Re-installing Windows on bad hard drive?

[Bobby]

My HD started making loud clicking noises about two months ago. It works
fine but the clicks keep occurring about once per day.

About one month ago disk software caused problems. My anti-spyware programs
and disk check programs cause a BSOD and a reset about 2/3 way through their
checks. But everything else works perfectly.

My drive is a 250Mb Maxtor ATA drive. I have tried to use Maxtor's
diagnostic software but this does not work on my HD/controller combo (see
old thread on this).

So I suspect I have a faulty HD. Is that reasonable?

I don't want to return the drive (it's under warranty) without being sure.
It's such a hassle and I don't have a spare drive. So I was thinking about
trying a clean install of XP (Pro with SP1).

I am worried that an attempt at re-installing XP will fail due to a physical
fault on the drive. Is that a reasonable fear?

I have two partitions on the drive. C with my software and D with my
backups. Can I try to re-install Windows on my C partition? How do I
reformat one partition only? Does XP setup permit me to format a single
partition or do I have to re-partition the drive before formatting? I can't
remember a format option without requiring a repartition.

Help! And Merry Xmas.

Bobby

 

[Malke]

My HD started making loud clicking noises about two months ago. It
works fine but the clicks keep occurring about once per day.

About one month ago disk software caused problems. My anti-spyware
programs and disk check programs cause a BSOD and a reset about 2/3
way through their checks. But everything else works perfectly.

My drive is a 250Mb Maxtor ATA drive. I have tried to use Maxtor's
diagnostic software but this does not work on my HD/controller combo
(see old thread on this).

So I suspect I have a faulty HD. Is that reasonable?

I don't want to return the drive (it's under warranty) without being
sure. It's such a hassle and I don't have a spare drive. So I was
thinking about trying a clean install of XP (Pro with SP1).

I am worried that an attempt at re-installing XP will fail due to a
physical fault on the drive. Is that a reasonable fear?

(snip)

Your hard drive will fail very soon. Back up your data immediately.
Download the PowerMax diagnostic utility from Maxtor's site here:

http://tinyurl.com/4osje

Looking at that page, it appears that you must use PowerMax from a
floppy disk and no bootable cd files are provided. If you don't have a
floppy drive, download Seagate's SeaTools Desktop instead and make a
bootable cd:

http://www.seagate.com/support/seatools/

SeaTools is capable of checking drives other than Seagate drives. In any
case, make the diagnostic utility and do a thorough scan. If you are
able to use PowerMax, then you'll get an Error Code which you can use
when you return the drive. However, you won't have any problems
returning the drive if you use SeaTools.

A software solution (reinstalling Windows) is useless when dealing with
a physical hard drive problem.

Malke

 

[Anna]

My HD started making loud clicking noises about two months ago. It works
fine but the clicks keep occurring about once per day.

About one month ago disk software caused problems. My anti-spyware
programs and disk check programs cause a BSOD and a reset about 2/3 way
through their checks. But everything else works perfectly.

My drive is a 250Mb Maxtor ATA drive. I have tried to use Maxtor's
diagnostic software but this does not work on my HD/controller combo (see
old thread on this).

So I suspect I have a faulty HD. Is that reasonable?

I don't want to return the drive (it's under warranty) without being sure.
It's such a hassle and I don't have a spare drive. So I was thinking about
trying a clean install of XP (Pro with SP1).

I am worried that an attempt at re-installing XP will fail due to a
physical fault on the drive. Is that a reasonable fear?

I have two partitions on the drive. C with my software and D with my
backups. Can I try to re-install Windows on my C partition? How do I
reformat one partition only? Does XP setup permit me to format a single
partition or do I have to re-partition the drive before formatting? I
can't remember a format option without requiring a repartition.

Help! And Merry Xmas.

Bobby

Bobby:
It seems pretty clear from your description of your hard drive's "loud
clicking noises" and possibly the subsequent program problems you've
experienced that you have, as I think you suspect, a failing HD on your
hands. Is there any reason why you can't at least temporarily connect the
drive to an IDE channel for the purposes of checking it out with the Maxtor
diagnostic utility? Even if your motherboard's BIOS doesn't support
large-capacity drives (I'm assuming that's why you're using a controller
card), I believe you could still connect the drive to an IDE channel just
for testing purposes. Am I wrong about that?

In any event, I'm sure you're wise enough to make consistent backups of your
data at this point.

