Did I just lose a HDD?

[beavereater]

So, I bought some new toys. Put the new video card in, wasn't sure it would run as it looked like it was fitting all the way. Also put in my SSD drive. Once in Windows, I tried clearing out all the drivers for the video card (Should've done that first). Once I rebooted, it gave me a "corrupt master file table" error, attempted to fix it with check disk, couldn't be done. Now it's just sitting there waiting to be formatted...

I switched the cables, no difference. I'm about to switch the SATA port it's plugged into, but I doubt that'll be it. What should I do? I have a lot of data on there, stuff I'd rather not get rid of. I have all my photography and video backed up elsewhere so that's good. Still, almost 1.5 GB of info.

Any help...please...with sugar on top.

[jman98]

I can only tell you that you are supposed to update the firmware on every SSD before you install it. Your post doesn't say that you did this, so perhaps you did not know. But it is critical that you do this. The drives unfortunately all seem to ship with problematic firmware so you must upgrade them ASAP (best to do it before installing the OS) or you will have problems for sure. Dead SSDs is one of the most common problems of not upgrading the firmware quickly enough. Almost every review you will find that says something like "My SSD died within days of installing it" is because the firmware was not upgraded.

Your post is unclear about what exactly you did. Did you just add the SSD? Did you install Windows onto it to make it a boot drive? Which drive has this error? How many drives do you have exactly? More details please.

chkdsk usually can't fix this kind of error, but sometimes it can. As I have never had to fix this kind of problem, others will have to suggest tools that you can use. I did read that a complete reformat is one option

[jagabo]

Go back to your original hardware configuration. Boot your Windows CD/DVD and try the repair options. In a worst case scenario you can install Windows on another drive (your new SSD) then use repair tools (unformat, undelete tools) on the corrupt drive and probably recover most of your data.

[usually_quiet]

The SSD's manufacturer may have tools available to help you on their website.

Otherwise, I found this:
http://lifehacker.com/5951822/how-can-i-recover-data-from-a-dead-or-erased-hard-drive

I would try to recover the data first using a bootable Linux CD, and if that fails, I'd try Windows tools such as Recuva. Finally I'd try TestDisk to repair the MFT. The instructions I found at Major Geeks for repairing the MFT with TestDisk said "In the Advanced menu, select your NTFS partition, choose Boot, then Repair MFT. TestDisk will compare the MFT and MFT mirror (its backup). If the MFT is damaged, it will try to repair the MFT using the backup. If the MFT backup is damaged, it will use the main MFT."

[beavereater]

Alright, here's a bit more detail:

I bought a new case, moved everything I had (mobo, card, CPU, 3 HDDs etc). Had a hard time figuring out the fan configurations but got that done. Bought a new video card, SSD drive (First one) and CPU. First, I put the video card in. I booted it up. It tried looking for drivers etc. That's when my PC restart itself (It was going really slow) and that's when the HDD was missing from explorer. I ignored it and installed the proper drivers for the video card and then restarted.

At this point, I'm still running my OS off of one of my big HDDs. I have 2 extra drives for backup. 1 of the extra drives is one that's failed me. I've been messing with it for so long I've got a headache so I've pulled it out, closed up the case and will work on it from the other side panel as I still have to install my CPU.

Go back to your original hardware configuration. Boot your Windows CD/DVD and try the repair options. In a worst case scenario you can install Windows on another drive (your new SSD) then use repair tools (unformat, undelete tools) on the corrupt drive and probably recover most of your data.

I can't go back to the original as I sold the video card. I did pop the SSD out and had just the original 3 HDDs in. Changed cables, SATA slots, still get the error message. BIOS is seeing it. Windows is now telling me that in order to use the disk I need to format it. It's been 12 hours since I started piecing this thing together...I need a bit of sleep but I will be at it again tomorrow.

I did try Testdisk but couldn't find the Advanced Menu.

[beavereater]

ETA: I checked the firmware update for the SSD drive. It's telling me I have the latest firmware...so I guess some are shipped ready to go? Just in case, it's a Vertex 4 / 256GB

[jagabo]

So you have a stable booting system now, you just can't access that one drive?

[DB83]

The biggest mistake you made IMHO was to use CheckDisk.

