An observation: Dying HDD

[Jeffrey D. Fisher, MCP]

Re: Installation failure of Windows 2000.

Recently I attempted a re-installation of Windows 2000 Professional on a
system that had Win2k Pro previously. In this case the system had exhibited
a STOP error "BOOT_DEVICE_INACCESSABLE". My first step to remedy the
problem, since this was an intermittant error, was to run a defrag of the
hard drive (HDD). While in the process of this action I noted something odd
about the "analysis" of the drive in question. The green system files were
not distributed across the drive as they had usually been. I have observed
in the past that the system files were ordinarily distributed into two wide
bands on the drive. They would normally appear on the far left margin and
again in the center of the window (mid-point on the physical drive?). There
could be narrow bands in places as well but not always. In this case the
left most band of system files was narrow - only about 20-40 pixels wide -
and the centered band was double-wide. This was flagged in my techmind as
an anomoly but was shelved at the time.

I performed a number of "fixes" in order to correct the drive's problem
including a low-level format. The drive would load and operate Windows 98SE
just fine but when loading Win2k following the text-mode portion, on the
first re-start the start would fail reporting a missing or corrupt
ntoskrnl.exe. It would ask to restore the ntoskrnl file. This proved
impossible even from the Recovery Console since the system reported that the
c:\winnt folder as non-existant or inaccessible. The boot.ini appeared
okay. CHKDSK ran from the Recovery Console did report errors but did not
give any details beyond reporting "one or more errors". Using the "/r"
switch I assumed they were repaired. It was to no avail...Win2k would still
fail at the same point after the text-mode portion.

The Microsoft TechNet made mention of a failure like this as occuring if the
ntoskrnl or the ntldr was placed at a point more than 4GB into the HDD. The
flagged anomoly fell off the shelf onto my foot. I swapped the drive with a
3.2GB spare and sure enough, the installation went forward with no problems.
Apparently, the low-level format did nothing to correct the drive's
problems. The 3.2GB drive's Win2k defrag analysis window showed the typical
two wide bands of green system files right where they should be. Can you
say: "warranty exchange"?

Just as an FYI: the drive is a 40GB Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 8. It is an
ATA/133 drive (probably running at ATA/100) and is using the "Cap Limit"
jumper due to an older BIOS (ID: 02/23/1999-i440BX-W977TF-2A69KW0DC-A6). I
can find nothing on this motherboard beyond it being a
Winbond/Wintech(Edom). This board may need a BIOS flash or placement into
the garbage can, I think!

Respectfully submitted,

Jeffrey D. Fisher, MCP
(e-mail address removed)

 

[David H. Lipman]

Go to the hard disk manufacturer's web site and download their diagnostic software
respective to your hard disk. After the test, you will know if the hard disk is bad or
not..

Quantum/Maxtor - PowerMax
http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/downloads/powermax.htm

Western Digital - Data LifeGuard Tools (DLGDiag)
http://support.wdc.com/download/

Hitachi/IBM - Drive Fitness Test (DFT)
http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/download.htm

Seagate - SeaTools
http://www.seagate.com/support/seatools/

Fujitsu - Diagnostic Tool
http://www.fcpa.com/download/hard-drives/

Samsung - Disk manager
http://www.samsung.com/Products/HardDiskDrive/utilities/

Dave





| Re: Installation failure of Windows 2000.
|
| Recently I attempted a re-installation of Windows 2000 Professional on a
| system that had Win2k Pro previously. In this case the system had exhibited
| a STOP error "BOOT_DEVICE_INACCESSABLE". My first step to remedy the
| problem, since this was an intermittant error, was to run a defrag of the
| hard drive (HDD). While in the process of this action I noted something odd
| about the "analysis" of the drive in question. The green system files were
| not distributed across the drive as they had usually been. I have observed
| in the past that the system files were ordinarily distributed into two wide
| bands on the drive. They would normally appear on the far left margin and
| again in the center of the window (mid-point on the physical drive?). There
| could be narrow bands in places as well but not always. In this case the
| left most band of system files was narrow - only about 20-40 pixels wide -
| and the centered band was double-wide. This was flagged in my techmind as
| an anomoly but was shelved at the time.
|
| I performed a number of "fixes" in order to correct the drive's problem
| including a low-level format. The drive would load and operate Windows 98SE
| just fine but when loading Win2k following the text-mode portion, on the
| first re-start the start would fail reporting a missing or corrupt
| ntoskrnl.exe. It would ask to restore the ntoskrnl file. This proved
| impossible even from the Recovery Console since the system reported that the
| c:\winnt folder as non-existant or inaccessible. The boot.ini appeared
| okay. CHKDSK ran from the Recovery Console did report errors but did not
| give any details beyond reporting "one or more errors". Using the "/r"
| switch I assumed they were repaired. It was to no avail...Win2k would still
| fail at the same point after the text-mode portion.
|
| The Microsoft TechNet made mention of a failure like this as occuring if the
| ntoskrnl or the ntldr was placed at a point more than 4GB into the HDD. The
| flagged anomoly fell off the shelf onto my foot. I swapped the drive with a
| 3.2GB spare and sure enough, the installation went forward with no problems.
| Apparently, the low-level format did nothing to correct the drive's
| problems. The 3.2GB drive's Win2k defrag analysis window showed the typical
| two wide bands of green system files right where they should be. Can you
| say: "warranty exchange"?
|
| Just as an FYI: the drive is a 40GB Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 8. It is an
| ATA/133 drive (probably running at ATA/100) and is using the "Cap Limit"
| jumper due to an older BIOS (ID: 02/23/1999-i440BX-W977TF-2A69KW0DC-A6). I
| can find nothing on this motherboard beyond it being a
| Winbond/Wintech(Edom). This board may need a BIOS flash or placement into
| the garbage can, I think!
|
| Respectfully submitted,
|
| Jeffrey D. Fisher, MCP
| (e-mail address removed)
|
|

 

[Jeffrey D. Fisher, MCP]

I did that. I downloaded and ran the PowerMax software which is a series of
diagnostics on a Caldera DR-DOS bootable floppy. The diagnostics reported
the drive fixed but alas, the Win2k installation still failed. The Readme
said that the low-level format of the HDD will repair most things but in
this case, it did not. I am now going for a warranty exchange RMA. The
fact that Windows 98SE installs and runs fine but Win2k does not is the
sticking point. Win98SE is not fussy whereas Win2k seems to be very fussy.

