Drive Partition...? Corrupt...?

[Felicity]

Quite a while ago I had a problem with my PC, cannot remember what, but had to re-install Windows operating system, etc etc. The person that did it for me also 'partitioned' my hard drive. Whatever for, am not sure, needless to say, I decided to install TS3 on the 'one' half and TS2 on the other.

For the last couple of weeks my PC has been giving me 'disk read error' and shutting down/freezing. I have now discovered that the one 'partition' which had my TS2 loaded on is corrupt!!!! What now?

Is there a way to 'clean it up' or do I have to replace my hard drive?

Felicity

[CharlieChomper]

The first thing to do is to go to the site of the hard drive manufacturer and see if they have a diagnostic tool for hard drives (most companies do--the reason I recommend the drive's manufacturer is that typically, you get a more accurate idea into whether there's a problem or not with the drive as the manufacturer will have the specs on their own drives but may not be able to account for things on a drive made by someone else or may even misread things).

Ideally, the utility involved should be run through a bootable means (ie CD, USB drive, etc.--and in the "olden days", floppy disks) versus via the operating system to account for system resources and provide a more accurate reading. However, these days, that's almost impossible to find as the tools are now being released to be run via the operating system.

Once you've downloaded and installed it, I would strongly recommend running it more than once (I speak from experience after having had this happen in the past).

If there is no tool to be found via the manufacturer, let me know as there's something else that can be tried to see what's going on with your hard drive.

Also, is the partition that Sims2 on the first or second partition?

[Felicity]

CC, I installed TS2 on the '2nd' half... Please excuse my computer terminology, am not a 'fundi' with these things.

Let me tell first how I discovered that something was wrong. I wanted to play TS2, (Apartment Life being the latest Xpack). Loaded the disc, but it wanted me to install it! Confused to say the least, I checked in my programs, (Add or remove programs section) and all TS2 programs listed had all those little 'gears' icons next to them!

Then I checked back to open the drive to see if TS2 was there (It was drive E and it used to have my name, but now just says 'local disk') it gives me the big red X, and tells me file/directory is corrupt or unreadable. Not sure about what was happening, I went and removed all those little 'gears' from that section.

I am such a and a blonde at that too, at this, so please excuse my ignorance CC.

CC, thank you so much. You were the first person I thought of when I realised something was wrong! I will let you know the manufacturer of the hard drive when hubby returns later today.

Felicity

[CharlieChomper]

Absolutely no need to apologize! If anyone should be apologizing, it's me for getting into things the way I had. Sorry about that!

There are three basic ways of locating who the manufacturer of the drive is without opening up the computer. One of the easier methods is to go into your Windows control panel and to click on where it says "system". There should be a panel there that lists your hardware profile, including the type of drive you have in there (along with the serial number sometimes--which I would not recommend posting, obviously).

Sometimes you may see the brand name listed or else just a few letters (for example, Western Digital drives can be easily spotted as they typically start with "WD/WDC"--you'll see this included in the profile for the drive as well).

I posted a thread that should provide some more information about the diagnostic tools and where to find them. Most manufacturers do have instructions on how to use them as well.

Also, how old is this drive?

[Felicity]

I hope I looked in the correct place. I selected Control panel/System/Hardware/Device manager. Hope it is the right place.

Then clicked the little '+' sign under 'Disk drives' and it says "SAMSUNG HD...(some numbers)..... SCSI Disk Device.

CC, am not sure how old the hard drive is. I have had it at least, for about 4 years at a wild guess.

Felicity

[CharlieChomper]

Based upon what you just posted, as it appears to be a Samsung, you would need to obtain the tool from them to check what may be going on with the drive.

There's a thread at the top of this section that I had posted and Kiri was kind enough to sticky that contains a link to where you can find and download it from Samsung's site.

Unless your computer still has a floppy disk drive (and you have any spare floppy disks--which given the era of the drive, would be unlikely), the version you would need to download is the CD version, which you will need to make a CD from.

While the directions mostly involve the floppy disk version on there, there is also a version for CDs as well which you can use--the only real difference aside from the media used is how to access it. There are also screenshots on their site for it as well.

Also, regarding the warranty, there should be a way of checking on their site as to how long it was/is for with respect to the drive--they tend to have different policies depending upon region (partly due to differences in law).

However, regardless, I'd still recommend running the tool to see what's going on with the drive regardless of the warranty situation!

[Felicity]

Thank you so much CharlieChomper. Apologies that I have taken so long to respond, but have had to go and spend some days with my mum as she isn't well. She is still not too good, but I had to get back home sometime.

I shall let you know what happens further with the hard drive...

Felicity

[CharlieChomper]

Take your time!

I really hope your mother's health improves!

[Felicity]

After much deliberation, we decided to delete the partition, and try reformatting, which still prompted the 'bad' sections, hubby has decided to purchase a new HD. I think perhaps it is better, as it would have probably given more problems down the line, and it is a few years old already. So I guess, it is back to the complete 're-install' of everything.

I even tried to make a copy of my sims saved games/downloads, but that failed somewhat too, with the red error message "bad" 'something or other'. (apologies, my computer literacy isn't too good. )

Thank you for well wishes for my mum! She is not completely back to normal, but she is 79 years old, but she is a strong lady!

Felicity

Edited to add: Hubby has just informed me that the new HD is a Seagate 500 Gig..

[CharlieChomper]

Hope your mother continues to get better!

Has he already placed the order?

The reason I ask is because Seagate drives haven't been as reliable as they used to be in a number years (at least, not since Maxtor bought them out) and my concern is over having a similar situation occur--or have it happen down the road sooner rather than later.

[Felicity]

Oh dear, I think I am too late! He had already purchased it locally and it was installed last night. Operating system has been installed and I am in the process of installing Sims3.

Thanks for the information CC. It has a two-year guarantee so if it does give problems I can replace! that it does not happen, because just the thought of all the installing of software again, and updates, etc, etc makes my mind boggle!

Thank you so much for all the help and good advice! It is much appreciated indeed!

Felicity

[CharlieChomper]

You're very welcome!

Also, I have to add it's actually quite unusual for any hardware company of any sort (especially hard drives) to offer that kind of warranty these days--although, obviously, I'm hoping it never comes to having to make use of it!