Hard Disk problem

[gamesstate]

Hello, today when I started my computer (XP Pro Sp2 updated) it gave an
error about a corrupt file on drive C and said to run chkdsk. I ran it, found
problems so ran it again with /f. It apparently corrected the errors when it ran after restart.
The computer restarted, I ran chkdsk inside Windows again and it found
another error. I ran in it again with /f after restart and corrected.
It restartaed, ran again and found no errors.
Now I ran it again inside XP and if found this errors:
C:\Documents and Settings\Daniel>chkdsk c:
The type of the file system is NTFS.

WARNING! F parameter not specified.
Running CHKDSK in read-only mode.

CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 3)...
File verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying indexes (stage 2 of 3)...
Deleting index entry tmp.edb in index $I30 of file 10204.
Deleting index entry schstorage.dat in index $I30 of file 12105.
Deleting index entry SCHSTO~1.DAT in index $I30 of file 12105.
Deleting index entry _L6622~1.KLT in index $I30 of file 12115.
Deleting index entry _L904B~1.KLT in index $I30 of file 12115.
Deleting index entry _LE3AF~1.KLT in index $I30 of file 12115.
Deleting index entry _LOCAL_0741fee6-fece-4a4d-b703-ca8d0c7d9d4d.klt in
index $I
30 of file 12115.
Deleting index entry _LOCAL_1cc36865-1840-414f-b955-6268904d6e52.klt in
index $I
30 of file 12115.
Deleting index entry _LOCAL_4ece1c30-e9fc-449a-9592-c8db14ce869a.klt in
index $I
30 of file 12115.
Deleting index entry _LOCAL_9feb997a-4f84-49ec-ad35-1061e92cea8a.klt in
index $I
30 of file 12115.
Deleting index entry _LOCAL_ad2c7bf3-b3e8-4bc7-84fe-a722e1c87af8.klt in
index $I
30 of file 12115.
Deleting index entry _LOCAL~1.KLT in index $I30 of file 12115.
Deleting index entry _LOCAL~3.KLT in index $I30 of file 12115.
Deleting index entry 1eb3cde6-4890-4a62-b22b-551058a6e0ea in index $I30
of file
12129.
Deleting index entry 1EB3CD~1 in index $I30 of file 12129.
Deleting index entry 5fd89dc7-b44c-437c-b136-4088a00f3f53 in index $I30
of file
12129.
Deleting index entry 5FD89D~1 in index $I30 of file 12129.
Deleting index entry 717955c3-23ef-4b0d-87e7-ddce76c59974 in index $I30
of file
12129.
Deleting index entry 717955~1 in index $I30 of file 12129.
Deleting index entry 853cc556-6dd0-41bc-9b3c-8d11b5cb1125 in index $I30
of file
12129.
Deleting index entry 853CC5~1 in index $I30 of file 12129.
Deleting index entry a8cc1ce9-ea5e-4859-b293-85288bbd659c in index $I30
of file
12129.
Deleting index entry A8CC1C~1 in index $I30 of file 12129.
Deleting index entry f87c2f3f-5d7a-4c61-8991-00b8ba88a32c in index $I30
of file
12129.
Deleting index entry F87C2F~1 in index $I30 of file 12129.
Deleting index entry SS_RUNTIME.xml in index $I30 of file 12134.
Deleting index entry SS_RUN~1.XML in index $I30 of file 12134.
Index verification completed.

Errors found. CHKDSK cannot continue in read-only mode.

The thing is that if I run it again with /f it corrects something, then
runs again, says the disk its fine and boots into XP. And inside XP it
gives more errors.



In the event viewer this appears:

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Ntfs
Event Category: Disk
Event ID: 55
Date: 4/13/2005
Time: 11:47:54 PM
User: N/A
Computer: DANIK
Description:
The file system structure on the disk is corrupt and unusable. Please
run the chkdsk utility on the volume C:.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

Data:
0000: 00 00 00 00 02 00 4e 00 ......N.
0008: 02 00 00 00 37 00 04 c0 ....7..À
0010: 00 00 00 00 32 00 00 c0 ....2..À
0018: 68 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 h.......
0020: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ........

Because its a Seagate Disk I downloaded and ran their utility to check the disk. This was the result:

SeaTools Desktop v3.00.07
Copyright (c) 2004 Kroll Ontrack Inc.

4/14/2005 @ 7:47 AM

The following information has been generated by SeaTools Desktop. Use
this information to help you recognize and resolve potential data
access
problems.

System Information:
BIOS Date 09/05/03
Conventional Memory size 630 K
Extended Memory size 1046436 K
IO Channel type PCI

Drive Information:
SIZE MODEL
--------- ---------------------
120 GB ST3120827AS

Serial Number = 5MT0HGDR
Int13 Num = 81, PHYS CHS = 16383x16x63.
ParmTable CHS, Rsvd = 14593x255x63

PARTITION CYLINDER SIZE
---------- ------------ ----
# Type Start End MB
PRIMARY
1 NTFS 0 3823 31455
EXTENDED
2 NTFS 3824 14591 88575

Diagnostic Results:

90-Second Test Result: Passed
Recommendation:
The "Quick Test" is adequate for most situations.
Consider running the "Full Test" which
verifies each sector on the drive if you need to run a more
comprehensive diagnostic.

