[denise_ewell]

This is not going well. I have bought a hard drive enclosure and put the hard disc in it (hopefully correctly). When I connect it to the computer it is recognised and automatically installed but then no additonal drive shows when I open My Computer. I suspect that might be because the hard disc is dead. Any ideas?

Thanks

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I suspect that might be because the hard disc is dead.
That may be the case.
Check, if it's seen in Disk Management.

[Broni]

I suspect that might be because the hard disc is dead.
That may be the case.
Check, if it's seen in Disk Management.

[denise_ewell]

Hi

I realised I hadn't put the hard disc into the enclosure properly. Tried again and when I plugged it into the computer I got a message about corrupt file (or disc?) and told to run chkdsk.
No idea what happened next but computer ran through pages of stuff (without me knowingly doing anything other than trying to restart it).

Before all that I checked Disk Management and had C, D, E (CD/DVD)drives and two unlabelled ones with file systems FAT and FAT32.

Since the restart I now have all the above plus OS(G), Recovery(F), MEDIADIRECT, and an extra unlabelled one with file system FAT. All have Healthy status.

Not sure what to do next. Do I still try to run the disc I made and if so what do I have to do to run it?

[Broni]

What drives can you see in Windows Explorer?
Can you check, by seeing the content, which one is is the drive in the enclosure?

[denise_ewell]

When the enclosure is connected the following appear in windows explorer:
Floppy (A), Local disk ©, Back up (D), DVD-RW (E), RECOVERY (F), OS (G) and gmail drive.

The Recovery (F) drive has folders called: dell, program files, sources, tools, users, windows, all with date modified in 2008

The OS (G) drive has folders called: $windows.~BT,$windows.~LS, Acrobat 3,DELL, doctemp, drivers, perflogs, program files, Sierrs, Users, windows.old, windows.old.000, newfile.enc, newkey. All dated Sept 09 or earlier

Both these drives disappear if the enclosure is disconnected.

Hope that helps

[Broni]

Very well then.
F and G are two partitions of the drive in the enclosure.

You need to download Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for Windows v1.09b (03.30.2007), create a CD and run it from within Windows on drives F and G.

[denise_ewell]

Created the CD - got the same file as before DLGDIAG5.exe.

Tried to run it using start, run, e:\dlgdiag5.exe

A black DOS-type screen appears for about half a second. The screen appears to have some error messages and then disappears again. It is not there for long enough for me to be able to read the error messages although I have tried lots of times.

[Broni]

I think, you're doing something wrong....

# Download the Windows Data Lifeguard Diagnostics, WinDLG.zip
# Extract and run the program, WinDLG.msi. If running Windows Vista, you will need to Right-Click on the WinDLG.msi file and choose to Run As Administrator.
# Read and accept the license agreement to continue.
# On the main program screen, there are two windows. In the top window, you will see the drives in your system, that are available for testing. The model number, serial number, and capacity of each drive will be displayed. In the bottom window, the partition information for the selected drive will be displayed.
# Highlight the drive and select the icon on the top row to test or run SMART status.
# The DLGDIAG - Select an Option window appears.
# You will see the following options:

* QUICK TEST - performs SMART drive quick self-test to gather and verify the Data Lifeguard information contained on the drive.
* EXTENDED TEST - performs a Full Media Scan to detect bad sectors. Test may take several hours to complete depending on the size of the drive.
* WRITE ZEROS - writes zeros to the drive with options of Full Erase and Quick Erase. File system and data will be lost.
* VIEW TEST RESULT - displays the latest test results.

# Select the test you wish to perform and click the Start button.
# When the test completes, you will be notified with a pass/fail message. Click the Close button.

[denise_ewell]

Thanks for your patience!

I have run the tests and the results are as follows:

Test Option: QUICK TEST
Model Number: WDC WD16 00BEVT-75ZCT0
Unit Serial Number: N/A
Firmware Number: 1A11
Capacity: 160.04 GB
SMART Status: Not Available
Test Result: PASS
Test Time: 18:59:00, October 10, 2009

Test Option: EXTENDED TEST
Model Number: WDC WD16 00BEVT-75ZCT0
Unit Serial Number: N/A
Firmware Number: 1A11
Capacity: 160.04 GB
SMART Status: Not Available
Test Result: PASS
Test Time: 22:07:52, October 10, 2009

I didn't like the look of the Write Zeros option so I didn't run it.

Results look good - what should I do next?

[Broni]

Looks fine to me.
Put it back into original laptop and see what happens...

[denise_ewell]

I have done that and get the same message I had before:

"Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause, To fix the problem:
1. Insert your Windows installation disc and restart your computer.
2. Choose your language settings, and then click "next".
3. Click "repair your computer".

If you do not have this disc, contact your system administrator or computer manufacturer for assistance.
File: \Boot\BCD
Status: 0xc0000034
Info: The Windows Boot Configuration Data file is missing required information."

Inserting the windows disk and just restarting gives me the same message. Rebooting from the windows disc and choosing the "repair your computer" option takes me to a "system recovery options" screen which tells me to select an operating system but there are none so I have to click Load Drivers. I then insert the drivers and Utilities disk and it opens a window with a lot of sources folders. At this stage I am completely stuck because I don't know what to select.

[Broni]

It looks like your Windows installation is totally messed up.
I suggest, you back up your data, using drive enclosure and reinstall Windows.

[Broni]

If you want to try something else....
I assume, you have Vista DVD...
http://www.vistax64....tall-vista.html

[denise_ewell]

Trying to follow the instructions in your link.
I have to run it from boot rather than from windows so when I get to the screen in point 10 of the instructions then the only option available is Custom (advanced).

When I select that it asks me where I want to install windows and the options are:
Disc 0 Partition 2 RECOVERY
Disc 0 Partition 3 OS
Disk 0 Partition 4 MEDIADIRECT

I am guessing I want to go for OS. Is that correct?

[Broni]

Yes.