hitachi Travelstar 7K100 or a Seagate Momentus 7200.1, both of which I see are tested here:
http://techreport.com/reviews/2006q2/mo ... dex.x?pg=2
after reading the excellent thread here:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... achi+7k100

I hope you're back up and running soon.

I have had one laptop hard drive fail, and half a dozen desktop hard drives fail on my personal computers. I have owned 2 laptops in the last 5 years or so, and several desktop PC's in the last 15 years or so. Hard drives are mechanical devices that generally have a shorter life than the rest of the PC.