drive error message- system won't boot

[LadySunshine]

i am operating a fujitsu lifebook running windows xp. i recently encountered a system lock-up that caused it to crash completely. when trying to restart i got an error message about a partmgr file and then the os wouldn't load. after several attempts and receiving the message "drive error" a couple of times, i finally got to the point of loading a drive image disk. the disk now will not load because it's saying that it can't recognize the correct drive. fujitsu's tech support is telling me that my hard drive went bad, but i wanted to see if i could get some additional input. any and all help is greatly appreciated. thanks in advance.

 

[norman360]

this may sound crazy but it's been known to work in extreme cases. it's usually a last attempt to recover some precious data so keep that in mind. Anyways.....remove the faulty drvie and put it your freezer for the night. the next morning put it back in your lifebook immediately and boot it up. Save what you can because this is not a permanent solution. your drive WILL die again.

 

[Oddjob03]

The freeze method only works on older winchester disks and doesn't work on newish drives. Can the BIOS detect the drive?? There's allways a chance of recovering the drive but the Information well maybe.

Oddjob

 

[LadySunshine]

as far as i know the bios is detecting the drive. but this has been even more of a headache after finding out that not only did i encounter this drive error problem after attempting to use the manufacturer's re-image file of my drive, but now because that process has failed, my operating system isn't being recognized at all. and what's even more added insult to injury, they will not offer me a system recovery cd for my os, but rather wants me to send my system to them and for $150 they will re-image the drive. so yeah, i officially have sucker stamped on my forehead.

so should i NOT try the freezer method? at this point, i'm willing to try anything. are there any other suggestions on how i can possibly save my data?

 

[edfair]

Recovery will be easier putting the drive on another machine using an adapter kit to get it to fit.
This is assuming that the other machine is also XP.

Normal would be to put your drive on the secondary controller, removing the CD or anything else currently on that channel, copy stuff somewhere on the primary, then convert system back.

XP has some problems switching hardware around, so there may be glitches.

Ed Fair
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply. Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.