You will now have to use a file recovery program such as Zero Assumption Recovery (ZAR) to read that 'lost' drive and store the recovered files on to another HDD. If it is only 1.5 gig then it should only take an hour or so. If that HDD is a partition of a larger drive then the other partition(s) will be safe for the time being. You can try to format the 'lost' partition AFTER recovery

[beavereater]

So you have a stable booting system now, you just can't access that one drive?

Correct...but there are other issues (Man I wish I hired someone to put it together).

The video card is suppose to fit the case however near the end, to the back of the case, the card isn't 'in' all the way. I still get an image and everything, but on a couple of times I've had no picture after messing around inside, likely hitting the card. Can't say for certain. My case is a full tower Coolmaster Trooper. I don't know HOW I couldn't fit the gigabyte 660 into the case. Should I elevate the board slightly by unscrewing some parts.

Next, my new CPU is in but I can't for the life of me get the heatsink to lock. I went all out pushing down on the board. My thumbs are red and I'm quite surprised the plastic bit didn't break off. The CPU is running at 24 degrees right now. The heatsink is definitely in place...and my last system, I apparently didn't lock the heatsink in place either and that lasted me a couple of years. Is it absolutely necessary? Is there an easier heatsink to deal with out there?

Tomorrow I start a fresh install of Win 7 on the SSD.

[jman98]

ETA: I checked the firmware update for the SSD drive. It's telling me I have the latest firmware...so I guess some are shipped ready to go? Just in case, it's a Vertex 4 / 256GB

Interesting. Based on all the SSD reviews I have read, this is extremely unusual, but of course there's no reason this can't be true. I have the impression that most manufacturers are too lazy too do this. Maybe the large number of "bad drives" that got returned because the owners didn't update the firmware have convinced some of them to just go ahead and do the updates before shipping as it's less costly.

[jman98]

Next, my new CPU is in but I can't for the life of me get the heatsink to lock. I went all out pushing down on the board. My thumbs are red and I'm quite surprised the plastic bit didn't break off. The CPU is running at 24 degrees right now. The heatsink is definitely in place...and my last system, I apparently didn't lock the heatsink in place either and that lasted me a couple of years. Is it absolutely necessary? Is there an easier heatsink to deal with out there?

Tomorrow I start a fresh install of Win 7 on the SSD.

Again, more details please. What's your CPU? Naming the motherboard too might be helpful. Are you using the stock or a 3rd party heatsink?

I can only tell you that in my limited experience Asus makes motherboards where it's pretty hard to put a cooler on. And I only deal with AMD systems so if you have Intel I can't really offer suggestions.

[usually_quiet]

I did try Testdisk but couldn't find the Advanced Menu.

TestDisk's first menu sets up logging, the second menu selects the HDD, the third menu sets the partition table type, and "Advanced" is one of the selections shown in the fourth menu. However I didn't find a utility under "Advanced" that said it would recover the master file table. Perhaps that option isn't shown unless "Analyse" finds a problem.

[Edit]I finally found the MFT repair option. Select "Advanced" and then select "Boot" from the bottom of the window. "Repair MFT" is one of the options in the next window.

However, I recommend doing data recovery before attempting to repair the MFT.

[beavereater]

Next, my new CPU is in but I can't for the life of me get the heatsink to lock. I went all out pushing down on the board. My thumbs are red and I'm quite surprised the plastic bit didn't break off. The CPU is running at 24 degrees right now. The heatsink is definitely in place...and my last system, I apparently didn't lock the heatsink in place either and that lasted me a couple of years. Is it absolutely necessary? Is there an easier heatsink to deal with out there?

Tomorrow I start a fresh install of Win 7 on the SSD.

Again, more details please. What's your CPU? Naming the motherboard too might be helpful. Are you using the stock or a 3rd party heatsink?

I can only tell you that in my limited experience Asus makes motherboards where it's pretty hard to put a cooler on. And I only deal with AMD systems so if you have Intel I can't really offer suggestions.

CPU is AMD FX 8350. Motherboard is Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5. I'm using the stock heat sink. I swear I put enough pressure on it that at some point I would crack my motherboard even if the heatsink lock would not break.

[DB83]

This is quite confusing. In post #5 you did not mention a new CPU. Only later did that come in to the equation.

