Dell and iastor.sys problem

Hi All,
Advice / help needed.
Today November 28th 2008 I got the same BSOD on my Dell desk top and the same iastor.sys error messages reported above at least 2 years after Dell are aware of this problem. I spoke with Dell and they said that I have a faulty drive and they will replace it... but like everyone else it’s the data that’s important.
The system has 2 hard drives but I am not aware if they were set up as a raid or just 2 separate drives.
I will remove them and take the advice offered above about making a backup first.
A friend has suggested I download a Windows XP Live cd and apparently I can run windows from this cd and allow me access to the computer. And I should be able to replace the iastor.sys file.
What do you think is this a runner?
I am still not clear from reading the posts here and elsewhere if the problem is the iastor.sys file or the hard drive is gone.
Any help or advice would greatly relieve the big headache I have just now.
Thanking you
DeDanan.

Greetings DeDanan.

I have moved your post out of the IASTOR.SYS BSOD w/ Dell computers thread, simply because the last post in that thread was in 2006.

cheers
t34b4g5..

Update
I have not as yet had any replies or suggestions, possibly I am not patient enough but when I am worried about losing two years work well then....

So this is like a log to help others who may find themselves in a unfortunately similar position.

I have downloaded “active@ boot disk” from lsoft ( $79.95)
Created a boot disk that works !

Can see my files on the hard drive and am now preparing to back up them to a new hard drive.

Fingers crossed and all that!

Regards

DeDanan

Hi All,
Lesson 1. MAKE REGULAR BACKUPS! Yes do as I say not as I do...

Checkout dropbox https://********dropbox.com/home
Its amazing!!!

Lesson 2. I am having a hard time finding my data files, they are all over the place. Create one file for all your data and then just copy that file!

I am still searching the hard drive for useful data.... but I am very happy that I have the ability to search for the data!

Regards

DeDanan

Hi DeDanan,

The simplest solution should be to remove the defective drive. The RAID array (I cannot imagine it being anything else with Dell kit) will then boot from the mirrored drive, and you can make backups in the normal manner.

When you get the replacement drive from dell just install it and boot up. The RAID array should then tell you it is rebuilding.

It seems to be an issue with Dell's implementation of RAID1. I suspect that if you try to boot, the system is still trying to connect to the defective drive.

What should happen is that when you lose a drive in a RAID1 array you should get a message from the controller telling you that the array has been compromised/degraded. You should still be able to continue using the computer with the surviving drive. This doesn't work with this particular Dell system.

Quote:

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possibly I am not patient enough but when I am worried about losing two years work well then....

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That would make your machine the same sort of age as the original thread starter's.

I would guess that you have a hardware RAID controller, which is why:

Quote:

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at least 2 years after Dell are aware of this problem.

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they haven't done anything about it? I would presume it would require a hardware recall.

There should not be any need to buy recovery software.

Hi All,

Good news, today at boot up the system started to do a check disk. Before it just went to BSOD with the IASTOR.SYS error message. It found some problems and continued on to start windows normally! NO BSOD. Allowing me to backup all that I need and make a disk image.

The system that I have is Raid 0 which is just sharing everything over two hard drives. If I remove any one of the drives the system will not boot as the system files also seem to be across both drives.

The drive is a little noisy and will have to be replaced as I cannot trust it now. I have not seen the IASTOR.sys message and don’t want to see it again.

Never so happy to see my cluttered desktop! Thanks to the support and information I found on this web site.

Thanks again

DeDanan

Hi DeDanan,

Quote:

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The system that I have is Raid 0 which is just sharing everything over two hard drives. If I remove any one of the drives the system will not boot as the system files also seem to be across both drives.

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RAID0 is very unusual for a home PC unless it is a dedicated entertainments system. RAID1 is by far the most common, as it gives you continuous processing security.

Any RAID system still needs backing up as you could lose all the drives in one event.
;)