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Hardware and Windows Vista Hardware issues in relation to Windows Vista. (microsoft.public.windows.vista.hardware_devices) |
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Hard Drive Problem
All of a sudden I started getting error messages about a security
infringement (something about a file size mismatch) and then a message about not having genuine Windows. I restarted my computer and an update was supposed to install, but upon start up it hadn't installed and now my 500GB hard drive that has all of my media, documents, photos, etc. isn't working. Windows says it hasn't been initialized, and I know if I initialize it I'll have to reformat it and lose almost 500GB of data. How do I fix this? |
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Hard Drive Problem
Hi,
Bring it to a technician for drive recovery. They should first image the disk to prevent loss of data, then start recovery efforts. The drive itself may have a mechanical failure. -- Best of Luck, Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/ Windows help - www.rickrogers.org My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com "S Murder" wrote in message ... All of a sudden I started getting error messages about a security infringement (something about a file size mismatch) and then a message about not having genuine Windows. I restarted my computer and an update was supposed to install, but upon start up it hadn't installed and now my 500GB hard drive that has all of my media, documents, photos, etc. isn't working. Windows says it hasn't been initialized, and I know if I initialize it I'll have to reformat it and lose almost 500GB of data. How do I fix this? |
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Hard Drive Problem
Seeing as how the drive was working fine (I was in the middle of watching a
downloaded TV show) and then I got a bunch of Windows error messages and the drive only disappeared after restart, this sounds like it's probably Window's fault. Before I take it to a technician, I'd like to first find out if there's any software solutions. The drive still shows up in the BIOS, Device Manager, and Disk Manager, and I'm pretty sure most hardware problems would prevent the drive from working at all. "Rick Rogers" wrote: Hi, Bring it to a technician for drive recovery. They should first image the disk to prevent loss of data, then start recovery efforts. The drive itself may have a mechanical failure. -- Best of Luck, Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/ Windows help - www.rickrogers.org My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com "S Murder" wrote in message ... All of a sudden I started getting error messages about a security infringement (something about a file size mismatch) and then a message about not having genuine Windows. I restarted my computer and an update was supposed to install, but upon start up it hadn't installed and now my 500GB hard drive that has all of my media, documents, photos, etc. isn't working. Windows says it hasn't been initialized, and I know if I initialize it I'll have to reformat it and lose almost 500GB of data. How do I fix this? |
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Hard Drive Problem
Hi,
Run a disk check (chkdsk) on the drive. You can also download a drive integrity check from the drive manufacturer and use it to assess the state of the drive. By the way, your added comments on what happened only supports what I believe to be the problem. The electronics (circuit board) are working, the disks have failed. That's why it shows in the BIOS and DM, but is not accessible. -- Best of Luck, Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/ Windows help - www.rickrogers.org My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com "S Murder" wrote in message ... Seeing as how the drive was working fine (I was in the middle of watching a downloaded TV show) and then I got a bunch of Windows error messages and the drive only disappeared after restart, this sounds like it's probably Window's fault. Before I take it to a technician, I'd like to first find out if there's any software solutions. The drive still shows up in the BIOS, Device Manager, and Disk Manager, and I'm pretty sure most hardware problems would prevent the drive from working at all. "Rick Rogers" wrote: Hi, Bring it to a technician for drive recovery. They should first image the disk to prevent loss of data, then start recovery efforts. The drive itself may have a mechanical failure. -- Best of Luck, Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/ Windows help - www.rickrogers.org My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com "S Murder" wrote in message ... All of a sudden I started getting error messages about a security infringement (something about a file size mismatch) and then a message about not having genuine Windows. I restarted my computer and an update was supposed to install, but upon start up it hadn't installed and now my 500GB hard drive that has all of my media, documents, photos, etc. isn't working. Windows says it hasn't been initialized, and I know if I initialize it I'll have to reformat it and lose almost 500GB of data. How do I fix this? |
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Hard Drive Problem
I found the problem. The disk that Windows said wasn't initialized was the
spare 500GB drive I haven't formatted yet, and the drive with all the data wasn't having the correct driver applied to it on start up (which is weird because the uninitialized disk is the same make and model of the one that wasn't installed properly). How do I make sure that my drives are installed correctly upon start up? "Rick Rogers" wrote: Hi, Run a disk check (chkdsk) on the drive. You can also download a drive integrity check from the drive manufacturer and use it to assess the state of the drive. By the way, your added comments on what happened only supports what I believe to be the problem. The electronics (circuit board) are working, the disks have failed. That's why it shows in the BIOS and DM, but is not accessible. -- Best of Luck, Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/ Windows help - www.rickrogers.org My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com "S Murder" wrote in message ... Seeing as how the drive was working fine (I was in the middle of watching a downloaded TV show) and then I got a bunch of Windows error messages and the drive only disappeared after restart, this sounds like it's probably Window's fault. Before I take it to a technician, I'd like to first find out if there's any software solutions. The drive still shows up in the BIOS, Device Manager, and Disk Manager, and I'm pretty sure most hardware problems would prevent the drive from working at all. "Rick Rogers" wrote: Hi, Bring it to a technician for drive recovery. They should first image the disk to prevent loss of data, then start recovery efforts. The drive itself may have a mechanical failure. -- Best of Luck, Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/ Windows help - www.rickrogers.org My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com "S Murder" wrote in message ... All of a sudden I started getting error messages about a security infringement (something about a file size mismatch) and then a message about not having genuine Windows. I restarted my computer and an update was supposed to install, but upon start up it hadn't installed and now my 500GB hard drive that has all of my media, documents, photos, etc. isn't working. Windows says it hasn't been initialized, and I know if I initialize it I'll have to reformat it and lose almost 500GB of data. How do I fix this? |