R51e hard drive probably failing - very urgent help needed.

[Hornet]

This is my only computer, so I'm on something of a race against time to get a new HD - if it blows then I've completely had it. The hard disk makes a very loud noise at random intervals, anything between one minute and ten, usually sooner though, but it sounds like it's *slamming* into the parked position and then moving back out again. I'm not sure when it started, but it's been happening for a while. The XP 'turn off hard disks when idle' power-saving feature's been disabled, so I don't think it's to do with that.

What sort of hard disk do I need to get to replace it, and where's the best place to get it from? I've backed up almost everything now, so that's handled. I literally have no other computer, nor any way to get online without this one, so it's critical that I sort this as fast as possible. I'm a web developer, so having a computer and the internet is 350% essential to me. I'm also going through a depressive phase, and the only good friends I have I reach via MSN etc, so it's doubly vital that I fix it ASAP.

I presume that this is still applicable to an R51e? What are the differences between the R51 and the R51e, incidentally? And finally, am I likely to be at risk from the exploding battery issue? Are there any serial numbers about it I can check?

Many thanks in advance!

Edited to add: it sounds like the noise is coming from under the P key, or close to it, but the hard disk isn't actually there, surely... so is that just an audial trick, or could it be due to something strange happening with the DVD drive, or something else, rather than the HD?

[mgo]

This is my only computer, so I'm on something of a race against time to get a new HD - if it blows then I've completely had it.

Smart move to get your data saved right away. I assume that means your documents and other work are now on an external USB hard drive or some other type of media.

Next, try going to the CMD screen and type "chkdsk c:" and this will tell you of any problems. If you get a whole slew of error messages then yes, the hard drive is heading for the end of the line.

Did you create the restore disks using Rescue & Recovery when you first got the machine? Then at least you have a good backup to restore the machine to factory original should it be necessary to replace the hard drive.

Otherwise, somebody might have a bootable CD with an imaging program on it (like Acronis) which you can use to create an image of your machine complete with your installed programs. This method would be tons faster and easier than the Rescue & Recovery method which is complex and very time consuming. (2 hours or more, vs. just around 15 minutes using Acronis or Ghost)

The parallel ATA drives in those R series computers are pretty cheap and you ought to find something locally at Best Buy or someplace similar, that would be even bigger (in data capacity) and better than the original. Don't buy the pokey 4200 rpm drive, get a 5400 rpm drive. You just need a plain vanilla, common 2 1/2 inch mobile hard drive.

Swapping drives in the R series is super easy. Just one screw and slide out the drive. (carefully!)

After re-imaging the drive or using Rescue & Recovery if you have the disks, it might be necessary to re-activate the operating system due to the new drive number. That's just a simple phone call to Microsoft.

[Hornet]

Thanks, although there's no such thing as Best Buy back here (UK). But literally any 2 1/2 inch mobile drive would do? I thought there were different types of mobile hard disk? Not doubting you, I just need to make 110% sure. Would this one be suitable, for example?

I didn't make a backup copy, but then I have everything I need to repair it anyway, such as a Windows CD and all of the IBM drivers. I've had to re-install Windows completely fairly recently, due to a DiskMagic (or similar) repartition going very wrong. But that does mean that I don't have all of the IBM software (some of isn't much use) rattling about still. The only ones I currently have are the Power Manager, Keyboard Customiser, and Software Installer.

Chkdsk says:

C:\Documents and Settings\Hornet>chkdsk c:
The type of the file system is NTFS.

WARNING! F parameter not specified.
Running CHKDSK in read-only mode.

CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 3)...
File verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying indexes (stage 2 of 3)...
Deleting an index entry from index $O of file 25.
Deleting index entry BACKUP.RDB in index $I30 of file 81209.
Index verification completed.

Errors found. CHKDSK cannot continue in read-only mode.

Everything that can't be replaced has been copied to DVD, I hope... I don't have anywhere to back up a 50-odd gig image to, so not sure what help a bootable imaging CD could be?


I've also been able to check the battery numbers now that the latest DVD's stopped burning - they're ASM P/N 92P1086 & FRU P/N 92P1087, very close to the mentioned ones, which were:

ASM P/N FRU P/N
92P1072 92P1073
92P1088 92P1089
...

So do I have a cause for concern, or should I be okay?

Also, the monitor cable at the back of the screen looks very exposed and fragile, is there anything that I can do about that, or is it stronger than it looks?

Many thanks for all your help and advice.

