UNSOLVED
URGENT! Something went wrong with the hard drive
Well, I tried installing Kubuntu, got to 61% done but the disc was apparantly too scratched (it didn't look very scratched) and it stopped. After waiting a few minutes to see if it would do anything, the disc drive started getting faster and faster, louder and louder until I turned the computer off. It started sounding like a plane taking off.
I restarted the computer and when it got to booting the OS I got an error saying:
Unable to boot, press enter to retry
SATA-1 INSTALLED
SATA-2 INSTALLED
SATA-4 NONE
SATA-5 NONE
I put in the Vista disc to try and repair it, but it couldn't repair anything. Everything on the hard drive is still there though. I restarted the computer and tried to boot into several live cd's but they wouldn't get past their respective loading bars. They all froze while loading.
I restarted again and booted the Vista disc and went to reinstall it but I got to the partitioning page and deleted the Linux partition and the Swap partition. Should I have left the swap partition there? I gave the unallocated space back to the Vista partition and restarted to see if it would work. Still got the same error.
So, does anybody know what I should do? I'd like to avoid reinstalling Vista if I can help it, but I'm prepared to reinstall it. Any bootable cd's that I can download that lets me fix it?
Thankyou for your help :)
RUNNING DELL DIAGNOSTICS FROM DRIVERS AND UTILITIES CD (Resource CD):
1. Insert the Drivers and Utilities CD into the CD drive.
2. Shut down and restart the computer.
3. When the DELL logo appears, press F12 key immediately.
4. If you wait too long and the Microsoft Windows logo appears, continue to wait until you see the Windows desktop. Then shut down your computer and try again.
5. When the boot device list appears, highlight IDE CD-ROM and press Enter key.
6. Select Boot from CD-ROM option from the CD boot menu.
7. Select Run the 32 Bit Dell Diagnostics numbered list. If multiple versions are listed, select the version appropriate for your platform.
8. After the Dell Diagnostics loads, the Main Menu appears. Click the button of the option you want (the Diagnostic test that you want to run).
9. If a problem is encountered during a test, a message will display the error code and a description of the problem. Write down the error code and problem description and follow the instructions on the screen.
10. If you run a test from the Custom Test or Symptom Tree option, click the tabs above the right window for more information.
11. When the tests are completed, remove the Drivers and Utilities CD. Close the screen to return to the Main Menu screen. To exit the Dell Diagnostics and restart the computer, close the Main Menu screen.
Thankyou for the replies :)
I decided that it would just be best to do a fresh install of Vista, so I did just that. The only thing that I put back on it from the utilities cd was the dell support center thing. That was also very handy how it had drivers for pretty much everything on the cd! It's not too often that computer companies do that! I decided that it's probably best for me and my computer to buy a new HDD to install linux on. I don't want this hassle again.
Edit: I ran that diagnostics thing yesterday. It was taking waaayy too long so I aborted it after the read test.
Message Edited by Benno123 on 08-22-2008 10:06 PM
PETER345
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Posted August 21st, 2008 17:00
Those other partitions shouldn't hurt anything. It sounds like the MBR might have a problem.
In XP there is a fixmbr and fixboot command that you can use from the recovery console when the MBR or boot record get corrupted. There should be something similar in Vista.
Also, I doubt you heard the HDs speeding up. It must have been your CD/DVD drive. Optical drives spin up/down. HDs run at constant RPM unless they have failed.
Peter