Liam, Thanks for this detailed advise! I will try these things out. Wish I had the actual tower to hand now so I could sort it all out...
Well at least I can determine if it is a disk problem or not. Thanks again, -- Thanks and regards, Jon Reynolds (j0nr) ---------------------------- http://www.jcrdevelopments.com On Wed, November 30, 2011 14:21, Liam Proven wrote: > > The best way to fix a Windows disk is using Windows, just the same as > the best way to fix a Linux disk is using Linux. > > I've tried NTFSFIX. It can repair some minor problems but for /repair/ > you're better off with the real thing. For data /recovery/ Linux is > fine and possibly better than Windows, which won't mount > badly-corrupted drives. > > Yes, you can put it in an external case, that should work. For such > things, I use an assortment of cheapo external drive adaptor cables, > such as this: > > <http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/22651479/Trixes-2-5-3-5-SATA-IDE-To-USB-Adapter-Cable-For-Hard-Disk-HDD/Product.html?_%24ja=tsid:11518%7Ccat:22651479%7Cprd:22651479> > (This was just the first one Froogle found - it's not a recommendation > or endorsement for Play.com, although I've heard they're good. Never > used them myself.) > > If you have the disk space, before doing anything to the drive, *back > it up.* Either take a whole-disk image, either using DD to a file or > using something like PartImage, or use CloneZilla and copy it to > another (same size or larger) drive. > > *Then* and only then: > > If you have Windows XP or newer on the system, run CHKDSK. > > If you don't have WinXP, you can use the freely-downloadable Windows 7 > Recovery CD. It's an ISO. It won't let you install Win7 but you can > repair Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista/7 hard disks using it. Get it from > here: > http://neosmart.net/blog/2009/windows-7-system-repair-discs/ > > Connect the drive, find its drive letter (e.g. drive E) and type: > > CHKDSK E: /F > > This will repair /data\-level/ corruption. > > If the drive is phyiscally damaged and unreadable, try: > > CHKDSK E: /R > > This *will* take a long time - it tries to reread every single sector. > > To be honest, the symptoms you describe don't sound like mere disk > corruption to me. It sounds like a more serious hardware fault. > Overheating is a very common problem on older PCs. > > The first thing I'd do, after backing up any data, would be to give > the machine a really good clean, especially its fans, using an > airduster (a can of compressed air). Make sure all its fans spin > smoothly, are as dust-free as you can get them, and that the vanes and > fins of the CPU and GPU heatsinks are free of dust and allow > unobstructed airflow. > > Leave it plugged in to the mains but with the mains socket turned > *off* while doing this. This means it's earthed so static buildup > should not be a problem. > > -- > Liam Proven Info & profile: http://www.google.com/profiles/lproven > Email: lpro...@cix.co.uk GMail/GoogleTalk/Orkut: lpro...@gmail.com > Tel: +44 20-8685-0498 Cell: +44 7939-087884 Fax: + 44 870-9151419 > AIM/Yahoo/Skype: liamproven MSN: lpro...@hotmail.com ICQ: 73187508 > -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/