As to your question re reinstalling the OS, I'm not sure why you're
considering this since you indicate the drive seems to be functioning
properly (aside from the clicking noises) at this point. Why go through a
reinstall?

As far as multi-partitioning - you can delete your present partition(s) and
repartition the drive during the installation process if you decide to make
a new install of the OS. There's no need to create partitions prior to
installing the OS. But frankly, at this point I would leave well enough
alone. As long as you can live with your present system, at least for the
moment, do so.

I'm sure you really know that you can't go on indefinitely with "loud
clicking noises" emanating from your HD. It's a virtual certainty that you
need a replacement drive - the sooner the better.
Anna

 

[Kerry Brown]

My HD started making loud clicking noises about two months ago. It
works fine but the clicks keep occurring about once per day.

About one month ago disk software caused problems. My anti-spyware
programs and disk check programs cause a BSOD and a reset about 2/3
way through their checks. But everything else works perfectly.

My drive is a 250Mb Maxtor ATA drive. I have tried to use Maxtor's
diagnostic software but this does not work on my HD/controller combo
(see old thread on this).

So I suspect I have a faulty HD. Is that reasonable?

I don't want to return the drive (it's under warranty) without being
sure. It's such a hassle and I don't have a spare drive. So I was
thinking about trying a clean install of XP (Pro with SP1).

I am worried that an attempt at re-installing XP will fail due to a
physical fault on the drive. Is that a reasonable fear?

I have two partitions on the drive. C with my software and D with my
backups. Can I try to re-install Windows on my C partition? How do I
reformat one partition only? Does XP setup permit me to format a
single partition or do I have to re-partition the drive before
formatting? I can't remember a format option without requiring a
repartition.
Help! And Merry Xmas.

Bobby

If the drive is under warranty and you are dealing directly with Maxtor they
require the error code from their diagnostic software bedore they will issue
an RMA. You will have to install the drive in a different computer or hook
it up to different controller in your computer to run the software. It is a
complete waste of time to reinstall anything until you test the drive.
Backup what you can then test the drive.

Kerry

 

[Bobby]

Thanks for responses so far.

The drive is less than 12 months old so can be returned to the supplier for
a full replacement (not warranty claim).

I do not use a separate disk controller. I use the one built into my mobo.

I cannot temporarily connect the drive to an IDE channel since it is an ATA
drive.

Maxtor's software is crap. It hardly works with any ATA drives (there's a
warning - as if ATA is new technology) and does not work with my
HD/controller combo. The advice on Maxtor's website is out of date and
contradictory.

I need to resolve this soon since my 12 month guarantee expires in a few
weeks.

Bobby

 

[Ron Sommer]

http://www.provantage.com/buy-7MXTA...b-hd-rohs-oem-bare-drive-6l250r0-shopping.htm

What size is the cable connecting the drive?
Is it about 2 inches wide?

Another name for parallel ATA is EIDE.
Sata (serial ata) has a 3/4 inch wide cable.

I just used Maxtor software and didn't have problems.
What advice is out of date?

 

[Anna]

http://www.provantage.com/buy-7MXTA...b-hd-rohs-oem-bare-drive-6l250r0-shopping.htm

What size is the cable connecting the drive?
Is it about 2 inches wide?

Another name for parallel ATA is EIDE.
Sata (serial ata) has a 3/4 inch wide cable.

I just used Maxtor software and didn't have problems.
What advice is out of date?

Ron:
I assume you haven't perused the previous postings re this thread. To give
you some background, here's mine in response to the OP's initial query...

Bobby:
It seems pretty clear from your description of your hard drive's "loud
clicking noises" and possibly the subsequent program problems you've
experienced that you have, as I think you suspect, a failing HD on your
hands. Is there any reason why you can't at least temporarily connect the
drive to an IDE channel for the purposes of checking it out with the Maxtor
diagnostic utility? Even if your motherboard's BIOS doesn't support
large-capacity drives (I'm assuming that's why you're using a controller
card), I believe you could still connect the drive to an IDE channel just
for testing purposes. Am I wrong about that?

In any event, I'm sure you're wise enough to make consistent backups of your
data at this point.

As to your question re reinstalling the OS, I'm not sure why you're
considering this since you indicate the drive seems to be functioning
properly (aside from the clicking noises) at this point. Why go through a
reinstall?

