Main Hard Drive problems

yesterday. i tried to start up my pc and got to the windows start up screen when i got a message about a consistency check and then a load of **** about deleting corrupt file records (lots of them) which it does automatically without asking me. then i got a blue system error type screen which then restarts my pc.

so.. on the restart it goes through all the bios fine, but when it comes to my windows startup screen i just get a blank screen.

i've tried the repair installation function on my windows xp disk on boot up and used the fixboot and fixmbr command where i was informed that was a serious error on my boot sector.

anyway.. is my HD completely buggered or will i be able to access stuff on it if i get a new one, install windows on it and set this one as the slave? anyone who helps me recover my stuff I will be in debt to forever as there is a lot of important stuff on there which i can't really afford to lose. thanks in advance

 

I would check to see if the IDE cable is loose or bad. Find the hard drive manufacturer's utilities and test the drive. You may get lucky if the hard drive is failing by slaving it to a new drive that has XP installed on it.

 

Hard Drive Diagnostic Tools

Hard drive diagnostic utilities are used primarily for determining the physical condition of your hard drive, (drive integrity and read/write verification). If you are having computer problems which you suspect are hard drive related, you can test your drive with the following:

• Fujitsu "Diagnostic Tool "
  http://www.fcpa.com/support/hard-drives/software_utilities.html
  
  
• IBM/Hitachi "Drive Fitness Test "
  http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm
  
  
• Maxtor "PowerMax "
  http://www.maxtor.com/portal/site/m...tware Downloads/ATA Hard Drives&downloadID=22
  
  
• Seagate "SeaTools Desktop "
  http://www.seagate.com/support/seatools/
  
  
• Western Digital "Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for DOS (Floppy or CD) "
  http://support.wdc.com/download/index.asp?cxml=n&pid=999&swid=2

Note: In most instances you download the file to your hard drive then (extract)/execute it to create a bootable diskette or ISO CD-ROM image.

If you don't know the Manufacturer/Model# of the hard drive in your computer:

1. Download and install EVEREST Free Edition 2.20
   http://www.majorgeeks.com/EVEREST_Free_Edition_d4181.html
   
   
2. Start Everest and go to Storage > Physical Drives > Drive. To the right of "Drive #1" should be the model number of your drive, (for example "ST3250823AS ").
   
   
3. Type that model number into Google (http://www.google.com) and you should be able to tell who the Manufacturer was.

 

the HD is an IBM deskstar gxp range one I think..

I've bought a new HD. took out the apparently failing one and have put this new one in as the master. I then set about formatting and installing windows on it. however, I again got the blue screen of death about halfway through this on the new hard-drive. all connections are fine. I even replaced the IDE cable just to be sure.

it had this: ***STOP: 0x00000050, 0x00000001, 0x80536E14, 0x00000001 on the blue screen. seeing as this is a brand new HD this really shouldn't be happening, which is making me think it is something else which might be failing. possibly the motherboard.. any clues?