SMART Status Check Result: Unsupported

S.M.A.R.T., (S)elf (M)onitoring (A)nalysis and (R)eporting
(T)echnology, a built-in hard disk drive failure prediction method
reports an 'Alert' if a problem has occurred. It reports 'Passed' if
no problems are found and 'Unsupported' if a hard disk drive does not
support S.M.A.R.T.
Full Diagnostic Scan Result: Passed

File Structure Test Result:

Partition 1 (NTFS (31.4 GB) ) Result: Failed with critical
Errors

NOTE: Any report of possible errors in the file system tests are
for
informational purposes only. We suggest you should consider
testing with
the official file system diagnostic utilities for your operating
system.
Seagate is not able to assist with troubleshooting or reviewing
file system test results.

Partition 2 (NTFS (88.5 GB) ) Result: Failed with critical
Errors

NOTE: Any report of possible errors in the file system tests are
for
informational purposes only. We suggest you should consider
testing with
the official file system diagnostic utilities for your operating
system.
Seagate is not able to assist with troubleshooting or reviewing
file system test results.

******************************************

Recommendation:
All selected physical diagnostics passed.

If you are not experiencing data loss and SeaTools reports File
System Structure errors, they may be caused by a lock-up or
failure to shutdown Windows correctly. Many times, these errors
may be repaired through normal system maintenance which
includes using the Windows provided "Defrag" and
"Scandisk / Chkdsk / Error Checking" utilities.

If you are experiencing a hardware error, you should isolate
the cause and replace the failing component. If you are unsure how
to proceed with repairs, contact a computer professional. After
completing any maintenance tasks, run SeaTools again to
verify that all errors have been repaired. If errors continue to
occur, the system may not be stable. Again, contact a computer
professional.

____________________________________________________________
The wierd thing is that the hard disk is new, I bought it last week and the only thing in it is Win XP, Office, and some varios programas. Ive checked for spyware(MS Antispyware, AdAware) and for viruses(kaspersky), and the disk is clean.

Any ideas about this error?
-Dan

 

[stduc]

Disks like anything else follow the 'bucket curve' They usually die young or old, rarely in middle age!

If you are certain you have no spyware/virus's or any other malware on this system then I would be tempted to run SpinRite on the drive (

http://www.grc.com)

and see what it has to say.

Assuming you can get windows to boot, use scandisk from the tools menu - but to be honest neither chkdsk nor scandisk are very good in my opinion. If they report errors, you do have hard drive issues, but if you let them fix bad sectors then you can be sure they will mark them bad, but they won't spare them, nor recover the data in them. Unlike SpinRite which will.

SpinRite can give you a full healthcheck of the drive - which you can post here if your not sure how to interpret it. But is is pretty easy to undertand what it is saying.

 

[wolluf]

Of course you could try the drive manufacturer's diagnostic utility (usually on their website) - which would be designed for your drive and should tell you if its failing or not.

I have to disagree with stduc about chkdsk (scandisk doesn't exist in XP - would agree its not particularly good - but that's mainly down to the filestore - fat or fat32) - particularly with ntfs filestore (which is designed with recovery in mind). 99 times out of 100 in my experience it comes up with the goods - and often when it doesn't its down to a failing drive.

 

[gamesstate]

I ran the manufacturer utility, the results are posted in the original post. The problem is that it says both partition failed the File Structure Test but it doesnt say the error.
Is this a logical problem(fixed by formatting) or a physical problem?

Dan

 

[garebo]

Why not use a win98 startup floppy, set bios to start up with floppy drive, set the h drive to master, have no other ide drives except this one, and then use fdisk and format. I know it will only format in fat32 but at least if it does format you will know that your drive has a possible chance of being revived as an NTFS drive. And if it doesnt work it has only cost a bit of time.



Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[wolluf]

Or you could run something like killdisk to completely wipe the drive. Then reformat/re-diagnose.

Or of course just start a new XP install - delete/recreate/format disk (will also tell you if it will format - and ntfs) -

any of this after backing up first of course.

But it is puzzling - also wonder if there's a different hardware issue here (eg RAM?), which is manufesting as hard drive issue?

 

[gamesstate]

Thats is exactly what Im worried about, if theres something else that could be causing the problem.
If its RAM how can I check it, or if its MOBO how can I check it?

Thanks
Dan

 

[cdogg]

> If its RAM how can I check it, or if its MOBO how can I check it?

You save it for last. First, you rule out the hard drive. Either place it in another working PC, or format and start over. Using another PC should also help you rule out motherboard, PSU, memory, etc...

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[garebo]

I would try fixing the h drive first and then if i couldnt i would look elsewhere.


Good advice + great people = tek-tips