Hard Drive damaged? Pls help!

[KlumpDud]

I have an HP Pavilion zv5230us running Windows XP.

A few days ago, it started acting really slow (for example opening an explorer window would take 20 seconds). I scanned for viruses and spyware and found nothing. I defragged my HD.

Then, it started acting even slower (e.g. 60 seconds to open up an explorer window or firefox). Then, I got hit with the blue screen of death, and it would restart. This happened 3 times, and now windows won't boot.

When trying to boot, I would get two alternating scenarios:

Scenario 1). Before it gets to Windows it says:

Intel UNDI, PXE-2.0 (build 082)
Copyright (C) 1997-2000 Intel Corporation

For Realtek RTL8139(X)/8130/810X PCI Fast Ethernet Controller v2.13 (020326)
PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable
PXE-M0F: Exiting PXE ROM

Those last two lines (with PXE...) repeatedly flash and it will keep doing this forever until I power off.

Scenario 2). Windows would tell me that it was shuttdown improperly and gives me the choice to start in safe mode, normally, etc. Any of these options caused it to freeze.

Since I had backed up my hard drive, I decided to reformat and do a clean install of Windows using the CD. During setup, I deleted the old partition and created a new partition. Then it started to format the new partition (NTFS) but then gave me this error:

Setup was unable to format the partition. The disk may be damaged.

Make sure the drive is switched on and properly connected to your computer. If the disk is a SCSI disk, make sure your SCSI devices are properly terminated. Consult your computer manual or SCSI adapter documentation for more information.

You must select a different partition for Windows XP.

To continue, press ENTER

I'm not sure where to go from here. Is my hard drive damaged? Is it possible that the hard drive connection needs to be jiggled?

Normally, in a desktop, I would start replugging stuff in, checking cables, etc. However, I'm totally clueless about troubleshooting a laptop. I've never opened it up before.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

[thefultonhow]

Try running a drive fitness test. If the drive checks out okay, zero-fill it and try installing Windows again.

[KlumpDud]

Try running a drive fitness test.
How do I do that?

If the drive checks out okay, zero-fill it and try installing Windows again.
And how do I do that?

Thanks.

[thefultonhow]

Who is the manufacturer of the drive?

[KlumpDud]

How do I check?

[thefultonhow]

Two ways -- either check in the BIOS or take the hard drive out and take a gander.

[KlumpDud]

It's a Toshiba MK8025GAS

[thefultonhow]

There should be a single screw that you have to remove to get to the drive. Look for a door on the side of the laptop, 2.5" by 1" or so, held in by a screw on the bottom.

[KlumpDud]

Update: It's a Toshiba MK8025GAS and the drive is making weird noises, louder than normal.

[thefultonhow]

http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic7602.html

Toshiba - N/A
There are no tools available for Toshiba, but you may be able to use IBM or Maxtor's drive tools as well as other third party programs

Hitachi / IBM - DFT "Drive Fitness Test"
http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/download.htm
Works with all manufacturers

Maxtor "Powermax"
http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/downloads/powermax.htm
Works with all manufacturers

[KlumpDud]

I was able to reinstall XP on it and boot it up, but it's still really slow and after about 5 minutes it will give me blue screen of death and restart.

I'll try using the Powermax but it may crash before I can finish.

[KlumpDud]

All the diagnostic tools I've looked at require making a floppy boot disk. My laptop doesn't have a floppy drive...

[glc]

Make yourself an Ultimate Boot CD. It has everybody's diagnostics on it.

www.ultimatebootcd.com

Basic is all you need.

[KlumpDud]

Allright, I'm running Hitachi's Drive Fitness Test (advanced). What exactly am I looking for when it finishes?

[glc]

If it doesn't pass the test, you will know.

[KlumpDud]

Test Results:

Problem detected on disk drive. Please contact your HDD supplier for additional support.

Disposition code = 0x70

Does this mean my HD is fried and I need to buy a new one?

[thefultonhow]

0x70 apparently means "defective device" -- so yes.

[KlumpDud]

What do guys think of this one? (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822152032)

[glc]

The first thing you need to do is find out from HP how large a drive the bios in that notebook will see. Then you need to buy something other than a Samsung - I don't trust their hard drives yet.

[KlumpDud]

I heard 7200rpm drives have gone down in price lately...what do you think?

[thefultonhow]

No reason for them -- I had a 5400 RPM drive in my last laptop and have a 7200 RPM drive in this one. There's not a whole lot of difference from a seat-of-the-pants point of view.

[KlumpDud]

Roger that

[KlumpDud]

Final update:

Using AutoClave (from the Ultimate Boot CD), I did a 10 pass erase on the disk. I then ran Drive Fitness Test and it's still giving me a device error. Also, I tried to reinstall Win XP one final time after wiping the drive and it's still acting the same.

It's time to put this drive to rest. She's worked hard for me but I have to let go.

I've decided to go with the 5400rpm 120GB Samsung drive cause the size/rpm/price combo can't be beat and it comes with a warranty.

Thanks for all your help guys!

[glc]

Have you verified with HP that it can see a 120gb drive?

[KlumpDud]

They wouldn't given me a freakin straight answer. They just kept trying to get me to buy the same drive.

[KlumpDud]

FYI for all Pavilion owners:

I put in the new 120GB hard drive and it works perfectly.

So the answer is: Yes, the bios will recognize a drive that big.