Possible hard drive failure

Robb · #1 12th Sep 2008, 05:30

Hi Guys, I have a Packard Bell Laptop which appears to have a problem with the hard drive.
Yesterday, it came up with the blue screen message 'unmountable boot drive' (or along those lines).
No changes had been made to the computer, and it was working perfectly the night before.
I spoke to PB Technical support line, who said it didn't sound like the hard drive, but suggested downloading a diagnostic boot disc.
I did this and ran the hard drive check, but it won't complete the test, it just stops.

I've now removed the drive and put it into portable usb case.
The other computer recognises it as a drive, says it is working ok, but there in no information or space showing. I think it might just be seeing the USB interface.

My main issue is, there is ALOT of files on it I really don't want to lose, so is there a way to retrieve them?
I'd be really grateful for any help!

**philthomas** · #2 12th Sep 2008, 06:06

It sounds like a damaged file system, preventing the drive from being mountable.

Assuming this is XP, boot with the XP Installation Disk and enter Recovery Console.
At the command prompt, type chkdsk /r , and hit ENTER
When finished (this may take a long time) type exit and hit ENTER
This should restart the Laptop and after a little while, if the repair has been successful,. it will boot into XP as normal.

Robb · #3 12th Sep 2008, 06:14

Thanks for the reply Phil!
My next problem is, I don't have any XP discs, I don't think the laptop came with any.
The XP on the computer is genuine.
Will any XP disc work on it, or can I download it?

**philthomas** · #4 12th Sep 2008, 07:34

Any disk of the same version (Home or Pro) should work for Recovery, as long as it's not an earlier version ...... try and borrow one from a friend or ?

Robb · #5 14th Sep 2008, 08:03

Thanks for the advice, a lengthy session with a borrowed XP disc seems to of put it right. Phew!

I've saved everything on the hard drive, and am thinking of trying to put the computer back to how it was when I bought it, as it's very slow.
Is there an easy way of doing it?

**philthomas** · #6 14th Sep 2008, 10:35

I believe you can do this, on HP Laptops, by pressing F11 at start up .... assuming you haven't reformatted the drive or re-installed XP from another source.