[mgo]

[quote="Hornet"]Thanks, although there's no such thing as Best Buy back here (UK). But literally any 2 1/2 inch mobile drive would do? I thought there were different types of mobile hard disk? [/url]

First of all, it looks like like chkdsk is reporting some problems. Run it again, this time using "chkdsk c: /f"

This will make the computer run a disk check and repair operation during the next re-boot. It will give you a more accurate idea of what the drive is doing. It will also do any repair jobs (unless they are unfixable mechanical problems)

Yes, any drive will work. You want a PATA drive (parallel ATA) the one with all the little pins on the end. A serial ATA drive has a flat contact configuration, and that will not fit.

So, you tried to partiton your drive using Drive Image or some such program? Is that when your troubles started?

No, imaging will not include 50gig of hard drive. Just the data and other vital files will be imaged. The unused free space is not copied over. This means the image will be around 5 gig or less, because the image is compressed by the software, usually.

If I read your post correctly, you have already overwritten the original ThinkPad data on the drive and re-loaded Windows. That means your utilities such as Rescue & Recovery are gone, if that program was even onboard with the original configuration. Regardless, that program can be downloaded for free from the Lenovo site. Once you install it, you would be able to create a factory new image on your hard drive (the new one or the old one). This would give you a "square one" start point for further troubleshooting.

Note, that the recovery would not be possible without the special factory hidden partition containing the original config still on the drive. If it isn't there, Rescue & Recovery would tell you. (Those hidden partitions are usually protected unless a user runs a special boot disk to remove it)

Then, it would just be a matter of installing your favorite programs.

If your hard drive is indeed making some ugly sounds like it wants to die out on you, quick action is necessary to save what you can.

Do the chkdsk /f. If there is a lot of bad news there, make sure your personal data is saved on another media.

If the drive is still working, try and create the rescue CD set with Rescue & Recovery. Make sure you also create the Emergency Boot Media CD as well, or you will end up with CDs that do not work.

If you decide against the R & R procedure, then get a new hard drive and start from scratch. Utilize the Lenovo download site for the vital utilities and drivers for your R51e. Just type "R51e support" in Google and you will get right to the appropriate Lenovo site for your machine.

[Hornet]

I did the partitioning quite a while ago, I'm not sure when exactly. Over two months, possibly four. I'm also not sure when the noise started, but I'd say it's been there for about a week at least. I asked someone on IRC if they thought it sounded ominous, and they agreed it did, hence the panicking.

PATA - you're sure? E-buyer only seem to have two in stock, at very high prices (here). That said, is PATA the same as IDE? So would this one do? Sorry to keep asking so many questions, but I (literally ) can't afford to make a mistake and buy the wrong drive.

The factory partition went to waste when the repartitioning went wrong. I currently have three partitions; 50gig windows, 4 gig Linux, ~700 meg Linux swap. So I'll probably do it from scratch.

But that said, which imaging program would you advocate? It'll probably be a lot faster than trying to reinstall everything, and copy all the files from backups. Then again, if the image is larger than a DVD, then I'd have no way to transfer it, unless that's taken care of somehow?

I've already scheduled a through check at next boot, but I can't go offline just yet though. Also, I want to make sure I have all the drive information first, in case all the drive activity pushes it over the edge.

Thankyou again, you're an utter lifesaver.

[wearetheborg]

PATA - you're sure? E-buyer only seem to have two in stock, at very high prices (here). That said, is PATA the same as IDE? So would this one do? Sorry to keep asking so many questions, but I (literally ) can't afford to make a mistake and buy the wrong drive.

Yes PATA is IDE.
E-buyer actually has 46 IDE notebook drives:
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/search/i ... owAll=true
Any of those drives will do

[mgo]

I did the partitioning quite a while ago, I'm not sure when exactly. Over two months, possibly four. I'm also not sure when the noise started, but I'd say it's been there for about a week at least.The factory partition went to waste when the repartitioning went wrong. I currently have three partitions; 50gig windows, 4 gig Linux, ~700 meg Linux swap. So I'll probably do it from scratch.

But that said, which imaging program would you advocate? I've already scheduled a through check at next boot, but I can't go offline just yet though. Also, I want to make sure I have all the drive information first, in case all the drive activity pushes it over the edge.

Thankyou again, you're an utter lifesaver.