JDF

 

[Dave Patrick]

You'll want to boot the Windows 2000 setup disks or CD-Rom. The set of four
install disks can be created from your Windows 2000 CD-Rom; change to the
\bootdisk directory on the CD-Rom and execute makeboot.exe (from dos) or
makebt32.exe (from 32 bit) and follow the prompts.

Then *F6* very early and very important (at setup is inspecting your system)
in the setup to prevent drive controller detection, and select S to specify
additional drivers. Then later you'll be prompted to insert the manufacturer
supplied Windows 2000 driver for your ATA controller in drive "A"

If you wait and then S to specify additional drivers, then it may be too
late as Windows 2000 Setup at this point may have already assigned the
resources your drive's controller is wanting to use.

When you get to the point, delete the existing NTFS and or other partitions
found. After you delete the partition(s) abort the install, then again
restart the pc booting the CD-Rom or setup disks to avoid unexpected drive
letter assignments with your new install.


--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
|I did that. I downloaded and ran the PowerMax software which is a series
of
| diagnostics on a Caldera DR-DOS bootable floppy. The diagnostics reported
| the drive fixed but alas, the Win2k installation still failed. The Readme
| said that the low-level format of the HDD will repair most things but in
| this case, it did not. I am now going for a warranty exchange RMA. The
| fact that Windows 98SE installs and runs fine but Win2k does not is the
| sticking point. Win98SE is not fussy whereas Win2k seems to be very
fussy.
|
| JDF

 

[Jeffrey D. Fisher, MCP]

Yep. Did that, too. I booted from the CD-ROM and blew off the existing
NTFS partition. The install would proceed through the text mode portion but
when it copies the files and restarts it then fails to find "ntoskrnl.exe."
I would try to copy the file into the System32 folder through the Recovery
Console but the Winnt folder was not there or inaccessable (Administrator
account not established yet?). Just out of curiosity, since Windows 98SE
loaded just fine, I thought I would try again with Win2k Pro but format
FAT32 instead. To my surprise, Windows 2000 loaded just fine and is
operating happily. This HDD had had NTFS on it before with Windows 2000
(SP4) before a virus (I think) whacked the install. The machine worked for
several months with Windows 2000 on an NTFS partition. Now, however, the OS
will not load on an NTFS partition on this HDD but will load to a FAT32
partition on this HDD. Personally, I think Maxtor should be brought in on
this as well. This is a new anomoly to me.

JDF

You'll want to boot the Windows 2000 setup disks or CD-Rom. The set of four
install disks can be created from your Windows 2000 CD-Rom; change to the
\bootdisk directory on the CD-Rom and execute makeboot.exe (from dos) or
makebt32.exe (from 32 bit) and follow the prompts.

Then *F6* very early and very important (at setup is inspecting your system)
in the setup to prevent drive controller detection, and select S to specify
additional drivers. Then later you'll be prompted to insert the manufacturer
supplied Windows 2000 driver for your ATA controller in drive "A"

If you wait and then S to specify additional drivers, then it may be too
late as Windows 2000 Setup at this point may have already assigned the
resources your drive's controller is wanting to use.

When you get to the point, delete the existing NTFS and or other partitions
found. After you delete the partition(s) abort the install, then again
restart the pc booting the CD-Rom or setup disks to avoid unexpected drive
letter assignments with your new install.


--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
|I did that. I downloaded and ran the PowerMax software which is a series
of
| diagnostics on a Caldera DR-DOS bootable floppy. The diagnostics reported
| the drive fixed but alas, the Win2k installation still failed. The Readme
| said that the low-level format of the HDD will repair most things but in
| this case, it did not. I am now going for a warranty exchange RMA. The
| fact that Windows 98SE installs and runs fine but Win2k does not is the
| sticking point. Win98SE is not fussy whereas Win2k seems to be very
fussy.
|
| JDF

 

[Dave Patrick]

I can't imagine the file system entering into this issue.

--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
| Yep. Did that, too. I booted from the CD-ROM and blew off the existing
| NTFS partition. The install would proceed through the text mode portion
but
| when it copies the files and restarts it then fails to find
"ntoskrnl.exe."
| I would try to copy the file into the System32 folder through the Recovery
| Console but the Winnt folder was not there or inaccessable (Administrator
| account not established yet?). Just out of curiosity, since Windows 98SE
| loaded just fine, I thought I would try again with Win2k Pro but format
| FAT32 instead. To my surprise, Windows 2000 loaded just fine and is
| operating happily. This HDD had had NTFS on it before with Windows 2000
| (SP4) before a virus (I think) whacked the install. The machine worked
for
| several months with Windows 2000 on an NTFS partition. Now, however, the
OS
| will not load on an NTFS partition on this HDD but will load to a FAT32
| partition on this HDD. Personally, I think Maxtor should be brought in on
| this as well. This is a new anomoly to me.
|
| JDF