If indeed there is a new CPU, as it now appears with the difficulty you appear to experience in fitting the heatsink, I am surprised that Windows even booted. I thought that a new CPU always means a fresh install of the OS. Well that is what I have always done.

I do not think that alone could corrupt a HDD but who knows. Never had an issue with Gigabyte boards and fitting a heatsink. Surely it is quite a simple matter of locating the clip on the holder. If the heatsink is not in place I would have expected the CPU to fry quite quickly.

[beavereater]

I've never done a fresh install on CPU changes. Just me.? I'm thinking I should pick up a new cooler that is bolted in. I can't clamp it down. I've put about as much force as possible. It's in place and not moving but just to be safe I'm going to look at some other options. Then fresh install on ssd drive when that is done.

[fritzi93]

Before you do your fresh install on that SSD, I'd advise you to do a factory reset. Put a jumper on the pins on the back and let it sit a couple hours.

And be absolutely sure your BIOS is set for AHCI mode.

Some OCZ SSDs seem to be a little touchy. Firmware problems usually. But let me tell you my little story:

At some point (after using the SSD in AHCI mode for nearly 2 years) I must have loaded BIOS defaults for some unrelated reason and forgot to set AHCI mode again in the BIOS for my Vertex drive. Your SSD prefers it, although supposedly it does no harm to be in IDE mode. Yeah, supposedly. Anyway, long story short I went through restoring images several times, checking alignment, and finally was about to pitch the drive. Then I remembered AHCI mode setting. Duh!

I had to do the factory reset, as the SSD was totally inacessible by that point. What do you know, it worked. Restored OS image successfully and the SSD has been working with no problems at all for nearly a year now since my troubles. BTW, the drive is nearly 3 years old.

Good luck.

[DarrellS]

So you have a stable booting system now, you just can't access that one drive?

Correct...but there are other issues (Man I wish I hired someone to put it together).

The video card is suppose to fit the case however near the end, to the back of the case, the card isn't 'in' all the way. I still get an image and everything, but on a couple of times I've had no picture after messing around inside, likely hitting the card. Can't say for certain. My case is a full tower Coolmaster Trooper. I don't know HOW I couldn't fit the gigabyte 660 into the case. Should I elevate the board slightly by unscrewing some parts.

Next, my new CPU is in but I can't for the life of me get the heatsink to lock. I went all out pushing down on the board. My thumbs are red and I'm quite surprised the plastic bit didn't break off. The CPU is running at 24 degrees right now. The heatsink is definitely in place...and my last system, I apparently didn't lock the heatsink in place either and that lasted me a couple of years. Is it absolutely necessary? Is there an easier heatsink to deal with out there?

Tomorrow I start a fresh install of Win 7 on the SSD.

I started to chime into your build thread and recommend the Coolermaster CM690 II Advanced but you wanted a full tower. The CM690 II isn't quite as long as the Trooper but it has a bigger MB compartment with plenty of room between the edge of the MB and the HDD compartment so larger graphics cards will fit and connecting cables is easier. My friend bought an Aluminum Coolermaster full tower case which was huge for $200 but I can't find it anywhere. I think it was discontinued at the time which is why he got it so cheap. It has a removable MB compartment so you can assemble everything and slide it back into the case.

Three or four years ago, I bought a controller card and when I installed it, it killed two 500GB drives. It changed the format to RAW somehow. Returned the controller card to the computer guy and he got one drive working but couldn't save the data. It was the end of the day on a Saturday so I decided to download GetDataBack and see if I could recover the other drive over the weekend. Threw my drive in my external enclosure and recovered the data off the drive, formatted to NTFS and restored the data. Could've kicked myself in the @ss for taking the first drive to the computer guy. The drive is in another PC now and I haven't had a problem with it since.

[beavereater]

Before you do your fresh install on that SSD, I'd advise you to do a factory reset. Put a jumper on the pins on the back and let it sit a couple hours.

And be absolutely sure your BIOS is set for AHCI mode.

Good luck.

You mean just put the power cable in without actually using the drive?

Would a Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO CPU Cooler, be an easier install than the stock fan heat sink? Just screw it in without needing to worry about clamping?

[fritzi93]

You mean just put the power cable in without actually using the drive?

