Can A Hard Drive Jam?

[shrimply]

Hi just looking for some info off any computer minded people. Firstly let me apologise for my lack of knowledge I hope what I say makes sense but please just say if it doesn't I will try to explain again better.

Recently our computer stopped working one minute I was on the internet the next it had switched itself off. When we turned it back on we got up the page saying it had not been shut down properly and did we want to start windows normally or using safe mode ect but whatever we chose it took us round in circles restarting then again ending up at the same screen. This happened once before and I ended up using a system restore by accident and resetting the computer to its factory settings. So we called across an uncle who knows a lot about computers. Reading some of the codes he discovered that windows appeared to be conrupted which was why we couldn't get on. Since the computer has all the recovery and everything partitioned off we had no restore disks so he came back and brought a windows disk with him. He tried to restart the computer in several different ways by loading windows up, hoping to safe our photos etc. But had no luck. Next he tried to find our documents using commands but as far as he could find there was nothing on the hard drive. After this we decided to admit defeat and carry out the syatem restore which would wipe all our safed documents and restore the computer to its factory settings. However when we tried this it refused to do it. My uncle said that he could do it by wiping the disks and reinstalling windows but he wanted to try something else first since he had not worked with partitioned drives before and was unsure what he could format. He hoped that if he connected the drive to his computer he could access our files that way before using windows to the system, running again. He managed this with success but when he plugged the computer back in it loaded up normally and everything was there just as it had been before it crashed. My uncle said it was almost like it had jammed. Just really looking for reasons and an explanation of what happened. Anyone got any ideas?

 

[smurfyy_2k3]

hard drives can jam but its rare and the computer wouldnt have turned on... www.majorgeeks.com for some great support

 

[smithrc]

If it had jammed - it would not get to the point that windows is giving you messages (all be it on a black screen)

What make and model is it?

You should beable to get into the recovery utility before windows gets involved - try getting into the bios when booting

 

[shrimply]

Thanks people

The computer is a hp , model wise I am not sure it has "hp pavilion a330" written on it so it may be the model.


Bios? Sorry I am not very computer minded, i prefer when they just go.

Windows was not involved in the recovery, I don't think. From the list the computer put out while trying to run the recovery my uncle presumed the preblem was with the windows programs which was the reason for the computer not opening up. Now it has sorted itself out he thought it was more likely to be a problem with the acctual drive than with windows.

 

[smithrc]

its working now?

If so it wont have been a drive problem - if a drive fails - it fails

 

[raptorrex]

Hi just looking for some info off any computer minded people. Firstly let me apologise for my lack of knowledge I hope what I say makes sense but please just say if it doesn't I will try to explain again better.

Recently our computer stopped working one minute I was on the internet the next it had switched itself off. When we turned it back on we got up the page saying it had not been shut down properly and did we want to start windows normally or using safe mode ect but whatever we chose it took us round in circles restarting then again ending up at the same screen. This happened once before and I ended up using a system restore by accident and resetting the computer to its factory settings. So we called across an uncle who knows a lot about computers. Reading some of the codes he discovered that windows appeared to be conrupted which was why we couldn't get on. Since the computer has all the recovery and everything partitioned off we had no restore disks so he came back and brought a windows disk with him. He tried to restart the computer in several different ways by loading windows up, hoping to safe our photos etc. But had no luck. Next he tried to find our documents using commands but as far as he could find there was nothing on the hard drive. After this we decided to admit defeat and carry out the syatem restore which would wipe all our safed documents and restore the computer to its factory settings. However when we tried this it refused to do it. My uncle said that he could do it by wiping the disks and reinstalling windows but he wanted to try something else first since he had not worked with partitioned drives before and was unsure what he could format. He hoped that if he connected the drive to his computer he could access our files that way before using windows to the system, running again. He managed this with success but when he plugged the computer back in it loaded up normally and everything was there just as it had been before it crashed. My uncle said it was almost like it had jammed. Just really looking for reasons and an explanation of what happened. Anyone got any ideas?

i hate to say this, but someone who can not work with partitioned drives, is no computer expert!!!!!!! and should not be let loose on any system. as this man has ballsed up your drive, you will need to do a MBR reset. then reinstall win xp.

so first you will need a bootdisk for windows 98, make sure this disc has FDISK.EXE on. now reboot your comp with this disc in drive A:. now this may take some time, as win xp installs using ntfs are err problematic. now when the comp is rebooted, type A: then fdisk c: mbr then enter. when the program finishes, type fdisk, this will allow you to partition and sort your drive. but will need someone who knows what they are doing, probably not you uncle. when this is finished you will be able to install xp afresh and things may be fine.

FDISK may not be a common program to some people, but it is still a basic tool for pc repair. i will help you through the FDISK, if you wish, program, but it would need , another comp. then we could use MSN, or a telephone call. or perhaps some member may know of a site that may offer you advice.

Now for the reason, you need to use FDISK: win xp, most often, uses a filing system called NTFS. this is an encrypted and protected filing system. if you try to reinstall or format the drive, much of the original file format information is still retained. the MBR function removes these links.

remember i have not seen the errors you have, but the sound of your problem, is of a corruption nature, as such i would expert this to fix the problem.

 

[shrimply]

Just to make it clear the computer is now working as before with all the files personal information and everything still intact. Although my uncle has not done a lot of work on computers recently what he did with our computer he has used to save work from several large companies. He used to have quite a high up job with a company called exacta before they closed down.

