[alexander255110]

Hi! so i recently restored my computer after XP wasn't booting up so then i found a restore disc and put it in.
After that I restored my computer and when i turn it on, it says to check a disc (the hard drives) and when it countdowns to start it, it pauses at 6. I restarted again and tried to quit it, but it still froze.

Please Help me!
Thanks!

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Hard Drive Diagnostic Tools

Hard drive diagnostic utilities are used primarily for determining the physical condition of your hard drive, (drive integrity and read/write verification). If you are having computer problems which you suspect are hard drive related, you can test it with one of the following:

• Fujitsu
  http://www.fujitsu.c.../utilities.html
  
  
• Hitachi "Drive Fitness Test"
  http://www.hgst.com/...ownload.htm#DFT
  
  
• Samsung
  http://www.samsung.c...port_HUTIL.html
  
  
• Seagate / Maxtor "SeaTools"
  http://www.seagate.c...nloads/seatools
  
  
• Toshiba
  
  I don't believe Toshiba provides diagnostic tools for their hard drives. You might try Seagate's "SeaTools for Windows":

  SeaTools for Windows is a comprehensive, easy-to-use diagnostic tool that helps you quickly determine the condition of the disc drive in your external hard drive, desktop or notebook computer. It includes several tests that will examine the physical media on your Seagate or Maxtor disc drive and any other non-Seagate disc drive.
  
  SeaTools for Windows tests USB, 1394, ATA (PATA/IDE), SATA and SCSI drives. It installs onto your system. SeaTools for Windows is completely data safe.

• Western Digital
  (Use the "Find by Model Number" on the right)
  http://support.wdc.c...oad.asp?lang=en

If it passes the HD Diags, run CHKDSK next (to ensure that the Windows file system is okay):

How to perform disk error checking in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315265

[SpywareDr]

Hard Drive Diagnostic Tools

Hard drive diagnostic utilities are used primarily for determining the physical condition of your hard drive, (drive integrity and read/write verification). If you are having computer problems which you suspect are hard drive related, you can test it with one of the following:

• Fujitsu
  http://www.fujitsu.c.../utilities.html
  
  
• Hitachi "Drive Fitness Test"
  http://www.hgst.com/...ownload.htm#DFT
  
  
• Samsung
  http://www.samsung.c...port_HUTIL.html
  
  
• Seagate / Maxtor "SeaTools"
  http://www.seagate.c...nloads/seatools
  
  
• Toshiba
  
  I don't believe Toshiba provides diagnostic tools for their hard drives. You might try Seagate's "SeaTools for Windows":

  SeaTools for Windows is a comprehensive, easy-to-use diagnostic tool that helps you quickly determine the condition of the disc drive in your external hard drive, desktop or notebook computer. It includes several tests that will examine the physical media on your Seagate or Maxtor disc drive and any other non-Seagate disc drive.
  
  SeaTools for Windows tests USB, 1394, ATA (PATA/IDE), SATA and SCSI drives. It installs onto your system. SeaTools for Windows is completely data safe.

• Western Digital
  (Use the "Find by Model Number" on the right)
  http://support.wdc.c...oad.asp?lang=en

If it passes the HD Diags, run CHKDSK next (to ensure that the Windows file system is okay):

How to perform disk error checking in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315265

[alexander255110]

Thank you for your reply, but in case if you didn't know, I cannot boot on windows xp because whenever i try, it brings me to the disc check thing and then it freezes.
But i did use the hardware check up on my recovery disc and it found no problems.

thanks

[rshaffer61]

So its trying to run chkdsk on every boot?

[alexander255110]

yes it runs the blue disc checking thing every time and then it freezes

[rshaffer61]

Try this and see if it will resolve the issue.

Please follow the next steps in order:

Click Start, then Run (Search In Vista)
Type cmd, and click Ok
At the prompt in the command window that opens, type fsutil dirty query ?: and press Enter (Where ? is the letter of the drive to queried)

Does the result of this indicate the drive is "Dirty"?

To unset the Dirty Bit

• If you have Spyware Doctor installed, uninstall it.
• If you have ZoneAlarm installed, open it, click the "Overview" tab, then select "Preferences", and UNcheck the "Protect ZA Client" check box.

