Please Help Me with Daughter's Computer

chipatkinsonchipatkinson San Antonio Texas
edited December 2006 in Hardware
Please help me with my daughter's computer.

When I try to start the computer, I get the following error:
"windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM"

I tried booting in safe mode and from prior configuration but it gives me same errror message. It didn't give me a recovery console option.

It is a dell and has OEM software loaded so I don't have a windows XP cd for this machine. I booted with a Windows XP cd I have for another machine and got to the C prompt. I ran chkdsk but it stopped after 51% complete and said it couldn't continue due to errors.

I don't have a floppy drive on this machine. I read some other threads on similar problems. I followed the link about downloading utility tools onto floppy disks. This computer reads the CD ROM, is there a place I can download this tool onto CD?

Any suggestions you can provide will be greatly appreciated.

Chip

Comments

  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited December 2006
    http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm#DFT

    Download the DFT CD image and burn it to CD. Run it; 0x70 and 0x72 failure codes mean the drive must be replaced.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited December 2006
    Run the hard drive test from the manufacturer. If it passes, pour yourself a tall glass of your favorite beverage, find a comfortable chair, then check out this thread, paying particular attention to Post #39. :)

    EDIT: Thrax beat me to it. :D
  • chipatkinsonchipatkinson San Antonio Texas
    edited December 2006
    Thrax wrote:
    http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm#DFT

    Download the DFT CD image and burn it to CD. Run it; 0x70 and 0x72 failure codes mean the drive must be replaced.


    Question: I went to the site and downloaded the CD image file to my desktop. So now I just burn that .iso file to a CD and my computer will boot with that cd?

    Not sure I understood you correctly.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited December 2006
    What program are you using to burn? I can walk you through it. If it's NERO, go to file or tools -> BURN IMAGE and select that file. It'll produce a bootable disc.
  • chipatkinsonchipatkinson San Antonio Texas
    edited December 2006
    Thrax wrote:
    What program are you using to burn? I can walk you through it. If it's NERO, go to file or tools -> BURN IMAGE and select that file. It'll produce a bootable disc.


    I used NErO and it created a bootable disk. Do I run the quick test or the advanced test?
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited December 2006
    Advanced :)
  • chipatkinsonchipatkinson San Antonio Texas
    edited December 2006
    The message says problem detected on non hitachi disk drive

    Dispositon code = 0X70
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited December 2006
    Your drive has bad sectors. To put it simply, the drive is irreparably bad; even if you managed to fix the bad sectors, and sometimes you can, it's a cascade issue and more will form until the drive is completely unreadable. You need to get that drive hooked up as a slave to another machine, back it up, drill a hole through the hard drive, and then throw it away. It's shot.
  • chipatkinsonchipatkinson San Antonio Texas
    edited December 2006
    Thrax wrote:
    Your drive has bad sectors. To put it simply, the drive is irreparably bad; even if you managed to fix the bad sectors, and sometimes you can, it's a cascade issue and more will form until the drive is completely unreadable. You need to get that drive hooked up as a slave to another machine, back it up, drill a hole through the hard drive, and then throw it away. It's shot.


    So I can hook this drive up as a slave to another machine and back up the data? With this error I will still be able to save the data on that drive?
  • chipatkinsonchipatkinson San Antonio Texas
    edited December 2006
    Why would it seem to work fine one night...and then poof...the next morning it is bad?
  • CBCB ΖΈΜ΅Μ‘ΣœΜ΅Μ¨Μ„Ζ· Der Millionendorf- Icrontian
    edited December 2006
    Unfortunately, this is the way it is with magnetic fixed drives. They only have a life of several years. It's gotten better, but it's still unrealistic to expect any magnetic drive to last longer than five years, and sometimes, the degredation begins after only two or three. Likely, it didn't happen overnight, it has been degrading for quite some time, and it only just reached something that was vital to the start-up of the system.
  • clear_darknessclear_darkness TX New
    edited December 2006
    Hard drives go bad eventually, they don't last forever, especially Maxtor drives, I've found them to have the shortest life span. I'd have to agree, by this point if you get it to do anything you can't trust it to be reliable...and it's doubtful you will even get it to boot. Hook it up to another computer as a slave drive as he said and try to get the files that way. That's probably your best bet. In the future try to backup important files occasionally. How long have you had this computer? Is it under warranty or anything? If not, a hard drive won't be very expensive.
  • chipatkinsonchipatkinson San Antonio Texas
    edited December 2006
    Thanks everyone for your help. The computer is about 15 months old and is not under warranty. Are there brand names for hard drives that you recommend and more importantly ones you recommend avoiding?
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited December 2006
    chipatkinson wrote:
    So I can hook this drive up as a slave to another machine and back up the data? With this error I will still be able to save the data on that drive?

    Yes.
    Why would it seem to work fine one night...and then poof...the next morning it is bad?

    That's just sort of the way it is. Bad sectors are random, and they happen, usually with no user influence. It's similar to a car's belt, sometimes the belt breaks.. In this case it's the timing chain, and your engine is up **** creek. Know what I mean?

    I'd go with Seagate or Western Digital.
  • clear_darknessclear_darkness TX New
    edited December 2006
    Avoid Maxtor, they seem to have short lives, and when they do die...they often quit altogether. As for good drives. I've used many Western Digital as well as some Seagate drives. If you are looking for something fast the WD Raptors are good. I'd have to say go with something with a warranty and something that isn't a Maxtor drive.
    I heard recently that Seagate bought Maxtor...I'm hoping they will fix Maxtor problems instead of letting Maxtor bring them down.
  • chipatkinsonchipatkinson San Antonio Texas
    edited December 2006
    Is replacing the hard drive something a computer novice can do? Is it just unplugging the old and plugging in the new? Or, do I have to install software, drivers, and other things i know little about :)
  • Sledgehammer70Sledgehammer70 California Icrontian
    edited December 2006
    chipatkinson wrote:
    Thanks everyone for your help. The computer is about 15 months old and is not under warranty. Are there brand names for hard drives that you recommend and more importantly ones you recommend avoiding?

    Seagate
    Western Digital

    In that order of importance :) I have had Maxtor Drives fail on memany times... But have yet to have a bad Western Digital Drive or Seagate Drive. Not saying they don't go bad, but I have just had really good drives from those companies.

    Stay away from Maxtor Drives... the company went downhill over there last years before the mighty Seagate bought them out.

    As for installing a new drive it is as simple as anything else. most often unplug the old and plug in the new. But you will have to re-install windows and other programs, which I am sure any of us here at Short-Media would be willing to help you out :)
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited December 2006
    chipatkinson wrote:
    Is replacing the hard drive something a computer novice can do? Is it just unplugging the old and plugging in the new? Or, do I have to install software, drivers, and other things i know little about :)

    You're going to have to reinstall windows and fetch drivers, but isn't that what we're here to help with? :)
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