One of the problems with the partioned disk was that he did not know on what drive windows was placed and there was not space to reinstall widows without formatting one of the drives meaning we would loose all our things.

The main problem was the lack of things the computer would let us do. We were unable to do anything at all no recovery or start program would take us anywhere apart from the same screen. My uncle did try to create another partition in the drive so he could reintall windows seperately but there was not enough space.

Thanks for the help.

 

[raptorrex]

Just to make it clear the computer is now working as before with all the files personal information and everything still intact. Although my uncle has not done a lot of work on computers recently what he did with our computer he has used to save work from several large companies. He used to have quite a high up job with a company called exacta before they closed down.

One of the problems with the partioned disk was that he did not know on what drive windows was placed and there was not space to reinstall widows without formatting one of the drives meaning we would loose all our things.

Thanks for the help.

ok i think i need to apologise to you and your uncle, reading it now, i was a bit out of order. however i see problems like this quite a bit, often costing people money for new drives and the like. even though the repair is simple to do if you know your stuff. however i maintain that someone who can not identify the drive windows is installed on, should really not be touching anything in terms of repair. again i apologise for the tone of my first post!

 

[shrimply]

It's no problem your tone was not wrong and i understand that since my uncle lost his job when the company closed he has not got the money to spend on computers like he used to so is not to up to date as he could be. But the drive set up is strange on the computer both the c and d drives appear to be partitioned and no information on the set-up was given. I do not believe my uncle would have done anything which would damage the drives though as he does no a good amount of informatiion. Do you think there is anything which can be done to stop this happenenig again or to find the problem.

Thanks again

 

[raptorrex]

It's no problem your tone was not wrong and i understand that since my uncle lost his job when the company closed he has not got the money to spend on computers like he used to so is not to up to date as he could be. But the drive set up is strange on the computer both the c and d drives appear to be partitioned and no information on the set-up was given. I do not believe my uncle would have done anything which would damage the drives though as he does no a good amount of informatiion. Do you think there is anything which can be done to stop this happenenig again or to find the problem.

Thanks again

well the first thing is to use the windows xp rescue disk, section when you install winxp, this will give you a base reference that can be restored at any time, it can also be kept up to date. using a good backup program, will allow you to restore windows if this sort of thing happens. windows xp is known to tie itself in knots, after a period of time. this requires a reinstall of winxp, this is where the backups come in, as it will allow you to restore your system, after you have reinstalled xp. finally if you want to check out the health of your hardrive. go to the manufacturers web site, in the download section there will be some sort of diagnostic program there. download this and run it on your hd, this will put your mind at rest, or show any problems. post if i can be of any more help!


ps oops nearly forgot, never, never,never,never,never run your xp from the administrators account, use this only to repair and install programs. set yourself, an account up with administrators rights, and use that.

 

[Darkstar]

My uncle said it was almost like it had jammed. Just really looking for reasons and an explanation of what happened. Anyone got any ideas?

Actually this is/was quite common. I used to experience it a lot with compaq machines (who are now HP). In fact, after speaking to a few compaq engineers it seemed the general recommendation by them was to hit the drive with hammer which normally resolved the problem. Haven't seen a problem like that in a few years though.

 

[raptorrex]

My uncle said it was almost like it had jammed. Just really looking for reasons and an explanation of what happened. Anyone got any ideas?

Actually this is/was quite common. I used to experience it a lot with compaq machines (who are now HP). In fact, after speaking to a few compaq engineers it seemed the general recommendation by them was to hit the drive with hammer which normally resolved the problem. Haven't seen a problem like that in a few years though.

lol its a trick that works on occasion, sadly not in this case though. if you can keep mum i find a good thump fixes quite a lot of things. oddly the wife says it don't work on me

 

[andywg]

Considering the Police computer forensic people reckon hitting a hard drive with a hammer (to thus remove a lot of the magnetism therein) is pretty much the only way to destroy the data on a Hard Drive, I would be loathe to try this as a first solution. I would be more inclined to think your engineer frineds were pulling your leg, did they complain about the price of welding sparks at the same time?

My solution (or perhaps prevention) to this problem is to get a linux distro like Ubuntu. Every 30 boots it completely checks the drive and sorts out the errors therein and you can have the Operating System installed to a CD so that no matter what happens to the Hard Drive, you still have a fair chance of booting up.

Not to mention having a stable and safe computer that is not left open for all and sundry to abuse like with Mickey-Mouse Soft Products. There is a reason 70% of the worlds web servers are on Apache, and only 20% use M$. ANd if you really want you can always double install and have windows and linux for a trial period.

 

[raptorrex]

humm its a long established trick with almost any repair, give it a thump and see what happens. however keeping your xp install well sorted and backed up, is way better than someone trying to run two systems, without clear knowledge of ether! thought i do use a linux boot disk to sort some problems with ntfs drives. its far from a practical resolution.

 

[andywg]

Thumping many mechanical devices can work - I have worked in many factories where the first tools out of the box were a hammer and a spanner large enough to use as a hammer - but magnetic devices do not like being hit; it lessons the magnetism of the object being hit and can thus cause it to lose anything stored in a magnetic way, if you have magentised a bar of iron and want it to no longer be magnetic you hit it with a hammer.