Urgent help needed! (long)

Europa2010AD · Post by **Europa2010AD** » Thu Oct 21, 2004 10:49 pm

I cannot boot into windows anymore. My computer runs in Windows XP Pro. Below is the full story (I know it's a long story, but this problem is rather unusual and therefore I need to explain every bit of detail):

I bought my computer (and harddisk) about a year ago. It's a SATA Maxtor 80GB harddrive (I don't have the exact model number with me right now, but I dont' think it matters). It has been running perfectly until this morning. I was browsing the web, and then all of a sudden, I got a windows blue screen saying "IRQ less or not equal". I knew right away that some of my harddrive's file structure was going to be corrupted because of this.

After I got the blue screen, I restarted my computer, and I went STRAIGHT to the Windows Recovery Console (No loading into windows after restart). I ran "chkdsk c: /r" there and when it was done, it said it found and corrected one or more sectors in my harddrive. So, since everything appears to be fixed, I restarted my computer again.

I logged into Windows XP Pro successfully, and was able to run softwares normally. I decided to run a file defragment using Diskeeper Pro v8 on my C: and my G: (my C: is where Windows is installed, G: is just a file storage partition. Both are in NTFS). Both partitions defraged without problem. Then I noticed some part of the G: is still fragmented, so I ran the defragment again. This time, after the process was at 2%, it just stuck there with my harddrive light led constantly. After waiting for a while, I stopped it and ran it once more. Again, stuck at 2% with HDD light led constantly.

At this point, I should point out that there has been no HDD mechnical failure symptoms. None at all.

So I restarted my computer. This time, when the BIOS was running the memory check and system check, it says it detected my primary and secondary IDE devices, which were my DVDR and CDRW drives. When it comes to detectcing my 4th primary IDE master device, however, it says it detected a Maxtor SATA HDD, with an error line saying "S.M.A.R.T. detected: Capable but command failure". After that screen, it tried to load up windows, but then it said "boot.ini cannot be loaded. Trying to boot from C:\windows\". Then the next screen says "The file 'hal.dll' in the windows/system32 directory is missing or corrupted. Try copying or replacing the file and restart again".

So, I restarted and ran Windows Recovery Console. Once there, I tried to run "chkdsk c: /r" again. This time, it says "device is empty or not plugged in". So I ran "diskpart" to see what's wrong with my partitions. In there, it showed that it detected 4 partitions (which is correct), but it couldn't detect what file format they are in (should be all NTFS). It even showed that each partition is completely empty (which shouldn't be)!

Then again, I restarted my computer, went into BIOS, and disabled S.M.A.R.T. for my harddrive and restarted again.

This time, I didn't get the aforementioned S.M.A.R.T. error message. Yet I got the same windows error message again (which means I still cannot load into windows).

Now with S.M.A.R.T. disabled, I ran into Recovery Console again. When I ran "diskpart" again, to my surprise, it detected one of the partition (not C: ) is NTFS with the correct total and used size. This partition is a storage partition therefore there's no operating system installed in it. The C: partition remained just as before.

Then ..... I am out of ideas. I am almost completely certain that it is not a mechanical problem on the harddrive, since I was able to reboot into windows after the first time I ran "chkdsk c: /r" (after getting the blue screen). In the Recovery Console, I have basically tried out every available command, "fixmbr", "fixboot", "bootcfg", etc. with no results. I am actually suspecting that it had something to do with the webpage I was browsing. I have heard that there are webpages that contain malicious codes that can screw up your system.

So, if you have read all the way up to this point, I'd like to say a big thank you, even if you don't know how to help me. If you have any idea how to solve this, it would be very much appreciated.

Joel · Post by **Joel** » Thu Oct 21, 2004 11:19 pm

Are you overclocking?

if so, back it off. I had the exact same IRQ_NOT_EQUAL_OR_LESS message over OCing too high..

most say it's just drivers though. Try resinstalling if you haven't.

Europa2010AD · Post by **Europa2010AD** » Fri Oct 22, 2004 1:09 am

Nope, no overclocking at all.

Drivers for ... my harddisk?? Is there such a thing?

Joel · Post by **Joel** » Fri Oct 22, 2004 2:04 am

Europa2010AD wrote:Nope, no overclocking at all.

Drivers for ... my harddisk?? Is there such a thing?

Not so much the HD, but the controller.

Norm · Post by **Norm** » Fri Oct 22, 2004 6:31 am

It might be the driver for the controller, it might be a few other things as well. Possibly even a failing drive.

Could be a bad power supply, or a bad connection (hd cable).
First, reseat the hd cable, both ends. Second, try a new power supply.