As far as multi-partitioning - you can delete your present partition(s) and
repartition the drive during the installation process if you decide to make
a new install of the OS. There's no need to create partitions prior to
installing the OS. But frankly, at this point I would leave well enough
alone. As long as you can live with your present system, at least for the
moment, do so.

I'm sure you really know that you can't go on indefinitely with "loud
clicking noises" emanating from your HD. It's a virtual certainty that you
need a replacement drive - the sooner the better.
Anna

There seems to be little doubt that his HD is failing and is probably
"living on borrowed time". When he originally stated that his drive was
connected on a "controller combo" I assumed (incorrectly as it turned out
from his last posting) that he was using a controller card for the
connection and therefore was unable to use the Maxtor diagnostic utility.
That's why I recommended he connect the drive to his IDE connector and test
out the drive with that utility. But it seems that his drive *is* connected
on an IDE channel, so why he hasn't used the diagnostic utility is beyond
me.

His ad-hoc comments re partitioning/formatting/installing XP are just
obscuring the issue and, in my view, are without relevance to his problem.
Anna

 

[Bobby]

Anna - I meant SATA. My HD is connected to a SATA controller which is built
into my mobo.

I wanted to know if I could reformat one of my partitions so that I can keep
my drive D partition which stores my data.

I will obviously backup my data before trying anything but it would be
convenient to reformat drive C (only) and (assuming a reformat works) copy
the data from my existing drive D.

Cheers.

Bobby

 

[Asher_N]

Your drive is failing. Period. Full stop.

Back up your data and replace the drive. YESTERDAY!!!

Reformating will only identify current bad sectors. It WILL keep
happening. Dude, your drive is under warranty. Replace it. Otherwise, a
month from now you'll be facing the same problem with an out-of-warranty
drive.

 

[Kerry Brown]

You can format and partition as you like but why bother? It really sounds
like the drive is on it's way out. You could lose whatever is on it at any
time. If you can't get the Maxtor software to run then phone their tech
support and get an RMA to return the drive.

Kerry

 

[Bobby]

Reformating will only identify current bad sectors. It WILL keep

happening.

I was hoping that a reformat might identify the bad sectors and cure the
problem.

Can anyone tell me if it's possible to reformat a single partition when
installing XP Pro (SP1)?

 

[Asher_N]

I was hoping that a reformat might identify the bad sectors and cure the
problem.

Can anyone tell me if it's possible to reformat a single partition when
installing XP Pro (SP1)?

It will identify he current bad sectors. The sounds indicate a deeper
problem with the drive's hardware. Contrary to popular belief, HDD don't
fail all that often, especially at less than a year. And usually, when bad
sectors start to appear, it's only a start.

 

[Steve N.]

I was hoping that a reformat might identify the bad sectors and cure the
problem.

Cure it? No. Once bad sectors have developed there is not much you can
do to fix them.

Can anyone tell me if it's possible to reformat a single partition when
installing XP Pro (SP1)?

Yes it is possible, but the fact that your drive is developing bad
sectors is the concern here. People don't want you to lose your data and
if you keep using a failing drive you will lose data.

Steve N.

 

[Ron Sommer]

'loud clicking noises' does not mean bad sectors.
It means that something mechanical is happening.
Trying to identify bad sectors is not going to fix a mechanical problem.

 

[Plato]

My HD started making loud clicking noises about two months ago. It works
fine but the clicks keep occurring about once per day.

So I suspect I have a faulty HD. Is that reasonable?

Yes. Loud clicking noises are generally a reliable indication of a hard
drive going bad.

 

[Bobby]

Thanks. But I still don't know if I can reformat a single partition during a
re-install of Windows XP?

I want to keep my data drive (D) in tact but completely clear drive C (both
drives are logical partitions on a single physical drive).

Bobby

 

[Malke]

Thanks. But I still don't know if I can reformat a single partition
during a re-install of Windows XP?

I want to keep my data drive (D) in tact but completely clear drive C
(both drives are logical partitions on a single physical drive).

The answer to your question is yes. During an XP installation, you can
choose what partition you want to delete, re-create, format, etc. If
you want to do this on a failing hard drive, that's your choice. Not a
good one, but your choice nonetheless.

Malke

 

[Rock]

Thanks. But I still don't know if I can reformat a single partition during a
re-install of Windows XP?

I want to keep my data drive (D) in tact but completely clear drive C (both
drives are logical partitions on a single physical drive).

Bobby

Yes, the XP installation routine allows one to choose the partition to
format.