HDD works, but not on its own !?

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I have this Samsung F3 which started causing problems after I got some rather nasty virus's.

If i connect it to my pc alone (it was my OS drive but i have since wiped it), it makes my screen go black. If i try to install windows, just after the 'Windows is Starting', when the screen turns blue..... the screen(s) go black and cannot be woken up by keyboard or mouse.

If i connect it as an additional drive it seems to work fine.

Anyone know why this may be happening?

Cheers
 
Didn't know you could flash hdd firmware :eek:

Could a virus damage the firmware?


I can't find any firmware for the drive, its a Spinpoint F3 (HD103SJ), anyone know where i can get it?
 
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Viruses should not be able to damage your HD's any longer afaik.

But perhaps the previous problem wasn't caused by a virus but by the HD failing.

I'd say format the drive then run a diagnostic to check for errors.
HDTune is a decent program to use.
 
Burn Parted Magic to a cdrw (or cd) boot from cd with only that hard drive in. It's a live linux environment, easy to use

Wipe it with gParted and create a new partition
 
Gaaagh! it IS listed there, im sure i was on that page at some point, im going blind :eek:

Had the drive in the pc for a few days now and windows has been behaving rather strangely, sluggish at times with momentary lockups so maybe its buggered. I always thought they dieing hard drives made odd ping pong clicking noises, this one sounds fine.

I will give your suggestions a go


Thanks for the replies ;)
 
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