[danielcomputerproblem]

hi. I was recently called to the aid of a struggling xp laptop by a relative that knew less about it than me. The computer was loading as far as the desktop and becoming extremely slow and eventually non-responsive. I tried restarting, restarting in safe mode but each time the computer was turned off and on the problem got worse until eventually the computer started displaying a hard drive error message before xp had even started loading. So I used the system repair disk (which said I needed to format as well because of a hard drive problem), and I had a completely clean computer again. I managed to reinstall word and aol which worked for a while but after a few restarts the same problem came back which now displays a hard drive error before quickly restarting the computer (this loops indefinately).

The laptop is 3 years old and has been used for only word processing and conservative internet browsing (i.e. unlikely to have picked up spyware). Is it certainly a hardware problem? if so, how much does it cost to replace the hardrive on a laptop? could I use an external one to save them money? could it be another bit of hardware? any advice is much appreciated

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What is happening is that the hard drive is going bad.
Do you have the ability to install a new hard drive?
If not have a repair shop ONLY swap out the hard drive, as you know how to reinstall windows and there is no need to pay someone for that.

[hfcg]

What is happening is that the hard drive is going bad.
Do you have the ability to install a new hard drive?
If not have a repair shop ONLY swap out the hard drive, as you know how to reinstall windows and there is no need to pay someone for that.

[danielcomputerproblem]

what do you mean "going bad"? is that just ageing? I've never installed a new hard drive before, but would have the confidence to try it if I could get instructions from somewhere. and is there a difference in price between an external disk hardrive (connected via usb) and one that connects to the motherboard? 20GB would be more than enough. thanks again for the help

[danielcomputerproblem]

oh and one more thing...once I've physically placed the new drive in the laptop, will the computer boot normally asking me to install windows xp or something? or is there anything on the old hard drive that I need? thanks once again

[hfcg]

Hello, by going bad I mean no good. Your hard drive is failing! I strongly recommend that you let some one more skilled do this for you.
If you insist on trying it yourself I accept no responsibility for any mistakes that you make.
Want to go on? I will need to know what kind of laptop it is, please include the model number.
No, the computer will not ask you for the operating system disc. But we will cover that as well.

[danielcomputerproblem]

its a "hp pavilion ze5604ea" and "p/n: DV249E#ABU"

started it up just now and got the following error message:

"SMART failure predicted on hard disk 0: TOSHIBA MK0321GAS-(PM)
1720 - S.M.A.R.T Hard Drive detects imminent failure(Failing Attr:05h) Please back up the contents of the hard disk and run HDD self test in F2 setup
Press F1 to Continue"

but then it loaded successfully to windows (although this doesn't always happen). and sometimes after shutting down the computer, it won't even turn on at all so you have to wait

I ran the "HDD self test in F2 setup" and it passed the quick test but failed the comprehensive test saying: "TEST STATUS: #2-07 FAIL"

p.s. I know a bit about computers and would like to try doing it myself if you could direct me. also could I add a novatech harddrive to my HP laptop? is the only compatability issue the fact that it's a 2.5"?? thanks

Edited by danielcomputerproblem, 15 January 2008 - 06:50 AM.