Harddisk problem

My harddisk had recently installed Vista but then got a problem could not
boot up.
So I need to reinstall Vista.
However, in the beginning of the re-installation, Vista detected my harddisk
had prvious Vista and said all files will be put into a separate folder,
that's fine.
Then it showed the partition table that I selected the primary partition
(100 GB of 320 GB space) , when I click the partition, the message at the
bottom of the screen showed the message:
"This disk may fail soon. if other harddisk are available, install Windows
to another location."
Then I click next and go ahead.
This time re-installation finished the steps: Copy files, Expand files,
Install features, Install updates but said "Cannot goto next phase of
installation".

I need to reinstall, this time I deleted my 100Gb partition and format the
whole space (320 GB) and went thro the all steps and finished.

Vista installation seems detected my harddisk had a problem, but no idea
what problem it is.
Actually, in my previous Vista in this harddisk, it alwasys pop up a box say
the harddisk had a problem, telling me to backup the data.

My harddisk is Seagate 320GB, 16 MB cache one.

On Tue, 11 Sep 2007 09:36:44 +1000, "Alan T"
<> wrote:

>My harddisk had recently installed Vista but then got a problem could not
>boot up.
>So I need to reinstall Vista.
>However, in the beginning of the re-installation, Vista detected my harddisk
>had prvious Vista and said all files will be put into a separate folder,
>that's fine.
>Then it showed the partition table that I selected the primary partition
>(100 GB of 320 GB space) , when I click the partition, the message at the
>bottom of the screen showed the message:
>"This disk may fail soon. if other harddisk are available, install Windows
>to another location."
>Then I click next and go ahead.
>This time re-installation finished the steps: Copy files, Expand files,
>Install features, Install updates but said "Cannot goto next phase of
>installation".
>
>I need to reinstall, this time I deleted my 100Gb partition and format the
>whole space (320 GB) and went thro the all steps and finished.
>
>Vista installation seems detected my harddisk had a problem, but no idea
>what problem it is.
>Actually, in my previous Vista in this harddisk, it alwasys pop up a box say
>the harddisk had a problem, telling me to backup the data.
>
>My harddisk is Seagate 320GB, 16 MB cache one.

Windows probably detected some file system error. You can check and
repair by right clicking on any suspected drive from within Windows
Explorer, just pick properties, tools, check for errors. Be SURE to
check automatically fix errors.

If the drive is in use and it always will be if you check your "C",
or root drive then Windows will nag it can't do it, but ask if you
want to schedule it to run next time you boot. Say yes. Then reboot
and don't freak because early on in the boot process you'll see a pale
blue screen you haven't seen before that runs the process.

How long it takes depends on what if anything it finds and how big a
hard drive you're checking.

It is common for Windows to sometimes pause during the several pages
in runs through or for the screen to go black. Don't touch keyboard or
mouse, just watch and wait and give Windows time to do it's thing. It
shouldn't pause for more than a few seconds or so.

In extreme cases you may see some even more weird screens as Windows
attempts to repair itself. Rare, but you may see the names of tens of
thousands of files fly past. Don't freak over that either if it
happens. Windows is just "fixing" things... or trying to. Generally
NTFS is very stable and the normal little things that can go wrong
with the file system usually get fixed by Windows itself. Now you know
how to start the process. :-)

If it can't fix the file system, (it will give you a detailed report
at the end as to what if anything it found and fixed) then I would
suspect it may be the hard drive getting ready to fail. Go to
Seagate's site and download the latest Vista capable disk check
utility which MAY be able to fix things Vista can't. If you need to do
this extreme step be sure you backup what you can of your data FIRST!

