PC wouldn't start...

[hypernova]

So I get home today, and find the PC showing a INVALID SYSTEM DISK etc. error.

Restarted, but got same message.  Tried booting safe mode and everything, but nothing worked.  It loaded a few files in the bootlog, but nothing occurred.  Last known good config yielded nada.

At one point, the BIOS screen froze when I tried to press f10 to save and exit.

I was able to load the XP install CD no problem, yet I couldn't load the Maxblast4 CD (maybe it wasn't a viable option is why, but I thought it could.)  Installed XP again on my second HD.  Eventually downloaded testdisk program.  Played around with a few options such as boot sector (even though it said it was fine.)  Copied all the files I wanted before I played around, and somehow, things are back to normal.  So far.  We'll see, I suppose.

Doesn't seem like a virus or anything.  All the files are seemingly intact.  Nothing I've tried refused to open yet.  I'm doing a Disk Cleanup on the main drive, but it doesn't seem to be going anywhere in the compression of old files phase.  Hard drive could be going bad, but I'm not certain.  It shouldn't be.  If it is, I have relatively bad luck with 'em.  They don't seem to last as long as they should.  Ah, nevermind, the bar is slowly moving.  Wonder what it's trying to compress...

Telltale signs of a imminent HD crash are louder sounds, which I don't hear.  Yet.  So any ideas what may have happened?

[EwJ]

The BIOS freezing is a little suspicious - how's your power supply?
edit: and hard drive cables

[hypernova]

After doing the cleanup, I tried restarting it, and it wouldn't proceed to the XP loading progress screen.  It loads fine with another HD in there.  On top of that, I took the suspect HD to my arcade PC, and it wouldn't load up there, either.

So it seems it's a HD issue.  One that cannot be fixed.

Oh well, at least I can pull the data off of it with testdisk still.  That's an excellent program.  Find it HERE.

[hypernova]

After many attempts, it has been deemed unsalvagable.  Must've been a fluke yesterday when it loaded that one time.  It hasn't done it since.  At one point today, it started doing a bunch of uncorrupting during startup and moving files and whatnot, a process that took around 20-30 minutes itself.  That still didn't work.  So I ended up formatting it, because I could no longer access any of the files on it, except small text files.  Installed TinyXP on it, and when it reloaded, it worked fine the first time.  When I tried rebooting, I get the INVALID SYSTEM DISK message again. 

So it's onto a new HD.  I hate HDs.  They never seem to last more than a few years for me.  3 years is probably average, with 5 years being the best I've gotten out of one.

[EwJ]

Sucks it's dead, but at least you've isolated the problem as the hard drive itself and confirmed it.
I've had that error come up before for various reasons, pci ide card a little loose, cables, etc, and
have had that and the bios freeze with a power supply going wonky too.

HD Tune is a decent little utility that shows hard drive health, temp, smart info, etc.
Spinrite can sometimes help with certain problems.

If all else fails and you want a last try or two to get data off a wonky hard drive, the freezer
trick sometimes works (stick it in your freezer for a few hours, then give it a go).

Are these hard drives with short lives all from the same manufacturer?
I've had good luck with IBM (now Hitachi); bad luck with Western Digital.
I know it's just luck of the draw and percentages per sample size and such,
but after having multiple failures from one manufacturer, from differing models
and years, it just feels better to avoid them.

Anyway, hope the new lasts longer.

[testicle187]

Sucks it's dead, but at least you've isolated the problem as the hard drive itself and confirmed it.
I've had that error come up before for various reasons, pci ide card a little loose, cables, etc, and
have had that and the bios freeze with a power supply going wonky too.

HD Tune is a decent little utility that shows hard drive health, temp, smart info, etc.
Spinrite can sometimes help with certain problems.

If all else fails and you want a last try or two to get data off a wonky hard drive, the freezer
trick sometimes works (stick it in your freezer for a few hours, then give it a go).

Are these hard drives with short lives all from the same manufacturer?
I've had good luck with IBM (now Hitachi); bad luck with Western Digital.
I know it's just luck of the draw and percentages per sample size and such,
but after having multiple failures from one manufacturer, from differing models
and years, it just feels better to avoid them.

Anyway, hope the new lasts longer.

I always have the worst luck with Maxtor drives.  At my work, I have yet to a Western Digital go down, but have a box of around 100 dead Maxtors. 

Also Hypernova, did you do a full format or a quick format?  Also, you could give Partition Magic a try at formatting and redoing the boot sector.  It sometimes does a good job on drives that people think are screwed.

[EwJ]

Heh, so you probably wouldn't buy a maxtor.  Aren't they run by Seagate? (or is it the other way around). Heard mostly good things about Seagate drives over the years (have a couple too - no probs so far).  Really though, how many drives out of, say, a thousand are bad from any of the major manufacturers?

Re: MBR, there's a couple of quick, easy ways to wipe 'em here.
Did the Dos debug thing on one drive that appeared to be toast with a win98 boot floppy - worked great, Fdisk'd for partitions -that was over two years ago- still running. When you get to that point, you've got nothing to lose. Of course ymmv.

[hypernova]

Last few were Maxtor.  Had a used Seagate Cheetah about a decade ago that died prematurely.  Not fun when that's the only SCSI drive you've got.  I went I think another 1/2 year without a PC back then.

Just bought a new Seagate Barracuda online from newegg, as I've not owned a Seagate since the Cheetah, and it was used.  Crossing my fingers.