Seems an awful lot like the problem I had before my old drive died. Turned out that the power supply was losing it's strength, and slowly took my drive down with it.

Post by **YeOldeStonecat** » Fri Oct 22, 2004 7:09 am

Europa2010AD wrote:Nope, no overclocking at all.

Drivers for ... my harddisk?? Is there such a thing?

There are drivers for your hard disk. But...having a blue screen error of "driver_less_or_not_equal" is not referring to a hard drive driver, it could be any driver. It's not related to IRQ's in hardware either, as many think, you know, in Device Manager where your hardware devices have IRQs and I/Os. It's an Interrupt ReQuest in your memory for the driver to load in. There are usually numbers after the error, which can help point to what device is trying to load the bad driver.

But, if a bad driver were the issue, you'd get that same error all the time. You seemed to be getting random OS issues, quickly leading to a failing drive. I believe your issue is hardware related, most likely a failing drive.

Overclockers can get that error because the system is running too fast for some of the hardware to remain stable (such as memory)...so naturally some system files, such as drivers, can get corrupted when loading into unstable memory, or the CPU is pushed too far and scrambles up some of those zeros and ones as it's shoving them into memory.

Things to troubleshoot further though:

...IDE ribbon cables used to be known for failing somewhat easily, usually from being improperly removed..pulled off of drives. But SATA cables, seem to be built as to avoid physical failure, they're nice 'n thick. Try reseating the SATA cable and the power cable.

...BIOS of your motherboard, sometimes SMART has problems with some drives, and BIOS flashes can fix those.

Europa2010AD · Post by **Europa2010AD** » Fri Oct 22, 2004 11:37 am

First of all, thank you so much for your replies. You guys simply amazes me with your quick responses (I posted the same original question over at opentechsupport.net, and I still haven't got a single reply up to this moment).

If my power supply is slowly loosing its strength, it can take out the harddrive with it?? How does that happen?

You guys said my issue is mostly likely due to a failing harddrive. Aren't there always some sort of symptoms before the HDD goes to a complete failure (clicking, mechanical noises, for instance)? I have been using this HDD for about 10 months now and I have not noticed any weird sounds coming from it. Also, as I have mentioned in my original post, the Recovery Console partially identified all four of my HDD partitions. Doesn't that mean the harddrive is not failing?

Of course, I can be completely wrong since when it comes to computer hardwares, I am a complete novice.

Do you guys think the data in my harddrive will be recoverable? There are a lot of valuable data stored in it and the last thing I want to do is a total refomat.

I will definitely try out the troubleshooting methods you guys suggested when I get home tonight. I will let you guys know what happens afterwards.

[EDIT: As for flashing the BIOS thing... is that going to help? Because the HDD was running with S.M.A.R.T. enabled ever since I first bought it, and I actually did flash my BIOS with the lastest version just a couple of months ago ...]

Europa2010AD · Post by **Europa2010AD** » Sun Oct 24, 2004 4:30 pm

I've just tried reseating the SATA cable and flashing the BIOs. Still no luck with the harddrive. In fact, I tried formatting the C:. It was doing the job just fine (although taking a lot longer than normal) but somewhere along the way it says it cannot continue formatting the partition because the HDD is either damaged or not plugged in.

I don't understand ... if the computer can detect the correct partitions, doesn't that mean it is working? It also detected one of the partitions with the correct file format and size .... I don't know, perhaps I am just trying to resist the idea that the HDD has indeed failed...

I've heard stuff about HDD-destorying viruses. Could this be the reason to my problem? How exactly do these viruses work to render HDDs completely unusable?

aagiants · Post by **aagiants** » Mon Oct 25, 2004 1:48 am

try to remove all un neccesary hardware, ie extra memory and sound cards etc, this will get ride of drivers and extra power

ghettoside · Post by **ghettoside** » Mon Oct 25, 2004 2:10 am

see if you can dwnld a diagnostic disk for the hdd from maxtor site.
seagate has a hdd diagnostic disk you can dwnld, and there is an option to test non-seagate drives, however, for non-seagate drives it will pretty much only perform read-write tests and look for smart flags but it'll be a start. it won't be able to determine if your non-seagate drive is operating within normal parameters for the particular hdd.
i agree that it likely is a hardware related problem.
fyi, a bad power supply can hose the box.

any stop errors that you get, write them down. if you then search ms you can determine what device is causing the error. once i worked on a box that had been running win 98. 3 times xp install halted on reboot, i looked up the stop error # on ms and turned out it was toshiba ram, incompatible with xp.

