HDD, dir/s/a failed?

hi guys, I have question.
my step:
Harddisk , BIOS auto detect.
BOOT FROM CD, after BOOT, C: is avaible, DIR can show result.
but , I use DIR/S/A
failed? mean if DIR bottom (total of files/folder) NO this string.

why? is my HDD some problems? or HDD maybe died?

any idea please!

 

What Cd you are booting from ? What's the OS on the hdd ?

It could be as simple as some logical error [chkdsk can take care of that] or as serious as the hdd failing. Download & run your hdd manufacturers utility.

 

Hi

reinforcing what rsinfo says

the command line interpreter you are using will depend upon the CD you have booted from, and may not support those switches. Some "nearly-DOS" command interpreters don't. There are a whole bunch of "nearly-DOS" replacements (FreeDOS, DR-DOS, etc., etc.), and they all have their own particular quirks.

if DIR is working OK and shows C:\ has subfolders, try CDing to some of the subfolders - if you can DIR the subfolders without hassle, then the HDD is probably OK

best wishes, HJ.

 

afaik, DIR/S/A is very simple to check file and status.
if chkdsk/f finish, in that folder that files can backup ?
after finish backup. again LOW FORMAT is good way?

 

Hi koolss

just because DIR /S /A didn't show you what you expected, it does not necessarily mean that the hard drive has failed ! Really

we really need to know what CD you are booting from; and we really need to know what OS is on that hard drive, in order to be able answer your questions properly.

chkdsk does one thing under XP; it something very different under DOS! If your boot disk is providing a version of DOS, then you would need to be using scandisk instead of chkdsk! We can't advise you what to do, or not to do, without knowing what we are dealing with.

I just tried booting from an old copy of Seagate's disk tools, they run Caldera DRDOS (which is quite similar to MS-DOS, but not the same); if I do a DIR /S it shows me the system files, not the subfolders!

==

a low level format is very rarely needed; normal format (full format, that is) is almost always what you want to do.

a low-level format doesn't mend file systems!

caution! - if you have a hard drive from one manufacturer, and use disk tools from a different manufacturer, performing a low-level format may even possibly trash the hard drive, perhaps irreversibly.

do you have any other reason (apart from the DIR /S /A issue) to suspect there is anything wrong with the hard drive?

best wishes, HJ

 

how to find out which OS your boot disk is providing

Hi again

how to find out which OS your boot disk is providing:

get to the prompt which you used to type in your DIR /S /A; but instead, type in VER and hit return

this will most probably give you useful information

(if it doesn't, there are a couple of other things we could try; but best to try VER first)

let us know what you get, please

best wishes, HJ

 

thanks, this "maybe problem HDD" connect SATA port2 is no installed any OS. is only storge data.
when for each need find files, general used CMD: dir/s/a *.* to found.
CMD that DIR, very quickly, good job!

but now, DIR/S/A failed. I unhappy, file is here? or died? because NO BACKUP. only this orginal data...

OS is runing XP PRO SP3.
first, "maybe died HDD" connect computer, in windows mode, cmd, DIR/S/A failed result.
I think HDD died?

So next step: BOOT FROM CD , use http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

DIR is OK.
goto maybe problem folder, said error.

now, used what to fix? chkdsk ?

 

Hi koolss

sorry, we crossed in the post!

thanks for the info "storage data on the drive" - useful; as is knowing that you run XP

the other thing which might be useful, is if you can tell us whether you formatted that storage data drive with NTFS or with FAT32

==

...but this bit's more important

to answer about chkdsk vs. scandisk, we need to know what OS that ultimate boot disk is providing

could you try the VER thing (see my post above) please

the answer to that will allow us to tell what you need to do next!

thanks

best wishes, HJ.

 

I'm so sorry I not clean said I have what ...
hdd drive:seagate 7200.12, only single drive code, C: only, 500GB SATA2, NTFS.

now, I will STOP that seagate hdd any action. and this week to buy new 500GB hdd,
do you listen Hitachi brand ? good health ?
500gb is windows xp limited?

because someone said 1TB harddisk, is new design of format....?
need install drive?

When new harddisk ready, first copy all files to new.

 

Hi koolss

getting another HDD as you propose would be a very good way to go! Whichever way it turns out - whether your current HDD is problematic or not - you will win.

It's far easier (and less worrysome) to check out a drive which you suspect may be dodgy, if you have another drive to play with.

By far the most important thing is to rescue your data. Most certainly, before trying to "mend" a file system problem, back up all your precious data!

Securing your data has to be the most important thing to do. If you lose precious data, it hurts (embarrassingly, I've been down that road - once - a very long time ago. I don't intend to repeat the experience).

==

Other folks might differ, of course, but I'd say that 500GB would be ideal for XP; most of the space will taken up by your user data anyway.