No, take it out of the case and use a jumper like you'd use to clear your CMOS or to set an IDE hard drive to master/slave/cable select. Tiny little jumper on the two little pins on the back. Not to be confused with the power or data connections. But anything to short across the pins will work. Even tinfoil. Do not have any cables hooked up.

[DarrellS]

Either the Hyper 212 or the Corsair Hydro Series. I've overclocked with the Hyper 212 with no problems but wished I had one of the Corsair Hydro coolers.

The Coolermaster cases (well, most of them) were made for installing the Hyper 212 (or any bolt on cooler) without having to remove the Motherboard. Just take off the back panel and there is and access hole to tighten up the nuts. I modded an old case to be able to do this years ago. Now the Coolermasters are built this way and the reason why Coolermaster is the only case I'll buy.

[fritzi93]

If you're worried about doing a factory reset, don't be. Your firmware will be unaffected. Do a search for "factory reset" on the OCZ forum. That's where I found that useful bit of information.

[EDIT] I did a quick search to refresh my memory. All the OCZ SSDs I'm aware of have the "maintenance mode" prongs on the back, although I suppose it's possible a new model may not.

Doing what I suggested above (jumpering) allows the firmware to sort itself out. You can go one step further and do a secure erase with the jumper on. Or do a firmware flash with less risk. Secure erase will restore original speed if it has degraded significantly over time. Speed will degrade eventually, you know.

[beavereater]

The heat sink
OK. So I bought myself (Wife is gonna kill me) the Hyper 212. I hated the instruction manual and it wasn't AS easy an install as I had thought and since this is the first time I've ever installed a non-stock fan, I was a bit scared. Not sure about grease, not sure if I tightened it enough, not sure about a million things, but did it. Now my CPU while just messing around online is at about 8Celsius...at least that's what core temp is telling me.

The Graphics Card
Speaking with a guy at the local (Work local) computer shop, he said that the mobo and video card placement should be the same with all cases. He said I should definitely push harder to get the video card all the way in at both ends. As I said, the video card clicks in on the inside portion, but towards the back end it's not fully in. However, pushing it and screwing it down makes things almost look like there in...and he said my monitor wouldn't be able to display anything (Like it is now) without it in...true? Or kinda true?

I was told I had a month with the case and that anytime I felt like I could bring it in and say "See, it doesn't fit." and they would look at it. So this is the next step (In a long journey.)

The SSD
I haven't done anything yet but I will do what you recommended. First, I want to get all the parts sorted, nicely tucked into the case, then we'll move on with a fresh install on the SSD drive.

The broken HDD
I haven't played with any of the software yet. I'm waiting for things to get sorted in other areas first. I'll post a new thread if I have any recovery issues.

I appreciate all the help...if you have any more words of wisdom, I'm all ears.

[Nelson37]

8C is unusually cool, unless you are running the PC outdoors in Alaska, I would suspect something is wrong with your temp sensors or monitoring program.

The graphics card - This is a major problem and I absolutely do not understand why you would continue making major changes to the system without resolving this FIRST. The expansion slot is basically spring-loaded, if the card is not locked in place, there is constant upward pressure which will eventually push it out of the slot, causing either a failure to boot or a short-related reboot. IMO this is what caused your very first reboot and likely all subsequent problems. Yes it is possible for a card to display under these conditions, it is also possible to get a display without full and complete function of the card. The short-related reboot can be extremely dangerous as it is not under software or OS control, and if it happens while the FAT table on the drive is being updated, the result can be exactly what you have experienced. It is also possible to damage the card and/or the mobo.

Get some more clearance, bend, cut, or remove case parts if necessary. If you have to, get a new case or a different card, but get that sucker locked down.

After solving this, then work on the bad HDD. Lots of ways to go, many will work, The key is to do NOTHING that writes to the drive until the problem is solved. Somebody mentioned Get Data Back, I very highly recommend this program, there is nothing better on the market and a whole bunch that are not as good. It WILL NOT write to the damaged drive.

Strong recommendation to solve the obvious problems BEFORE you make your system MORE COMPLICATED and add more parts.

[beavereater]

I'm going in today with my whole tower. Heavier MOFO too. I think I'm going to mod it if they can't get it in properly. The only thing I can think of is cutting the piece off the tower that is blocking it from locking down. BUT then I won't have anything to screw that portion into...so if the card sits in the slot, without screws at the end, is it 'safe'?

