Major crash

[factor]

Hi. hope this is the right forum. I havent got a clue whats happened but my computer locked up yesterday and the hard drive was making wierd noises. I had to shutdown with the power button. When i switched back on windows wouldnt load and i got a message saying 'operating system not found' amongst others. it kept trying to boot but didnt get any further than the 'hp" screen .i couldnt get into anything except recovery so i had to do that. eventually, after 3 attempts at recovery, the 4th worked without crashing. now, most of my programs that came with windows do not work, even though theyre installed and im getting script error messages from n.anti virus. has anyone got any idea what is gion on here? PLEASE?Thanks..

hp 7965 pavillion
windows xp
creative audigy p. ex sound card
n.anti virus 2002

 

[~Candy~]

My best guess is the hard drive is failing....especially since you said it was making noises....hard drives and bad noises don't go well together.

 

[factor]

ok thanks. i was dreading that. its only 12 months old. there are files missing and xp isnt running properly so im gonna do a recovery one more time.

 

[factor]

well that didnt work. im doing the recovery from a hard drive partition, i wonder if some of this is corrupt. is there any way of checking it? CHKdisc is ok and computer management reports that both partitions are healthy. does this mean the partition is healthy as well as the data on it?

 

[~Candy~]

Not sure on that Q, but this post will get you back to the top.

 

[factor]

Get me back to the top?

 

[ratchet]

factor,

Candy means, getting post back in the running, Active or new posts.

I would go to your harddrive manufactuers website to look for tools for your model#. Running a diagnotis test might give some insite to whats happening.

 

[factor]

Thanx Ratchet, how do i do that? ive ran a couple of windows checks on the drive but i dont know if its the drive or the data thats corrupt.

 

[factor]

It seems as though the recovery system is not recovering all of the files. How many files are there in the whole of xp? im recovering 30,000 or so, doesnt seem a lot for a whole operating system. Maybe im wrong. Somebody suggested changing my power pack, could this be the problem?

 

[~Candy~]

What brand is your hard drive? Most have diagnostics available for download on their website.

 

[factor]

it is a 'maxtor 4d060h3'.

 

[factor]

ive tried several times to download the diagnostics program from maxtors site but i cant connect for some reason. the instructions for the test include this warning:

! WARNING !: All data will be lost when the "Write Disk Pack (low level format)" test is performed. Maxtor recommends that users backup any/all critical data and removing other hard drives before performing this test.

will this test wipe the whole drive, including partitions cos i have xp in a recovery position, i mean partition.

 

[~Candy~]

You don't want to run the low level format......you want to run the drive diagnostics....I think the low level format is the VERY LAST option..........

 

[factor]

ok thanks for the tip AcaCandy. i still havent managed to download it yet.
im pricing up a recovery cd from h.packard. i cant believe they dont supply it with the pc. hopefully, i wont need to buy one.

 

[Jeerajat]

Ok the bset think is to run a hard drive disk check on the pc
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=315265

try that if u can get up 2 the desktop, otherwise i suggest u run chkdsk from command prompt

what is the model of ur HP PC goto the HP site should be able to help.
They normally have a hidden partition with all the recovery files on