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Thread ID: 30077	2003-02-10 01:17:00	Hard Disk Fail	pluto (2246)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
119859	2003-02-10 01:17:00	My system freezes up ocassionally now and after few seconds of hanging up, reboots. Then during startup after memory test BIOS reports: Primary Hard Disk Fail. And resetting the system still shows up the message. But when i turn the power off and turn it on again after awhile then there doesnt seem to be any problem. Windows XP boots fine and works well for hours sometimes until the same thing happens again. I know the hard disk fails while Winodws is running and then freezes up, but i dont know why it happens or if it is a windows problem. Can anyone help me here. The hard drive is Fujitsu MPD 3064AT (6Gb). I have enabled HD SMART and dont get any error messages upon bootup. My Windows XP runs on this slave drive. Thankx	pluto (2246)
119860	2003-02-10 01:33:00	It may be an intermittent fault . :D :_| The disk may be a bit slow to reach full speed . Have you got power saving options set so that the disks might be powered down after a bit of inactivity? Try setting the BIOS so you don't get "Fast POST" . And turn off any power saving which affects the disk . Looking at your posting again, I see that it is OK after a "Big Red Switch" reboot, and not after a warm boot . I suspect that it is a slow startup disk, so the longer time it is given in a full POST is enough . So try the Power Save options first .	Graham L (2)
119861	2003-02-10 03:55:00	Test the drive using the utility available from Fijitsu	Merlin (503)
119862	2003-02-10 04:28:00	hi ya I have the same problem with my other pc. every - say - 3rd day, on boot up, it cums up "primary Hard disk" fail, a reset does nothing, but powered off for about 10min usually works, its been like this for the last month or so, i have just got a new harddrive (for my main PC) and i was going to put my old hardrive into the pc with probs this weekend. Is the HDD stuffed? cos i was just going to chuk it out? i have a maxtor 9gb cheers	fergie (424)
119863	2003-02-12 10:18:00	Thankx Graham, I did check the power options but its disabled. And i dont think its on fast POST as the problem crops up while Windows is running (the whole system freezes and then rebbots). After reboot i then get the primary slave fail message. From cold boot (pwr off) i dont get the fail message. Fergie, i dont know if your drive is stuffed, but maybe its also something to do with power supply. I suspect for my system with its 250W PS cannot cope with the load it has and occassionally maybe it suffers from some sort of "brown out". I have 2 HD and CDR&DVD. Anwways i havent had the problem since my last post so i hope it stays that way! Cheers	pluto (2246)
119864	2003-02-12 11:43:00	It may have something to with the heat.	mikebartnz (21)
119865	2003-02-12 19:54:00	The answer is: That Fujitsu's are sh*te. Sorry, but the company I work for which repairs Ultra PC's locally has had almost all their old stock come in with exactly that problem or total failure. Fujitsu had a HUGE batch of IDE controller chips go out which usually begin failing after 320 hours of burn in time. If they get past that then sometimes you are okay. On average we get around 4 a week, and even replacing them early last year with other Fujitsu's have had them come back again. They ranged from 4GB to 40GB and now Ultra (along with Compaq) apparently are tryig to take Fujitsu to court for now dishonouring their warranty on them.. Now replacing these machines with first Maxtors (had a small number fail) and now Seagates we have had no more faults from customers. I am talking about literally HUNDREDS of PC's that have come through with dead or Dying Fujitsus. As you were saying - we have had errors similar to yours including PC's which run fine for a while then BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) and then seem to go fine again. Apps crashing etc.. We replaced the HDD's as knew drives were most likely on their way out & it fixed it. I can't emphasise this enough after one not long ago came in where a business lost all its financial records. BACK UP DATA OFF THE HARD DISK!. Unfortunately for Ultra - although good PC's that our Parent company sells has been given a bad name by 3rd party HDD's. Of course no company (apart from the likes of IBM) sell PC's with their own brand of HDD.	kiwistag (2875)
119866	2003-02-12 20:03:00	Have you checked that the IDE cable is securely fitted at both the HDD and mobo end, and that the power cord fits snugly into the Hard Drive?	Chilling_Silence (9)
119867	2003-02-12 20:12:00	Fergie, some hard disks become 'sticky' and intermittently (at first) fail to spin up. Take the side of the computer before switching on, and listen for the HDD motor when powering up. If you don't hear it spin, the HDD is on the way out - the sticking tends to get worse until it is terminal.	wuppo (41)
119868	2003-02-12 20:23:00	I think I've owned 7 hard disks over last 12 or so years. All still going fine except for one (Quantum 240mb) that packed it in entirely after about 2 years. But that was 2nd hand and I didn't know its history It had a couple of real powerful magnets inside that are excellent for any (non HDD) magnetic jobs, such as picking up nails etc. Thus all is not lost entirely (although unfortunately data may be,).	rugila (214)
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