ETA: Using Prime95 to stress test my CPU under load, my temps were 37*C and holding. Is this a good temp? I'm not OC'ing.

[admiralspeedy]

Wow, how do you guys have so many issues with SSDs? I've never heard of any of these issues and I have installed 6 for different people, and one for myself. I formatted them like a normal drive and it was ready to install Windows on...

[jagabo]

ETA: Using Prime95 to stress test my CPU under load, my temps were 37*C and holding. Is this a good temp?

What program were you using to read the temps? Try CoreTemp. It reads the temperature sensors built into the CPU, not the temperature of a sensor under the CPU. The on board temps are usually higher and change much more quickly. In any case, 37 degrees C is fine. You don't have to worry until temps get up into the 70 to 90 range (depending on CPU and sensor).

[beavereater]

ETA: Using Prime95 to stress test my CPU under load, my temps were 37*C and holding. Is this a good temp?

What program were you using to read the temps? Try CoreTemp. It reads the temperature sensors built into the CPU, not the temperature of a sensor under the CPU. The on board temps are usually higher and change much more quickly. In any case, 37 degrees C is fine. You don't have to worry until temps get up into the 70 to 90 range (depending on CPU and sensor).

That's what I'm using, CoreTemp.

Video Card Problem FIXED!! Apparently, I'm an idiot. I thought the spacers that were already in the case were the only ones I needed to use. There was an arch in the board lowering the position of where the card was set in. The guy at the store removed my board, placed the spacers in, put the board back in and voila, my card just slid in perfectly. He took a look at my CPU fan install and everything was good. So now, I have my broken HDD and a fresh install to do on my SSD.

[DarrellS]

Yeah, the spacers usually (or sometimes) come in two different lengths. You have to make sure you get the right ones in the right holes. My brother ran into the same problem and it took my eyes to see that something wasn't right with the way the board was bowed. I was going to tell you to make sure you pulled up on the lock on the end of the slot first before trying to push it in. I've seen people try to put a card in without doing this and wondering why it wouldn't go in
As Nelson mentioned, the slot is spring loaded and the lock is to make sure it doesn't pop out. My old MSI board had a problem with the locks falling off of my memorey slots and it caused me a lot of grief when the memory would pop up on the end. Losing data. Windows would keep running the scandisk automatically and deleting my files before I could shut it off. I threw a few HDDs away because I thought they were bad. Finally, the chip under the memory modules burned up and I bought the Gigabyte board. Now I'm a happy Gigabyte costumer. My brother and my friend both had problems with ASUS boards.

As for the instructions for the Hyper 212, yeah they are hard to read. That's why I always download the manuals My eyesight isn't the best. Especially with small print. I have and older model and it wasn't too bad on on a 775 board but it looked hard for an AMD and my friend's I7 was harder to install.

[jman98]

Wow, how do you guys have so many issues with SSDs? I've never heard of any of these issues and I have installed 6 for different people, and one for myself. I formatted them like a normal drive and it was ready to install Windows on...

Not to digress or end up stealing beavereater's thread, but actually the problem was that beavereater has never worked with an SSD before and was concerned about it. I simply pointed out that almost all the problems I've seen have been when people didn't upgrade the firmware on their SSDs as they were rather infamous for being shipped some revs behind the latest and greatest. I've had my Crucial 256GB SSD in use for over 2 years now and still feel that buying it (even at the inflated price I paid 2 years ago) was one of the best technology decisions I've ever made. Then again, I did rather quickly upgrade the firmware on it.

[DarrellS]

Wow, how do you guys have so many issues with SSDs? I've never heard of any of these issues and I have installed 6 for different people, and one for myself. I formatted them like a normal drive and it was ready to install Windows on...

Not to digress or end up stealing beavereater's thread, but actually the problem was that beavereater has never worked with an SSD before and was concerned about it. I simply pointed out that almost all the problems I've seen have been when people didn't upgrade the firmware on their SSDs as they were rather infamous for being shipped some revs behind the latest and greatest. I've had my Crucial 256GB SSD in use for over 2 years now and still feel that buying it (even at the inflated price I paid 2 years ago) was one of the best technology decisions I've ever made. Then again, I did rather quickly upgrade the firmware on it.

It' good to know if or when I'm able to get one.