"Alan T" <> wrote in message
news:...
> My harddisk had recently installed Vista but then got a problem could not
> boot up.
> So I need to reinstall Vista.
> However, in the beginning of the re-installation, Vista detected my
> harddisk
> had prvious Vista and said all files will be put into a separate folder,
> that's fine.
> Then it showed the partition table that I selected the primary partition
> (100 GB of 320 GB space) , when I click the partition, the message at the
> bottom of the screen showed the message:
> "This disk may fail soon. if other harddisk are available, install Windows
> to another location."
> Then I click next and go ahead.
> This time re-installation finished the steps: Copy files, Expand files,
> Install features, Install updates but said "Cannot goto next phase of
> installation".
>
> I need to reinstall, this time I deleted my 100Gb partition and format the
> whole space (320 GB) and went thro the all steps and finished.
>
> Vista installation seems detected my harddisk had a problem, but no idea
> what problem it is.
> Actually, in my previous Vista in this harddisk, it alwasys pop up a box
> say
> the harddisk had a problem, telling me to backup the data.
>
> My harddisk is Seagate 320GB, 16 MB cache one.
>
>


Well you could run chkdsk (full) and do other harddrive diagnostics. Your
harddrive may be failing, so if you have important files on there consider
backing up to another location.

If it is your harddrive then you will need another. Many harddrives have a
year warranty or more, so you can return it and will receive an equivalent.

Saucy

So in what situation I can return to the vendor (Seagate)?
ie. how can I tell the evidence that the harddisk is dead?

"Saucy" <> wrote in message
news:...
> "Alan T" <> wrote in message
> news:...
> > My harddisk had recently installed Vista but then got a problem could
not
> > boot up.
> > So I need to reinstall Vista.
> > However, in the beginning of the re-installation, Vista detected my
> > harddisk
> > had prvious Vista and said all files will be put into a separate folder,
> > that's fine.
> > Then it showed the partition table that I selected the primary partition
> > (100 GB of 320 GB space) , when I click the partition, the message at
the
> > bottom of the screen showed the message:
> > "This disk may fail soon. if other harddisk are available, install
Windows
> > to another location."
> > Then I click next and go ahead.
> > This time re-installation finished the steps: Copy files, Expand files,
> > Install features, Install updates but said "Cannot goto next phase of
> > installation".
> >
> > I need to reinstall, this time I deleted my 100Gb partition and format
the
> > whole space (320 GB) and went thro the all steps and finished.
> >
> > Vista installation seems detected my harddisk had a problem, but no idea
> > what problem it is.
> > Actually, in my previous Vista in this harddisk, it alwasys pop up a box
> > say
> > the harddisk had a problem, telling me to backup the data.
> >
> > My harddisk is Seagate 320GB, 16 MB cache one.
> >
> >
>
>
> Well you could run chkdsk (full) and do other harddrive diagnostics. Your
> harddrive may be failing, so if you have important files on there consider
> backing up to another location.
>
> If it is your harddrive then you will need another. Many harddrives have a
> year warranty or more, so you can return it and will receive an
equivalent.
>
> Saucy
>

"Alan T" <> wrote in message
news:...
> So in what situation I can return to the vendor (Seagate)?
> ie. how can I tell the evidence that the harddisk is dead?
>
> "Saucy" <> wrote in message
> news:...
>> "Alan T" <> wrote in message
>> news:...
>> > My harddisk had recently installed Vista but then got a problem could
> not
>> > boot up.
>> > So I need to reinstall Vista.
>> > However, in the beginning of the re-installation, Vista detected my
>> > harddisk
>> > had prvious Vista and said all files will be put into a separate
>> > folder,
>> > that's fine.
>> > Then it showed the partition table that I selected the primary
>> > partition
>> > (100 GB of 320 GB space) , when I click the partition, the message at
> the
>> > bottom of the screen showed the message:
>> > "This disk may fail soon. if other harddisk are available, install
> Windows
>> > to another location."
>> > Then I click next and go ahead.
>> > This time re-installation finished the steps: Copy files, Expand files,
>> > Install features, Install updates but said "Cannot goto next phase of
>> > installation".
>> >
>> > I need to reinstall, this time I deleted my 100Gb partition and format
> the
>> > whole space (320 GB) and went thro the all steps and finished.
>> >
>> > Vista installation seems detected my harddisk had a problem, but no
>> > idea
>> > what problem it is.
>> > Actually, in my previous Vista in this harddisk, it alwasys pop up a
>> > box
>> > say
>> > the harddisk had a problem, telling me to backup the data.
>> >
>> > My harddisk is Seagate 320GB, 16 MB cache one.
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>> Well you could run chkdsk (full) and do other harddrive diagnostics. Your
>> harddrive may be failing, so if you have important files on there
>> consider
>> backing up to another location.
>>
>> If it is your harddrive then you will need another. Many harddrives have
>> a
>> year warranty or more, so you can return it and will receive an
> equivalent.
>>
>> Saucy
>>
>
>


It's been a while. I used to run a full scandisk from a DOS floppy (the
Windows 98 boot disk) and one could get an actual visual count of sectors
gone bad. You might try out some of the tools Seagate offers for
diagnostics.

