Help Please HD Problem….Errors.

Magic_x_uk · 9 Dec 2006 at 08:57

Hi all.

Need some ideas please.

My Main PC (which is in this sig) has a WD Raptor 74GB as main BOOT / OS HD and a Samsung Spinpoint 250GB (10 months old) HD for Music, Photos etc etc.

Now I leave my computer on most of the time and recently have noticed a few “errors”

Like the Shortcut Icon to my Samsung Harddrive on my desktop will get a Big Red Question Mark in the Icon.

If I click it sometimes I cannot access the harddrive through the Icon and sometimes doesn’t show up in “My Computer”

Cables etc are all fine.

These are some views from Event Viewer for the errors my hard drive seems to be doing.

Any ideas would be great, can always RMA it if needs be as less than a yr old.

PS: Dons, I know these should be at 800 x something size. But I dont know how to do that ? If you could let me know that would be great so i am not breaking any rules.

rpstewart · 9 Dec 2006 at 13:13

First thing to do is to go and get Samsung's disgnostic tools from their site (link in the sticky). If you want to RMA the drive then Samsung won't give you the time of day unless the tool is reporting an error.

Magic_x_uk · 9 Dec 2006 at 14:22

okay which tool do i need, i cant seem to find what i need, its a 10 month old samsung spinpoint 250gb

rpstewart · 9 Dec 2006 at 14:50

Try this one here

You'll need to stick it on a DOS boot disk and boot from the floppy before running it.

Magic_x_uk · 10 Dec 2006 at 09:08

Ergh: So I put it on a floppy disk, insert into computer and reboot.

Did that and it gave some error like soemthing about dos. Not sure but does XP Pro have DOS Behind it somewhere. Or is there a secret to using DOS in xp ?

thank you

rpstewart · 10 Dec 2006 at 09:56

Did you just use a blank disk or did you make a DOS boot disk and put the diagnostics onto that?

Magic_x_uk · 10 Dec 2006 at 10:24

just a blank floppy ?

i thought that would be enough ?

rpstewart · 10 Dec 2006 at 10:53

No, the floppy needs to be bootable, ie have an OS on it. It's been so long since I've made one that I can't remember how to do it in XP, easiest thing to do is go to bootdisk.com and download an image and stick that on the floppy. It doesn't really matter which image you go with as long as it's small enough to let you put the Samsung diags on the disk too.

Magic_x_uk · 10 Dec 2006 at 13:48

ok, managed to do it (stick a floppy in drive) my computer ---> format ---> Make boot disk etc.

okay, ran the samsung utilities and nothing, nothing error wise found at all.

So what do i do now then, if there own utilities say there is nothing wrong, I mean it is a intermittant fault, but data is data and i dont want to loose it, as this HD is still under warranty.

rpstewart · 10 Dec 2006 at 15:19

That is annoying...

It might be worth trying an RMA simply on the basis of the error messages, the Windows Knowledge Base suggests that an event ID 35 is pretty terminal. Make sure that you have a saved copy of the event logs just in case.

Finally backup everything that's on that disk, if it fails then you don't want to lose anything and if you do RMA it successfully Samsung will simply replace the disk and throw your current one away, they won't make any attempt to recover any data on it.

Magic_x_uk · 10 Dec 2006 at 17:03

think im going to have fun RMA it anyhow,

bought it less than 10 months ago from OcUK and just looking through there web site, samsung drives have to be dealt with with a company called REXO.

I shall call them tomorrow but they need proof of purchase etc. I dont know if I stil have it, I remember it being about £65 or so.

Am I screwed then if i cannot find any proof of receipt. I know OcUK would perhaps have something on there system but........ ???

Magic_x_uk · 30 Dec 2006 at 07:42

Well I RMA that HD about 2 weeks or so ago, now this new one they sent me seems buggered as well. Sometimes my PC wont even BOOT past windows loading screen so sending this samsung HD back now.

Its not even my OS HD, just a HD for photos, Videos etc.

Does my head in this. Why cant things just be simple.

Now I have to package the HD up, post it back, wait 2-3 days for them to return to me a new one. Grrrr always something.

Justintime · 30 Dec 2006 at 07:52

hutil is pretty good with detecting errors, i use it weekly with client machines. Are you sure its the hard disk? Try it in another PC to be sure, hdd may just not get along with your mobo controller or maybe it could be a board or psu issue etc..

Magic_x_uk · 30 Dec 2006 at 09:38

well I presume so, reason why I think it is the HD is that it has worked for 9 - 10 months fine then started with this problem.

After the RMA I was getting the odd start up that wouldnt load my OS, just stopped at the loading XP screen.

Then when it did load my OS I would get a failure of the K drive (samsung HD) within 5 - 10 minutes.

If I unplugged the samsung sata cable and rebooted I was fine, Mobo and Sata drivers are fully up todate as far as I am aware.

Very odd. Dont really understand it. Always the chance I got sent a recon one ? I dont know, do they do that ?

-Ad- · 30 Dec 2006 at 12:44

Lol im having HDD problems similar to you mate listed in my thread:
'Is my HDD dieing ? '

ive just run the diagnostic and it says the HDD has errors and i should ERASE HDD and test again :rolleyes:

I did x2 low level formats when i first encountered these problems months ago then reinstalled windows. The problems are now back in full force so i think im going to buy a new HDD next week then get in contact with rexo about getting a new one.

good luck to you too.