New HDD required?

[laptox]

I had an issue with a computer playing up - I thought the best thing was to reinstall Vista. Which I did - unfortuntley it didn't boot up. So I tried the install again - this time when I got to the vista screen it couldn't see any hard drives. I am thinking a new hard drive will cure the problem. The BIOS doesn't see the hard drive either, tried restting to optimal defaults - removing the battery. But it still doesn't see any hard drives - its an Acer x3810 - with an Hitchai hard drive --

Any ideas - could it be the hard drive ?

 

[B00kWyrm]

Hmmm ... Does your BIOS offer hard drive diagnostics? (Some do, perhaps not all)
If so, you could start there...

Otherwise, use tools provided by Hitachi (click on this link to download from Hitachi)

Note that this is an iso, which will need to be burned to a cd to make it bootable.
You will then make your CD/DVD drive bootable in your BIOS / System Configuration.
Then run the tools.

This package will tell you if your drive is repairable, or if it should be replaced.
As I recall, it includes SMART diagnostics, as well as low-level repair tools.

 

[laptox]

In case anyones intersted - it was the HDD - ordered a new one off Amazon £33 - fitted - installed vista - doddle !

 

[mailpup]

Thanks for the update, laptox.

 

[B00kWyrm]

Sorry to be slow in responding... I have been offline the last few days.
Were you able to use BIOS diagnostics? Or did you use Hitachi's tools? Or something else?
And, as mailpup said...
Thanks for letting us know your progress.

 

[laptox]

No I just went with my hunch - brought a western digital HDD - all hunky dory

 

[B00kWyrm]

Good deal. WD offers a very good tool-kit for their drives.
for EIDE/PATA: http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=502&sid=30&lang=en
for SATA: http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=606&sid=3&lang=en
If your drive is not one of the Caviar Blue series, you can explore their downloads for the most appropriate match.

You might also like another hard drive tool (for monitoring health) - CrystalDiskInfo (available at CNET)
http://download.cnet.com/CrystalDiskInfo/3000-2086_4-10832082.html

Another tool I like to recommend for monitoring SYSTEM health is Everest.
We have it available for download here...
https://www.techspot.com/downloads/4864-everest-free-edition.html