Europa2010AD · Post by **Europa2010AD** » Mon Oct 25, 2004 2:18 am

Other than my wireless network card, a DVDR drive and a CDRW drive, I can't think of anything else that I can unplug. You said extra memory .. are you referring to RAM as well? i have 2x 516mb RAM sticks installed ...

I'll try out the hdd diagnostic disk when I get home tonight.

As for the power supply ... when I checked in the BIOs, it appears that the voltages are sufficient for both the "5V" and "12V" categories -- the numbers are higher than 5v and 12v. Does that mean the power supply is doing its job?

ghettoside · Post by **ghettoside** » Mon Oct 25, 2004 7:29 am

you should check the specs on your mobo (from the manufacturer's site if you don't have the documentation that came with it). see what it should be running at. check if the voltage is within normal parameters, also check what temp the cpu is running at. anything above not within the norm, high or low, is cause for concern.
you say its higher than 5v and 12v- exactly what is it running at?

loop2kil · Post by **loop2kil** » Tue Oct 26, 2004 1:49 pm

yep, i agree with what norm said...seen it before myself...also, try another sata cable.

Europa2010AD · Post by **Europa2010AD** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 3:11 am

I just ran Maxtor's HDD diagnostic tool. My HDD has indeed failed :-(
I guess I am lucky enough that my university offers free data recovery service, which saves me more than $1000US if I am to use a commercial service.

I have just spent some time looking at various voltage readings in my BIOs. The VCORE voltage varies between 1.56~1.58V. The 3.3V reads between 3.12~3.28V. The 5V voltage reads between 5.130~5.187V. The last reading, the 12V, is a bit weird. It varies between 11.673~11.9V, but I have NEVER seen it go over 12V. It usually hangs around 11.7~11.8V. Is this a sign of a failing power supply?

ghettoside · Post by **ghettoside** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 8:33 am

the core voltage seems pretty low. doesn't look good. check the specs on your cpu, find what core voltage the cpu is designed for.
could be a bad power supply, or the capacitor between the ps and the cpu may be bad.
the other readings don't seem too bad.
i gotta run to work.

Europa2010AD · Post by **Europa2010AD** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 1:38 pm

I just checked intel's website for my CPU's specs. I am not sure what the EXACT core voltage requirement for my CPU is, because I have lost the original package for my CPU and there are a few different models for the same clockspeed. Generally, however, the core voltage requires between 1.3~1.5V. So I guess my power supply is working properly.

I think the reason why my HDD has failed after using it for only 1 year is that I ran defragment waaaay too often. I asked around in another forum and people there said defragment would damage your HDD if you over do it. I used to run defragment everytime after I ran Bittorrent, so I guess that screwed up my HDD....

Perhaps I should've listened when people said Bittorrent would damage your HDD ...

spyder003 · Post by **spyder003** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 1:44 pm

Europa2010AD wrote:I think the reason why my HDD has failed after using it for only 1 year is that I ran defragment waaaay too often. I asked around in another forum and people there said defragment would damage your HDD if you over do it. I used to run defragment everytime after I ran Bittorrent, so I guess that screwed up my HDD....

Perhaps I should've listened when people said Bittorrent would damage your HDD ...

Wha? Don't listen to that. Frequent defragging and bittorrent isn't going to ruin your drive.

ghettoside · Post by **ghettoside** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 10:45 pm

i agree. absolutely. defrag will not damage your hdd. can't imagine how a file sharing prog can damage the hdd. you could get a worm or virus, etc. but damage the hdd? i don't think so.

Europa2010AD · Post by **Europa2010AD** » Fri Oct 29, 2004 1:35 am

Hmm .. in that case, what caused my HDD to fail? I checked my power supply and it's working properly, it's not Bittorent ..... then is it possible that I got infected by some sort of virus that killed my HDD? Are there such viruses so powerful that would render the HDD completely unusable? I really need to find out an answer to this, since I am planning to buy a new HDD tomorrow and the last thing I want to do is to repeat the same mistake that caused me my old HDD ...

ghettoside · Post by **ghettoside** » Fri Oct 29, 2004 8:09 am

i've seen plenty of posts here about hdd's failing-for no apparent reason. it just happens sometimes, without there being an identifiable cause.
i heard of a virus (old) that could park the heads way out and then cause the head to crash when you go to use the comp, but i don't know if that applies to modern hdd's.
i'd be more concerned about damage to your OS from file sharing programs (worms). the only fs i use is winmx. i tried MIRC once. got infected.
hdd's aren't that expensive, personally i'd just buy the hdd. it seems your ps is ok.
good luck