Physical HD Problem, or problem with MBR?

[StumblingThrough]

Background: PC was locking-up when using various apps. Had to restore Hard Drive to factory settings using Restore CD that came with PC. Prior to doing so, I tried to restore an image that I made of the hard drive using Acronis True Image. I had the image saved on what Acronis calls the "Secure Zone", which is a hidden partiton it created on "C". However, Acronis was unable to read image from Secure Zone.

After restoring HD using restore CD, I restarted PC. Normally upon reboot I receive message saying to press "F11" to access Acronis Recovery routine. I am still receiving this message even after restoring PC to factory settings. But it is giving me an error message saying it cannot find the recovery partition, and to press enter to continue to boot to Windows. This makes sense since I overwrote the parition.

However, why am I still receiving the F11 message? I believe so because I think Acronis made changes to the MBR when it created the "Secure Zone". And I don't think the Restore CD restored the MBR.

I booted to Windows successfully and scheduled a CHKDSK of the C drive.

Problem: When I try to run CHKDSK, it hangs on step 4 of 5 (checking file system). My question is, would the changes Acronis made to the MBR keep CHKDSK from finishing the scan of "C"? Or is it more likely there is a physical problem with the Hard Drive?

 

[stuke]

Sounds mucked up to me.
If you have a version of windows that can completely install from a CD then I suggest that you do a low level format and wipe the drive completely (with zeros). The best way to do this is to remove the drive from the system and put it into another computer and use Disk Management to delete the partitions do a full format. Then go as far as using eraser to wipe all unused space on the drive (3 or 7 repeats is plenty dont go for the 37 as this will take weeks).
The reason you need to do this is that when you are installing windows the operating takes unusual measures to detect if there is/has been other operatings sysems on the computer - this is to do with recovery installations, but it can cause former partitions and data to mysteriously reappear! Some boot sector viruses like this.

If you cant stick the drive in another computer then I suggest you delete any existing partitions and create 1 partition on the drive during setup, and do a full format. You can always watch the match when formatting!

 

[StumblingThrough]

Thanks, stuke.

All I have is the restore CD. The PC (Laptop) is still under warranty, but they may have it for WEEKS. I was going to just take it in, but wanted to first ensure the problem was a physical one, and not one with software that I could fix myself.

Can't remove HD from PC. Besides, that may void warranty. Will a low-level format hurt anything? How do I go about doing this?

 

[StumblingThrough]

Stuke - Is there a way to run CHKDSK another way that might fix whatever problem there is? How can I remove remnants of Acronis from the MBR?

 

[rvnguy]

UPSDeveloper,

I would not perform anything that will "void" your warranty, but this is your choice.

I did not understand how you "over wrote" the Acronis partition, as this is a partitioning function and not directly over writeable.

The following link might help. Once you understand how to run this you can run "fixmbr" to see if this wil fix the problem. As noted this does not change the file table, only the MBR.

HOW TO: Install and Use the Recovery Console for Windows XP (Q307654)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q307/6/54.asp

Hope this helps

rvnguy
"I know everything..I just can't remember it all