Which manufacturer? I'm probably not the best person to ask! But FWIW here's what I've found:

I'm using a right mis-match of hard drives: WD, Hitachi, Seagate and a Maxtor; but I didn't choose because of one manufacturer or another! What I do is go to my local computer shop, where they generally have some OEM drives in brown cardbard boxes - these don't come with cables or tools or anything, but they are a lot cheaper! So I tend to get what's going at any given time ...it simply depends upon what's in the shop I discover who manufactured the drive when I get it home and open the box

regarding the (2) Hitachi drives (320GB) which I have in use: they seem quiet, and run cool; but one of them does throw up the occasional problem, it suddenly "dies" on me - with no warning - simply refuses to access. Rebooting generally restores normal function; occasionally I have to drop the power altogether for a minute. This may well be more to do with the SATA controller rather than the drive itself! I haven't investigated thoroughly, it's so infrequent as not to be a major issue.

re: WD drives: the (3) ones I have here have been seriously hammered for many years, and have served me very well - but now they are getting old they are starting to get a little bit noisy. Which doesn't necessarily mean that WD is worse than other types for noise, just that these are the oldest HDDs that I am still running.

My very oldest WD (30GB was big back then!) has finally developed a bit of an issue - if it's been idle for several months, sometimes it takes a few boot attempts before it "appears ". If I use it every day, it's fine.

==

one thing which has bugged me re: Maxtor / Seagate SATA drives: the tools CD (which seems to be a crippled version of Acronis) refuses to recognise their own SATA drives! I have to temporarily connect a EIDE (PATA) Maxtor to persuade the tools to work.

(several manufacturers' toolkits will only work if they detect at least one HDD of their own make. For example, to get my old WD tools to work, there has to be at least one WD HDD plugged in)

no idea about Hitachi tools - I haven't had occasion to need any yet.

hope this helps

best wishes, HJ

 

Are you placing a space after the r in dir and the / plus s and /?

It should be dir(space)/s(space)/a

 

hi, doing something search, found
(1)Seagate 500GB ST3500418AS SATA II/16MB HDD
(2)Hitachi 500GB HDS721050CLA362 SATA II/16MB HDD
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/storage/display/500gb-hdd-roundup.html

Because my Seagate some problems, now only Hitachi I like.
WD maybe second choice, but (blue or green?) I not sure how to choice,

how about "hitachi" ? some review said maybe not bad?


again: do you know that HDD firmware is need upgrade? when goto shop, need check that firmware?
any idea?

 

Hi koolss

very important question: can you still boot WindowsXP OK?

if you can, then we should be concentrating on trying to mend the file system using XP! (forget the ultimate boot disk, until all XP possibilities tried thoroughly)

from what you've said, it may very well just be a simple file system issue - the HDD itself might be perfectly OK; trying to fix the file system using WindowsXP's own methods is much less likely to damage your data than using anything else (so yes, you were along the right lines with chkdsk /f)...

...BUT I'd suggest you try this easy (and safe) way first:
(in as admin to do this) Windows Explorer > right-click C: and choose Properties, go to the Tools tab, click "Check Now "; don't check either "Automatically Fix Errors" or "Scan and recover bad sectors" to start with, just do the basic check and see what you get. Carried out like this, the test is read-only, so it's highly unlikely that you will damage any data!

You'll probably get some error message(s) - please let us know what you get (or if the operation fails for some reason, then let us know what happens)

After that, the next stage would be to do the same thing, but this time try to fix file system errors (and maybe scan and recover bad sectors). Again it's unlikely that any data would get lost, but as soon as you start to try to fix things you will be writing to the drive, so it is a little bit more "dangerous ".

Of course, if by now you have backed up all precious data, you can simply forge ahead and see what you can fix. And, it may very well "repair" the drive!

If those methods don't cope, the next stage would indeed be chkdsk /f (with the space see below); and then after that we could try using the manufacturer's HDD tools (only as it's a single Seagate SATA that might be difficult - see below)

==

HDD manufacturers' utilities generally include the option to copy all the data from your old HDD onto a new HDD; which sounds wonderful, but this only works if the file system on the old HDD is intact!

==

Whiskeyman is perfectly correct, in that to do it properly you should be putting a space to separate the DIR and the /A, and again before the /S. Indeed, that's the proper way to do it for all DOS-type commands - a good habit to get into doing it "properly"

BUT! the reality of the situation is that the particular command which you have been using (DIR/A/S) works just the same* with or without the spaces; so yes, I do think you do probably have a problem with the file system on that drive.

[SIZE= "1"]*confirmed with DOS6.22; Windows 98SE's DOS; WindowsXP(CMD.EXE); WindowsXP(COMMAND.COM); DR-DOS v7 (old Seagate tools); FreeDOS R1.38 (as on ultimate boot disk 5.0.2)[/SIZE]

==

re: WD HDDs (green / blue / black): it's down to the trade-off between performance, noise, and power. A good explanation is here

==

when choosing which manufacturer's drive to buy, it might be a good idea also to think about what tools are available for the drive as well (remember, using another manufacturer's tools maybe won't work properly, & might even mess things up)

Hitachi tools:
- only support x86 (so if you have 64 bit you're stuck);
- current version doesn't work if motherboard uses ICH9M southbridge

Seagate tools:
- may not recognise a single SATA drive connected to a RAID controller;
- (at least some tools) require .NET framework 2.0

(TBMK)

best wishes, HJ

 

back, I bought Hit 1TB HDD. SATA2

I used diskmgnt.msc to create
primary partitions = 50GB C:
extended partitions = 900GB , full max disk space.
logical drives D:, E: F:, 300GB, 300GB, 300GB.


any advice?

and I format that 1TB hdd size time, need around 3 hours? normal ?