Hey guys, wondering if anyone could give me some Tech. Support here...

First of all,this isn't the first place I've come to for help. I checked the manufacturer's and retailer's websites about warranties and repairs, and also called both the shop and the manufacturer's support line. Unfortunately, both were unavailable, and won't be available until Tuesday - Thank you very much, Bank Holiday. And the websites weren't great help, either. So I figured that getting some info here might help speed things along.

Anyway, I turned on my Laptop today, which is a HP Compaq, and all was fine. I opened up iTunes, then Google chrome to go on to Facebook. All is well. I played an album and browsed Facebook. Then, the third song on the album suddenly stops playing. I thought; "Okay, this is probably just iTunes acting up." So, I thought I'd close it down, and restart it. I couldn't. I decided to wait a few minutes and then try again. So, I went back on to Chrome, and that had frozen. Then, I got worried. Suddenly, the computer just froze up, and I got a black saying; "Hard Disk Error. Hard Disk 3F1", I believe.

I restarted the Laptop, and it brought me to the Start Up Menu, where the same message was visible. It told me to go to System Functions and do a Hard Disk test, so I did. Multiple times. It failed each time.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

So, now I'm here, on my parents' laptop, asking you guys for some help, if you have any advice to offer - Can someone dumb down for me what a Hard Disk error is? And is it going to be long/costly to repair?

I've only had the Laptop for ten, going on eleven months, so I think the warranty is still valid on it. I kept the receipt as well to prove it.

Given that I've had this one for such a short period of time, I don't particularly want to go looking for another computer again. I never did anything that could really do any physical damage to it. The most moving it does is from my desk to my bed, which is a space of about ten feet or less, so I don't know how this could've happened. Is this going to seriously damage my computer? Can it be repaired, or should I just look into buying a new one?

Thanks in advance for any advice lads.

-Wars

 

Have you tried restoring it to factory settings?

It's possible you caught a bad virus. Do a Facotry/system restore.

Go through your boot menu to do that. and hopefully your stuff is backed up otherwise you'll lose everything doing a system restore.

If you still see the error even after doing a system restore, then more than likely your hard drive needs to be replaced.

Take it to Staples, they do free check-ups. and are quite thorough.

 

A hard disc error means that there is corrupted data on your hard disk that is apparently essential to the basic operation of your system. This could be a software corruption (data bits are misaligned, miswritten, etc.) or a hardware corruption (scratches on drive, materials defects, etc.)

If you've tried the hard disc test and you're getting errors, take it to the shop, they'll have the proper tools and know-how to analyze further. If you're worried about cost, ask them about prices when you take it in. Data recovery can be very expensive.

 

I'm not too worried about data recovery - The only things I really have stored on my Laptop are movies and songs, which I could just re-upload. I just want to get it back to working order.

 

I'm gonna go against the grain here and suggest you do nothing until you can actually talk to HP.

Whatever version of Windows they shipped with may differ from retail.

Assuming it's not an unrepairable hardware issue. in which case you should be entitled to replacement parts.

 

this could be one of many reasons you have harddrive issues.

as the person stated above. you could have corrupted data in which case you'll have to to a full system restore.

don't call HP tech support they are morons.

shop around and see if there's any specialists that'll help ya out with this.

I only know basic maintenance when it comes to computers. I'm not a certified specialist.  

I suppose the most obvious questions are: Where did you get your laptop? and where do you usually go to download things and last but not least, what protection did you have on it before getting the Hard Disk Error messages?

There's also a chance you interupted your windows updating itself as it usually updates in the background. when you disrupt windows updates data corruption can happen. I have alot of experience as this has happened to me quite a bit in the past (but not anymore)

 

How to Fix Bad Sectors on a Hard Disk | eHow.com

 

I probably should've said this in the original post, but I can't actually access the start menu anymore. I only get as far as the Start Up/Boot menu. I never saw any previous messages or warnings regarding my Hard Disk, though.

1. A computer and electronics store in Ireland called Currys.

2. Itunes, YouTube to MP3, occassionally Vuze or just upload songs from CDs.

3. Windows Defender, I believe.

 

I'd take the shotgun approach - reformat it, right back to just nothing but the OS. If THAT doesn't work, your harddrive could have just died. It happens. How old is the harddrive?

 

I've only had the laptop for over ten months, which is the main reason I don't want to just go out looking for a new one.

 

Not true bro.

If the hard drive was dead, he wouldn't even get a start up screen.

 

I would try to use a ubuntu live cd, using it to transfer all the important files to an external harddrive and then reformat it. This is also a good aprouch if you want to remove a virus from your computer imo.

 

Upon further investigating, this indicates that there is a hardware malfunctioning of the hard drive and it possibly needs replacement. Since you are in warranty, you can get free replacement from HP.

Refer to the following weblink for more information:
SMART Hard Disk Error | HP® Support

 

Whatever you do, Don't take it to Best Buy's Geek Squad. They are notorious for blatantly lying to customers in order to get expensive product out the door.

 

If the computer is in warranty, follow up with the manufacturer or whoever the warranty is through.

If it isn't under warranty and you want actual help on how to potentially fix the issue (requires a bit of technical legwork on your end), send me a PM and I can point you to the right people to ask hard disk questions to rather than relying on responses from non-technical people. (You can ask me anyways if you are interested).

 

See? Downloading p0rn gets you a corrupted hard drive people!  

I'm gonna echo everyone in this thread and say go ahead and format the drive again. If it's really dead, then get it replaced by HP.

 

Just want to thank everyone for their advice. I brought the laptop back to the retailer, and it's gonna be collected this Saturday to have the hard drive replaced, and will be back to me on the 17th of November. So that's that sorted.  

Thanks again lads.