NTFS drive problems

[wookie]

Hey all,
Got a problem here with my "F: drive.
Worked fine until all of a sudden the drive was not working properly.
I have Windows XP and it is an 80GB hard drive NTFS. It is not the operating system hard drive.
I did a windows doctor run and it failed. I did a diskscan and it got to phase 5 and then said it could not continue and sorry but I forgot why. But I figured I would restore a week earlier when all was fine. So when I booted up the system windows popped up saying " F: drive has a problem and it is recommended to check the drive for consitency" I did this and it went through 3 steps deleting some orphan files and then locked up.
I had to turn the power off to start again. It did the same thing so I averted the diskcheck and the restore did not work either???
Any ideas what to do here.......... or had anybody else had this problem. If possible I hope i can fix it or else the dreaded have to put it all on disk and get a new hard drive..............
Hope not..........

[Jazz]

wookie, is it a totally separate physical disk, or a partition of the 80G HDD? From what I have read, it would appear to be a totally separate drive. Is that correct?

If so, dl the HDD's manufacturers diagnostic tool and run it.

Post back with results.............

[wookie]

Jazz,
It is not partitioned. Just an extra disk for space. The only operations system I use is on my main drive "C" drive.
I really don't follow you on what the "dl the HDD manufacturer's diagnostic tool" is or how to run it?? Please explain to me more detailed.
Thanks again for you help.!!

[Jazz]

No problem...

Dl the following free app that details your HDD make and model, along with a lot more information, if you do not know it: -

Belarc Advisor - Free Personal PC Audit (version 6.1f)

Then browse to your HDD manufacturer and enter your model number and basically locate the relevant Diagnostic Tool for your particular model.

Dl the tool and run the tests provided on F. You will then know for sure whether your F drive is failing, etcetera.

Personally, as this has happened to me whilst my Maxtor was under guarantee, I backed up critical data and then ran the tests, full well knowing my HDD was about to 'reach for the sky'.

[wookie]

Jazz,
I did what you said and found out it must be a SMART error. It said it failed on the Belarc Advisor.
I got a little scared on the accepting terms to use the diagnostics test. Are you sure it is okay to use??
Maybe I should empty the drive and re-format it first.......?

[Jazz]

All a HDD manufacturers Diagnostic Tool is going to do is establish the condition of your F drive and to see if it can possibly repair it. Just DON'T DO the Low Level Format option, otherwise everything will be lost. LOL

At the end of the day, most things in life come with Terms and Conditions, Disclaimers, etcetera.

However, saying that, I advise you to, as I did, backup all important data, reports, documents, movies, songs, etcetera, first, to be on the safe side.

Good luck....................