Anwyay, contact who you bought it from and tell them you know it has gone
south, and they should replace it for you on the spot - this is well the
best option, so make sure to convince them. It would help to have the
receipt. Otherwise you will have to go through Seagate. Do not remove any
seals from the drive nor open it. Doing so voids all warranties.

[Warranty and Returns Assistance - Seagate]
http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/sup...rns_assistance

[SeaTools - Seagate (watch the URL wrap)]
http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.js...00dd04090aRCRD

Saucy

On Tue, 11 Sep 2007 09:36:44 +1000, Alan T wrote:

> My harddisk had recently installed Vista but then got a problem could not
> boot up.
> So I need to reinstall Vista.
> However, in the beginning of the re-installation, Vista detected my harddisk
> had prvious Vista and said all files will be put into a separate folder,
> that's fine.
> Then it showed the partition table that I selected the primary partition
> (100 GB of 320 GB space) , when I click the partition, the message at the
> bottom of the screen showed the message:
> "This disk may fail soon. if other harddisk are available, install Windows
> to another location."
> Then I click next and go ahead.
> This time re-installation finished the steps: Copy files, Expand files,
> Install features, Install updates but said "Cannot goto next phase of
> installation".
>
> I need to reinstall, this time I deleted my 100Gb partition and format the
> whole space (320 GB) and went thro the all steps and finished.
>
> Vista installation seems detected my harddisk had a problem, but no idea
> what problem it is.
> Actually, in my previous Vista in this harddisk, it alwasys pop up a box say
> the harddisk had a problem, telling me to backup the data.
>
> My harddisk is Seagate 320GB, 16 MB cache one.

Modern hard drives have a built in 'health' checker referred to as 'SMART'
- no, I don't recall the acronym. I'd suggest you check the drive SMART
status.

Yes, my motherboard has this option in the BIOS, ie. S.M.A.R.T monitoring.
I once enabled it and the POST always telling me a harddisk has a problem.
However, it said channel 2 harddisk has a problem. The harddisk attach to
channel is fine. This warning only happens when I use this 'faulty' harddisk
to boot up. So I think the POST was referring to this harddisk but just
wonder why it said channel 2, it should be channel 1.

"ray" <> wrote in message
news...
> On Tue, 11 Sep 2007 09:36:44 +1000, Alan T wrote:
>
> > My harddisk had recently installed Vista but then got a problem could
not
> > boot up.
> > So I need to reinstall Vista.
> > However, in the beginning of the re-installation, Vista detected my
harddisk
> > had prvious Vista and said all files will be put into a separate folder,
> > that's fine.
> > Then it showed the partition table that I selected the primary partition
> > (100 GB of 320 GB space) , when I click the partition, the message at
the
> > bottom of the screen showed the message:
> > "This disk may fail soon. if other harddisk are available, install
Windows
> > to another location."
> > Then I click next and go ahead.
> > This time re-installation finished the steps: Copy files, Expand files,
> > Install features, Install updates but said "Cannot goto next phase of
> > installation".
> >
> > I need to reinstall, this time I deleted my 100Gb partition and format
the
> > whole space (320 GB) and went thro the all steps and finished.
> >
> > Vista installation seems detected my harddisk had a problem, but no idea
> > what problem it is.
> > Actually, in my previous Vista in this harddisk, it alwasys pop up a box
say
> > the harddisk had a problem, telling me to backup the data.
> >
> > My harddisk is Seagate 320GB, 16 MB cache one.
>
> Modern hard drives have a built in 'health' checker referred to as 'SMART'
> - no, I don't recall the acronym. I'd suggest you check the drive SMART
> status.
>