Hard drive problem

T-PT-P
edited March 2005 in Hardware
i recently bought a Toshiba Satellite A70-S249, and the first time i turned it, it started loading xp, and at the stage where you get the black screen and the little yellow dots moving back and forth, it wouldnt go on. just stayed there forl ik 10 minutes. eventually, i turned it off and tried again with the same result.

after, i re-installed the operating system from the cd it comes with. after that it wouldnt get past the screen that says "you have incorrectly turned off the computer. please select what to do", (with the choices of start normally, start in safe mode, etc.). it just sits at that screen for like 10 minutes withno result.

i checked bios once and it said that there was no hard drive installed, but after i restarted it said there was. finally, i turned off the laptop and took out the hard drive, put it back in, and everything more or less worked ( i went through some funny screens about recovering from a serious error etc)

this is where my question really is: after running xp for some hours, i installed a program, and right as it finished installing i got the blue screen of death and i had to restart. at which point it was the same as in the beginning. is this a recurring problem with my harddrive? do i have to get a knew one?
thanks in advance

Comments

  • T-PT-P
    edited March 2005
    i looked up this laptop from the toshiba page and it had like 200 different errors associated with it (!) unfortunately none of them directly addressed my issue. can i fix this ? (on my own?) or do i just need a new laptop?
  • RWBRWB Icrontian
    edited March 2005
    Seems to me that your HDD in the laptop is going kaput. :(

    Toshiba's seem to have lots of issues, I know I would never be buying a laptop from them in the forseeable future.
  • BlackHawkBlackHawk Bible music connoisseur There's no place like 127.0.0.1 Icrontian
    edited March 2005
    If it's still under warranty, you could always request a replacement from Toshiba.
  • T-PT-P
    edited March 2005
    i just bought it, so it should be under waranty. so you think the HDD is completely dead? i mean it worked ok for a bit, i originaly thought it was just connected poorly...
  • TexTex Dallas/Ft. Worth
    edited March 2005
    No the hard drive isnt dead. What were you installing?

    You couldnt re-install xp from the cd that came with it right? But you later posted this happened after running XP for a few hours.

    Can you help fill in the gaps here on the time sequences of what you exactly have done or tried to date and I bet we can solve this.

    tex
  • T-PT-P
    edited March 2005
    Sorry about the late reply. well, heres my timeline:

    1) recieved laptop, started it, laptop hangs at the blacl xp is starting screen
    2) after trying several more times, reinstall xp from the cd it came with.
    3) even less works now, BIOS doesnt even see the hard drive.
    4) i physically remove the hard drive, look at i and put it back in. now windows starts

    5) next day, everythings fine. i install some program, get the BSOD that says windows got messed up because it was temporarily unable to see the hard drive. but after restartit works.
    6) once again uninstalling some junk the laptop came with and again BSOD with the same message only this time it wont restart (same as when i first got it)
    7) tried what i did before to make it work, no luck. been restarting all day, i even reloaded xp from the cd again. onw i get errors though, like "file hal.dll is missing or corrupt" or "unable to reach PXE blablablabla" but basically it wont start anymore.

    not only that, but tried to return it (i bought it on tiger direct) and it says i cant because toshiba is on their list of companies you cant return (!) i call toshiba to return it and they tell me to call tiger direct. (?!?)

    anyway i bought a warranty that takes effect in 30 days (afte the normal one) and *then* i can return it. so for now im just trying to get it fixed in the closest toshiba ___ center or whatever
  • T-PT-P
    edited March 2005
    anyone?
  • entropyentropy Yah-Der-Hey (Wisconsin)
    edited March 2005
    I dunno for sure. A guess, though. Since you said you took it out, put it back in, and it worked, I wonder if it isn't the harddrive cable. Which would explain Windows suddenly losing track of it (maybe you bumped it or something). Make sure it's all plugged in tight. If that doesn't work, try another cable? Just a thought... I have zero experience with laptops. :(
  • TheBaronTheBaron Austin, TX
    edited March 2005
    entropy wrote:
    I dunno for sure. A guess, though. Since you said you took it out, put it back in, and it worked, I wonder if it isn't the harddrive cable. Which would explain Windows suddenly losing track of it (maybe you bumped it or something). Make sure it's all plugged in tight. If that doesn't work, try another cable? Just a thought... I have zero experience with laptops. :(
    im going to agree with his diagnosis that either your hard drive or hard drive cable is bad. theres really nothing you yourself should want to do about this, since you just recently bought it. take it back, or call toshiba tech support and tell them your problem. they'll probably make you send it in, but i bet they'll fix it for you
  • T-PT-P
    edited March 2005
    thanks, i guess its porbably that. ill have it fixed.

    this laptop buisness is taking longer than i thought... :mad:
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