Thinkpads Forum

How do l know if l have a hard drive problem and not a viris problem?

Thanks

Alan

I would say that depends upon what is (or is not) working normally. My suggestion is to download a disk drive fitness test or diagnostic program that non-destructively examines each disk sector. That should tell you if the laptop's hard drive interface and hard drive itself is working properly. If you have a virus, it won't load since the diagnostic (should) boot on it's own.

For the 600X, you can download PC Doctor for DOS from here:

IBM/Lenovo site

This program will create a bootable floppy disk that contains PC Doctor. Alternately, you can download an .ISO image I have hosted on my site at:

http://www.kawakami-ca.com/ibm_600x/dgpcdoc.iso

It's the same program that came from IBM/Lenovo that's been formatted for burning onto a CD.

Boot the media, select the 600X option, then in the Diagnostic drop-down menu, choose Fixed Disk and run all of the tests. Pay particular attention to the Linear Verify portion of the test as that one accesses every single sector from the beginning to the end of the disk. Any "stuttering" or pause in the scan usually means that there's a problem reading sector(s).

Assuming that the disk diagnostic passes, then boot the OS and run a virus scanner. I normally use an older version of Norton AV but there are several freeware scanners.

Hi

When l turn on my computer the first thing that l see is

ERROR
00161
00163

I cliked OK

Then the next screen is the calender, l set the right day and time

Then the computer shuts down.

The last time that l ws able to get further the following appeared

Windows 2000 could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:

\windows\system32\config\systems

Being that l don't have a burner l will have to ask a freind to download PC-Doctor on a floppy disc.

Any other suggestions.

Thanks

Alan

PS I'm new at this

Those two errors are due to a failing (or dead) backup battery. Also called a CMOS battery, it's located inside the memory bay on the bottom of the laptop (larger panel held by a screw). Remove the panel and look under the front edge of the laptop. You should see a yellow (sometimes black) battery with red and white wires going back towards the motherboard and ending in a plug/socket arrangement.

That battery can be obtained from eBay for $5-$25. I wouldn't spend any more than $5 or $7 for one. It should solve your power-on errors. It will not fix your Windows 2000 start errors however. That seems to be a disk drive problem which can be verified by using PC Doctor or some other disk drive fitness test as I said earlier. The file system could have been corrupted or the disk drive suffered physical damage. In either case you probably will have to re-install the OS to fix the problem if you want to continue using the drive.

Thanks

I should have the disc later this afternoon, if it's just the hard drive then l will pick one up on ebay and use it as a backup/. I already have windows 2000 hanging around.

Hi

I downloaded the disc and followed the above instructions.

I was able to get to the windows start up screen that also mentioned for advanced start up options l should click f8.

My wife's office was not sure how to download the disc so they downloaded it three different way;

DGPCD.ISO
DGPCD.EXE

And one other way.

Please advise

If you downloaded the program from the IBM/Lenovo site, then that DCPCDOC.EXE file needs to be loaded onto a hard drive and executed. You will also need a blank floppy diskette (and drive) as that program will write the diagnostic program onto the diskette and make it bootable.

The DCPCDOC.ISO file is an "image" file which is normally used with a CD burner to create a bootable CD with PC Doctor on it.

So, the question is, which one can you create?

Floppy:

- need a working system with a floppy drive and a blank disk

CDROM:

- need a working system with a CD burner, a program to actually create the disk (Easy CD Creator, CDBurnerXP, Nero, etc.) and a blank CDR (Note: there is usually a special procedure or setting to burn a CD from an image file. You can't just "copy" the file to the blank disk; that won't work).

Not sure what you are talking about with the F8. That sounds like a regular Windows boot sequence. PC Doctor, when booted, will present you with a blue screen (not talking about a "blue screen of death") and a menu that lists several different Thinkpad models. Simply select 600X (I think option 6) and the program will load.

Thanks

I will jump on it in the morning as l'm watching March Madness.

Alan

Just realized that my 600x doesn't have a burner so being that even though l have the CD you directed me to burned by another computer what can l do with the blank floppy disc. And l would have to pick up a smaller floppy disc then the one l have from my PC.

Why is this so difficult dealing with computer's???????????

Thanks

Alan

Hey

I came to the conclusion that it would much easier to just replace the hard drive and put in an O/S. On ebay the hard drives are under $50 and if l needed an O/S l could probably pick one up cheap on e-bay.

So instead of tossing my 600x out l will try to bring it back again.

Alan

PS Any ideas??