Laptop HD problem

[pgx]

I am working on a Dell Inspiron 8600 with strange symptoms - files
missing, programs that don't run (no error message), chkdsk won't fix
all the problems, etc.

The drive is a Samsung MD 4060H. Samsung utilitiy dosen't seem to
run! Segate and WD won't test the drive.

Hard Drive Inspector says there are SMART errors, pointing to
Reallocation event count, value 1

Everest says Reallocation event count is 56611, OK

1. Am I correct that this drive is failing?

2. How do I run this drive in a desktop to recover the files, and
clone to a new drive?

Several cloning methods fail to work. Network Neighborhood won't
start. My Computer won't start. I may try installing Acronis and see
if it will run and if I can burn CD's.

Thoughts?

Phil

 

[kony]

I am working on a Dell Inspiron 8600 with strange symptoms - files
missing, programs that don't run (no error message), chkdsk won't fix
all the problems, etc.

The drive is a Samsung MD 4060H. Samsung utilitiy dosen't seem to
run! Segate and WD won't test the drive.

Hard Drive Inspector says there are SMART errors, pointing to
Reallocation event count, value 1

Everest says Reallocation event count is 56611, OK

1. Am I correct that this drive is failing?

Seems likely, but I'd pull the drive and hook up to a
desktop, again trying the Samsung utility as well as CHKDSK
and any other scanners you'd typically use.

2. How do I run this drive in a desktop to recover the files, and
clone to a new drive?

Google (or froogle) for "Laptop IDE adapter", they're about
$4 and convert the laptop drive to a std 40 pin ATA33/66/100
cable.

Several cloning methods fail to work. Network Neighborhood won't
start. My Computer won't start. I may try installing Acronis and see
if it will run and if I can burn CD's.

Thoughts?

So all these problems are while trying to run the laptop off
that drive? If so, could be a lot of things, even some viri
which tend to corrupt files (like EXEs). Put the drive in a
desktop system, make sure NOT to boot it and not to run
ANYTHING contained on the drive, instead scanning it and
checking it. Actually, if there is important user data,
compile a list of this data first, for example the MY
DOCUMENTS, Favorites folder, anything else user-created and
copy those off of the drive first since you won't want to
put further wear on the drive doing extensive scanning or
anything else which could further degrade the drive before
using what chances you have to get any data off.

Naturally the next steps depend on what the disk scanning
reveals... if there are significant viri found, it might be
worthwhile to wipe the drive and install the OS fresh,
unless you're confident you can (and feel like spending the
time to) purge the disk of all malwares. If it won't even
do a basic surface scan you might then repartition and
format it and THEN do the surface scan, and if anything
doesn't seem right at this point the drive should be
considered unusable.

An alternate option to using the laptop IDE adapter
mentioned above is an external enclosure. The various
manufacturers' drive scanners probably won't be able to scan
it over USB though, unless they're windows-based programs.

 

[pgx]

|>
|>1. Am I correct that this drive is failing?
|
|Seems likely, but I'd pull the drive and hook up to a
|desktop,

Thanks. My thinking - I should have acquired the adapter long ago -
one is on order.

However, since posting, I located the Dell Diagnostics disk, and it
returns an error code that says the drive is failing - bad sectors.

Thanks again for your thoughts.

Phil