Defective HDD Diagnostics?

[CybertecOne]

yatot,
There are a number of reasons why a HDD wont be detected by the bios. However, from your post it would seem the HDD is dead, and it is not affected by a virus or otherwise. Having moved the HDD to another computer eliminates everything except the HDD itself, and what is on it. In your case, even if all the data is wiped off and there is a virus in the boot sector I would still expect to see it in the bios.

I dont know of any manufacturer who holds a 10year warranty on a HDD, so i don't think the T.E.C utility would be useful for guessing when your HDD will curl up and spit the dummy.

[cbo]

I'd put it back in the original rig and boot up on a knoppix/live CD (or any other OS that runs from a RAM disk and doesn't require MBR etc.)

Usually you can still access the drive and retrieve your data.. even if it is indeed broken (done that a few times). Burn retrieved data to CD, dl on memorystick or what you have at your disposal.

Once the data is safe i would toss the drive away and get a new one.. What is the reason of having a HD that has proven not to run stable when u can get a new one for almost no money.

If you for some reason want to keep the old drive, i'd check out the physical drive first.. dust it, make sure there are nothing physical wrong with it, check/swap cables etc..

Since you can still get some performance out of it, i would format it and do a good old fashion diskscan or similar tool that detects physical damage on the disk itself. With a bit of luck you might get it up and running again. Only question is for how long.

[CybertecOne]

get a new one for almost no money.

LMAO! Not very accurate..... more of an oxymoron

[nihil]

Its possible that the harddrive is faulty with a loose bearing. This has the affect of appearing fine and working without any problems, until it starts to wobble again.

Those are not the symptoms I have been getting. Also there are no noises and it does not seem to be getting worse.

yatot, your co-worker's HDD certainly sounds dead. I would say that it was the controller card that has failed. Even if the platters won't spin, the BIOS should still see that the drive is there.

The only relatively simple way to fix this is to replace the controller card. This would have to be one from the exact make and model of drive.

What is the reason of having a HD that has proven not to run stable when u can get a new one for almost no money.

Try living on welfare benefits, a £40 HDD is a very expensive item.