[BC] A puzzling computer problem

[Cowboy]

On Monday 05 December 2005 10:56 am, Kevin Trueblood wrote:
>Something very odd just happened to me, and I'm starting to wonder something:
>
>Is it possible for a hard drive to corrupt a motherboard and/or power supply?

 Yes, and no.
 A power supply can be damaged by a shorted drive, but that's REALLY rare.
 Motherboard, same deal.
 More likely, is that BIOS memory has been fed unworkable values, and
 needs to be reset.

>Here's the scenario:
>
>I bought a Western Digital 80GB drive for a computer a while back.

 IF it's the WD800 Caviar, that particular drive is known for "mechanical failure"
 after a few years.
 It's a money maker for more than just me.
 ( clean room, specialized techniques, rarely runs less that about $1500 for a recovery )

>It took a few times cloning the drive since I couldn't get the computer to boot from it.
>After running FDISK /mbr it booted and has worked fine for about a month.

 Suggests the drive is failing.
 
>Last weekend the computer it was in completely died.  Wouldn't even power up.
>After it sat for a few days for kicks I started it up.
>Well, it powered up, but the BIOS froze before even scanning for drives.
>This computer was about 5 years old, and was in failing health anyway.        

>Yesterday I acquired a faster 1.7Ghz machine that has a little more muscle behind it.
>It had a 60GB drive already in it with Windows XP, and I booted it up and worked
>great with Windows XP.  Because I had a lot of software and files on this 80GB drive
>that I didn't want to copy and reconfigure on a new computer
>(the 80GB has Windows 98SE)

 That's the VFAT or FAT32 file system by default...

>I wanted to use that drive on the new computer.

 Probably not a real good idea, if the drive is more than about 2 years old !

>I got all the drivers that I needed so Windows 98 would run on that new machine.        

>I install the hard drive and it boots up great.
>However, the Windows 98 splash screen shows and it locks up.
>Weird.

 Again, suggests that drive is failing.

>So I double checked the settings and went to boot it up again. 
>Nothing.  It powers up, but I get no screen and no activity.  Double weird.
>I remove the 80GB hard drive and hook the 60GB that came with it up.  Now I get a     

 /snip/

>That's a power supply error, right?

 Depends on which BIOS is in it.
 There are various codes for self-test errors.
 They should be documented on the manufacturers web site.

>It only did that once.  The rest of the time it powers up but then hangs
>without even turning the monitor on.  I see the Network card link light in
>a steady on, off, on, off, in the same rhythm that the computer would be beeping.   
>
>Considering that this happened to a second, perfectly good computer,
>only after I installed a hard drive from dead computer makes me wonder
>if something is wrong with that 80GB drive that could cause it to fail.
>But is that even possible?  Could it corrupt the BIOS?     

 A BIOS virus, and a flashable BIOS chip, ( most bios today ) yes.
 An MBR virus, yes, but not likely before BIOS starts running the disk.

>I'm at a loss here...any insight from the brain trust?

 My bet is that that WD drive has failed, is failing,
 or has picked up a virus.
 None of which is good !

 Remove it from the believed good machine.
 Remove the lithium battery from that machine.
 Short out the battery terminals.
 Let it sit for 15 minutes or so.
 This will insure that the CMOS configurable settings are wiped clean.
 Re-install the lithium battery, and bring it up.
 Re-configure the CMOS set-up to a runable state.
 If it comes up OK, there is definitely something going on with that WD 80gig.

 Next step becomes your choice.
 IF you have a machine that will boot with that drive in it, virus scan it !
 Then, copy any worth-while data off of it REAL soon !
 ( fail that step at your own rather expensive peril ! )

 Since this drive ( assuming it is the WD800 ) is "known" in recovery circles
 for head crashing, after mechanical wear makes it unreliable anyway, bad sectors
 start showing up, and such, I'd be very careful with what you do with that drive.

 Once the heads actually crash, the recovery costs can go up dramaticly, to the
 area of $3K for data that didn't reside on the two platters where the head(s) 
 actually make contact. ( the rest of that platter will be OK, but the head won't,
 and will require a clean room and a new head at a minimum, before recovering
 what can be recovered, and then pitching the drive anyway )

 Continued use of that drive *could* result in a loss of 1/4 of the data easily,
 and possibly up to 1/2 IF it's the WD800, is failing mechanicly, and you
 continue to try and use it.

-- 
Cowboy

http://cowboys.homeip.net

"You've got to have a gimmick if your band sucks."
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