boot disk failure 1

[trouble1]

I have an intermittent problem with a boot disk failure message. The drive squeals like there is an obstruction and gives me the boot disk failure message. It happens only occasionaly - weeks between episodes - but I fear this doesn't bode well for the future.

I will run scandisk over night but I am not sure it can handle a boot sector problem. Or does this sound like a mechanical problem? Unbalanced disk, warped spindle? I don't know. Anyone deal with this problem before?

Thanks for any help.

 

[techbabe]

First, run diagnostics on the drive; it could be a defective hard drive. If you have a Dell, you can run the test by pressing ctrl-alt-d or by running the 32-bit diags from your resource cd. I dunno how to run hard rive diagnostics on other systems, however. If the test fails, buy a new hard drive, but remember to save your files and data by copying them to another hard drive. If the test passes, try doing a chkdsk /r. If it's no go, try a fixboot and then a fixmbr. These can be done in the recovery console, which can be accessed through your os cd. If that's still a no go, try the hd data cable on another ide controller. If it still doesn't work, try a known good data cable. Could be the cable, you never know. Then, try a known good drive. If the known good drive works, then you have a bad drive, honey, and you have to buy a new one or contact technical support for your computer's brand and ask for a replacement drive.

 

[trouble1]

The drive always starts when I turn it off and restart. It only fails once in a while. Just looking for ideas as to why. My old computer used to sometimes not boot just because the cd in the drive had changed or wasm't there. It's the squeal that has me most concerned and why only once in a while. Thanks for your help.