As, the other poster said, the PATA drive will work. If in doubt, just take the drive with you to the store and compare it with what they have in stock. (naturally, you will likely end up with a larger capacity drive since that is the norm these days...more capacity is a good thing)

The imaging program I have used for years is Acronis. Get version 10 or 11. Version 9 was troublesome for a few people, according to what I have read. If you are going to image to DVD, the software will tell you when to insert the next DVD during the procedure. I really suggest an external USB drive for imaging. DVDs are so slow and clunky and annoying to use, in my opinion. The external hard drive would also be excellent for backing up your personal data.

You really can't tell about your drive until you do that "chkdsk /F" routine. That's just the first thing to do, and then make a decision based on the results.

[Hornet]

I'm probably going to buy a new drive anyway, it's being worryingly noisy, and the one I linked to has some dubious reviews near the end. So I'm presuming that this one ( http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products ... _uid=97629 ) will suffice? It's more expensive than I'd like, but then again I don't want to underspend on a cheap drive that claps out a while later. The reason for the PATA confusion was that Ebuyer had two drives specifically labelled as being PATA, so I then worried that that meant that it wasn't the same as IDE. But yes, unless you have any wisdom to the contrary, I'll buy the one linked first thing on Monday. I won't be able to buy one from a shop, as high-street hardware retail in the UK is a complete ripoff - it'd cost me 50% extra at least. I can seldom afford this one as is.

Since I'm going to replace it either way, I've cancelled the disk check, as that much drive activity can't be good for a drive probably on it's last legs. The drive may well be fine now, and up until the point where the head crashes - then it's a dustbin job, and I really can't risk that. I'm hoping that imaging it isn't going to kill it off either, but that's a risk I'll probably have to take. I've not got Acronis yet though, still working on that. Will it object that the drive that was imaged isn't the same size as the drive the image is being put on to?

I'll have to use DVDs, though. I don't have any other media. But that said, could it copy the image ready-to-use to a hard drive in a USB caddy? As I could get a caddy for about £5 from e-buyer, and put the new drive in that whilst I copy the image to it. Then when that's all done just swap them over and hopefully not need to do anything more.

Thanks again, to both of you.

[mgo]

Since I'm going to replace it either way, I've cancelled the disk check, as that much drive activity can't be good for a drive probably on it's last legs. I've not got Acronis yet though, still working on that. Will it object that the drive that was imaged isn't the same size as the drive the image is being put on to?

I'll have to use DVDs, though. I don't have any other media. But that said, could it copy the image ready-to-use to a hard drive in a USB caddy?

Greetings:
Yes, the drive you linked to will work just fine. Make sure it is formatted to NTFS, which is the preferred file system for a Windows operating system (XP or Vista) unless you specifically want FAT32. Often times a drive comes out of the box in FAT32 so it will work with older computers. If you have no way of formatting the new drive to NTFS you can do that after the fact once Windows is installed and running.

I still suggest running chkdsk to help ensure as "clean" an image as possible. If there are errors on the old disk, they could be copied over to the new disk, since Acronis makes a completely faithful byte-by-byte image. (I do not know if Acronis does any error corrections during the imaging process to ensure an error free image)

Yes, you can create the Acronis image onto a USB external drive, and then restore that image to the new drive. That's the way I have done it for years.

No problem, if the new drive is larger than the other one. Acronis will not care, as long as the image is not larger than needed on the new drive. (for example if you created a partition that was too small)

And of course if you can't get a copy of Acronis, you can always install Windows from the install disk you said you have, and then load up your programs, and then copy over your personal data.

I'm assuming that by now you have a copy of your personal data to another media in case the existing drive goes south abruptly.

[Hornet]

I think all my irreplaceable stuff's been copied to DVDs by now, most of what's left is expendable, just random music and so forth.

I meant as in, what if the USB drive *was* the new drive, in a caddy? Could Acronis just make a straight no-compression copy of the current drive to that one, then I put that drive in the laptop and everything'll be fine? Or would I need a third drive?

Fair enough, I'll do a full chkdsk just before I make the image. That way if it dies in the process then at least I'll have had it in the meantime.

Thanks again.

[mgo]

I
I meant as in, what if the USB drive *was* the new drive, in a caddy? Could Acronis just make a straight no-compression copy of the current drive to that one, then I put that drive in the laptop and everything'll be fine? Or would I need a third drive?

I have no experience with the method you are proposing, so I just cannot comment on it. Once you get a good image onto the DVDs or other media, you might want to experiment with that idea. Much of my experience has come from experimenting. Sometimes the results are good....sometimes they are goofy. But I alway make sure I have a good backup before turning my computer into a "lab animal". :}