Click Start, then Run, type cmd in the Open box and click "Ok". At the prompt in the Command window, type the following commands, pressing "Enter" after each one:

Substitute the drive letter for the drive your want to check for the ? in the following commands. Please note the spaces.

• chkntfs /d ..... (This will reset autocheck options to default...will come back invalid on some installations)
• chkntfs /c ?: ..... (This will allow checking the specified drive )
• chkntfs /x ?: ..... (The x switch tells Windows to NOT check the specified drive on the next boot)

At this point, restart your computer, it will not do a chkdsk and will boot directly to Windows.

This next step is important as this is where the Dirty Bit will be unset.

Substitute the drive letter for the drive your want to check for the ? in the following commands.

Click Start, then Run, type cmd in the Open box and click "Ok". At the command prompt, type the following, pressing "Enter" after each one: (Again, note the spaces.)

• chkdsk /f /r ?: ..... (To manually run a full chkdsk operation on the specified drive)
• Y ..... (To accept having it run on the next boot)

This should take you through 5 stages of the scan and will unset the Dirty Bit. Be patient...this is a very thorough check and will take quite a while.

Finally, when the chkdsk operation has completed, type fsutil dirty query ?:, press "Enter", and Windows will confirm that the Dirty Bit is not set on that drive.

Reboot again and see if chkdsk still runs on startup.

[alexander255110]

Im sorry but how can I do this??
I can't even boot onto XP

[123Runner]

Hi! so i recently restored my computer after XP wasn't booting up so then i found a restore disc and put it in.

Where did the restore disk come from?
Is it a restore disk specifically made for your computer?

What is the make and model of the computer?
Is it a Dell, HP, Compaq, or home built?

123runner

[alexander255110]

the restore disc was for the computer. I made it like a few months after i bought the computer when the computer had a popup and told me to make one.

Heres the website to all the specs of my computer http://h20000.www2.h...ectID=c00572530

Thanks

[alexander255110]

Any other ways I might can fix it?
I don't want to reformat

[rshaffer61]

I realize you say you ran hardware checkup and it came back clean but please do the following.

Run hard drive diagnostics: http://www.tacktech....ay.cfm?ttid=287
Make sure, you select tool, which is appropriate for the brand of your hard drive.
Depending on the program, it'll create bootable floppy, or bootable CD.
If downloaded file is of .iso type, use ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/ to burn .iso file to a CD (select "Write image file to disc" option), and make the CD bootable.

NOTE. If your hard drive is made by Toshiba, unfortunately, you're out of luck, because Toshiba doesn't provide any diagnostic tool.

Thanks to Broni for the instructions

You will need to set your boot sequence to boot to the cdrom first. This way it bypasses windows and the hd and goes directly to the cd.
To change Boot Sequence in your BIOS
Reboot the system and at the first post screen (where it is counting up memory) start tapping the DEL button
This will enter you into the Bios\Cmos area.
Find the Advanced area and click Enter
Look for Boot Sequence or Boot Options and highlight that click Enter
Now highlight the first drive and follow the directions on the bottom of the screen on how to modify it and change it to CDrom.
Change the second drive to the C or Main Drive
Once that is done then click F10 to Save and Exit
You will prompted to enter Y to verify Save and Exit. Click Y and the system will now reboot with the new settings.

Hopefully you have already put the HD Diagnostics cd in the drive before all this. If everything is setup correctly you will get a black screen with the following message in the upper left corner:
"Push Any Key To Boot To Cd". When you see this then push any key and the cd will take over. Then follow the prompts or if you need assistance we will help.

[alexander255110]

Thanks!
but sorry, I don't know which diagnostic one to pick! D:
I know I have a Western Digital Drive but I don't know which Diagnostic tool from the Western Digital company to pick.. again the specifications of my computer are here : http://h20000.www2.h...ectID=c00572530

[123Runner]

Pick something like the caviar black from HERE

[alexander255110]

Okay so I checked the hard drive again using the WD CAVIAR disc check and again, there were no errors
now what do you thunk I should do?

Thanks

[rshaffer61]

Have you tried to enter Safe Mode when booting up?
You can do this by tapping the F8 key on the second post black window to get to the Advanced Boot Meu Options Screen
Using arrow keys on keyboard go to Safe Mode and click Enter
Does system boot then?
If not you may have to do a Repair Installation which means you need your OS disk.

Edited by rshaffer61, 20 March 2010 - 07:54 PM.