Hard disk problem

[SHESHE]

Hello everyone!
About 5 months ago I posted about my hard drive being out on my Dell Inspiron 1525 and I received lots of help on where to purchase a new one, etc.  Everything and all information was great.  Well guess what?  Just 5 months after replacing the hard drive it's out again!  What could be causing that to happen?  What was happening with the computer was that when we tried to start it Windows would not load.  So, I tried to reload Windows and that would not work.  So I ran the diagnostic program and received "Error: 0142.  Msg code: 2000-0142 Hard drive 1.  Self Test unsuccessful.  Status 79."
Beep code was ONE - FOUR - TWO

Can anyone suggest anything?  The new Hard drive was a 250GB WD Scorpion blue  WD2500BEVT

[Allan]

1) Go to the WD website, download their hd diagnostic utility, burn it to cd, boot to it and run it

2) If the hd actually is bad (it happens sometimes - just bad luck) it's still under warranty. WD will replace it for you.

[Computer_Commando]

Restore Partition & Utility Partition are missing:  http://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/
EDIT:
Sorry, missed that it's been working for a while.
Don't know what those beep codes mean.  Follow Allan's advice.

[Salmon Trout]

Beep code was ONE - FOUR - TWO

1-4-2    Parity RAM failure    The first RAM IC has failed. 

http://www.bioscentral.com/beepcodes/phoenixbeep.htm

[SHESHE]

1) Go to the WD website, download their hd diagnostic utility, burn it to cd, boot to it and run it

2) If the hd actually is bad (it happens sometimes - just bad luck) it's still under warranty. WD will replace it for you.

Ok, I'm running the diagnostic utility and I first received a "Test completed with read element failure - ERROR/STATUS CODE 0007"

Now I am running the full media scan and that is going to take a while.  Another question is will WD replace it for me even if I don't remember where I bought it and I don't have a receipt?  I can't believe I cannot find anything because I usually save EVERYTHING!

OMG!!!  My computer just shut down in the middle of running the Media SCAN!!!!!  What now?

[Salmon Trout]

OMG!!!  My computer just shut down in the middle of running the Media SCAN!!!!!  What now?

Did you read my post above?

[SHESHE]

Did you read my post above?

yes I did.  Help me out though since I don't know a ton about computers;  This means my hard drive is fried again? 
1-4-2 Parity RAM failure The first RAM IC has failed.   Replace if possible

[Salmon Trout]

yes I did.  Help me out though since I don't know a ton about computers;  This means my hard drive is fried again? 
1-4-2 Parity RAM failure The first RAM IC has failed.   Replace if possible

Your RAM is your computer memory; it is nothing to do with your hard drive. If it is faulty you need to get it replaced. You need to decide if it is worth paying to get this 2008 model Dell repaired.

[SHESHE]

Your RAM is your computer memory; it is nothing to do with your hard drive. If it is faulty you need to get it replaced. You need to decide if it is worth paying to get this 2008 model Dell repaired.

is it expensive?  like i mentioned. i've replaced the HD once and it needs a new battery and whatever else!  is it something I can do?  Also, what would make me lose the RAM?  Is this causing my computer to shut down right in the middle of running a diagnostic program?  I'm so darn upset!  Also, if it is the RAM why do I get the error message Error: 0142.  Msg code: 2000-0142 Hard drive 1.  Self Test unsuccessful.  Status 79."
I'm just curious.

Thank you!

[Allan]

To check the ram, download memtest (http://memtest.org/). Burn it to a cd using a dedicated .iso burning utility (http://www.petri.co.il/how_to_write_iso_files_to_cd.htm), make sure the cd drive is at the top of the boot order in bios, then boot to the newly created cd and run the utility.

[truenorth]

You are receiving excellent help/advice from the other post contributors. However in view of this "since I don't know a ton about computers" i want to make sure you understand what is being stated. ST has said"You need to decide if it is worth paying to get this 2008 model Dell repaired." This becomes a factor of less concern IF the ONLY issue is the defective RAM module. Replacing RAM is extremely easy and only requires some rudimentary cautions (which we can help you with) and probably no tools. It will involve you going into your computer's interior. You will need to determine the type and value of the ram module to be replaced. Again we can help you with that. 2008 is not in my opinion a very old computer and is more than likely still able to meet the needs of most computer users that don't desire to be at the leading edge of the technology. At this point given what seems to have been found it would not be advisable to believe that you HAVE another HDD failure. truenorth

[Salmon Trout]

Replacing RAM is extremely easy. [...] It will involve you going into your computer's interior.

You did notice that this is a laptop?

[Computer_Commando]

You did notice that this is a laptop?

Still easy:  Dell™ Inspiron™ 1525/1526 Service Manual Memory

[Salmon Trout]

if it is the RAM why do I get the error message Error: 0142.  Msg code: 2000-0142 Hard drive 1.  Self Test unsuccessful.  Status 79."

Faulty RAM can cause all kinds of odd faults and cause tests of other components to give false or misleading results.

[SHESHE]

To check the ram, download memtest (http://memtest.org/). Burn it to a cd using a dedicated .iso burning utility (http://www.petri.co.il/how_to_write_iso_files_to_cd.htm), make sure the cd drive is at the top of the boot order in bios, then boot to the newly created cd and run the utility.

I ran the memtest (memtest86 v4.20) and I received message "Pass Complete-No Errors"