Computer Hope

Hardware => Hardware => Topic started by: SHESHE on June 20, 2011, 11:19:09 AM

Title: Hard disk problem
Post by: SHESHE on June 20, 2011, 11:19:09 AM
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
Title: Re: Hard disk problem
Post by: Allan on June 20, 2011, 11:25:51 AM
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.
Title: Re: Hard disk problem
Post by: Computer_Commando on June 20, 2011, 11:31:10 AM
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.
Title: Re: Hard disk problem
Post by: Salmon Trout on June 20, 2011, 11:49:18 AM
Quote
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


Title: Re: Hard disk problem
Post by: SHESHE on June 20, 2011, 01:01:05 PM
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?
Title: Re: Hard disk problem
Post by: Salmon Trout on June 20, 2011, 01:12:10 PM
OMG!!!  My computer just shut down in the middle of running the Media SCAN!!!!!  What now?

Did you read my post above?
Title: Re: Hard disk problem
Post by: SHESHE on June 20, 2011, 01:17:36 PM
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
Title: Re: Hard disk problem
Post by: Salmon Trout on June 20, 2011, 01:26:23 PM
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.



Title: Re: Hard disk problem
Post by: SHESHE on June 20, 2011, 01:33:30 PM
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!
Title: Re: Hard disk problem
Post by: Allan on June 20, 2011, 01:43:16 PM
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.
Title: Re: Hard disk problem
Post by: truenorth on June 20, 2011, 01:44:06 PM
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
Title: Re: Hard disk problem
Post by: Salmon Trout on June 20, 2011, 02:02:17 PM
Replacing RAM is extremely easy. [...] It will involve you going into your computer's interior.

You did notice that this is a laptop?
Title: Re: Hard disk problem
Post by: Computer_Commando on June 20, 2011, 02:09:13 PM
You did notice that this is a laptop?
Still easy:  Dell™ Inspiron™ 1525/1526 Service Manual Memory (http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins1525/en/SM/memory.htm#wp1180987)
Title: Re: Hard disk problem
Post by: Salmon Trout on June 20, 2011, 02:23:19 PM
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.
Title: Re: Hard disk problem
Post by: SHESHE on June 20, 2011, 02:32:21 PM
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"
Title: Re: Hard disk problem
Post by: Allan on June 20, 2011, 02:46:17 PM
Please run several passes.
Title: Re: Hard disk problem
Post by: SHESHE on June 20, 2011, 02:59:56 PM
Please run several passes.

i was trying to run the second time and half way through the darn thing shut off again!  Why would that happen, do you know?

Thank you!
Title: Re: Hard disk problem
Post by: Allan on June 20, 2011, 03:39:03 PM
There is clearly a hardware problem somewhere - most likely ram.
Title: Re: Hard disk problem
Post by: SHESHE on June 20, 2011, 04:39:49 PM
OK, I ran the diagnostic thing and got 2 passes before the computer quit on me.  I have another question for you if you don't mind.  Could there be a short somewhere?  When I hold the computer in my lap it runs but as soon as I set the laptop down is when it shuts down eventually.  (Just thought I'd throw that out there)  It's probably coincidence but......

I guess I'll look into replacing the RAM.  Is it as easy to replace RAM is it was replacing the Hard Drive?  Do I just get a part number and order a replacement?

Thank you to everyone for all the help.  I really appreciate it!
Title: Re: Hard disk problem
Post by: Allan on June 20, 2011, 04:45:23 PM
It could be the ram, a short, the hd...... pretty much anything. I'm sorry, but laptop hw problems can be difficult to diagnose and twice as hard from a distance. Maybe someone else will have some other thoughts....
Title: Re: Hard disk problem
Post by: SHESHE on June 20, 2011, 04:48:17 PM
Thank you Allan.

Any other ideas on what I should do would be greatly appreciated.
Title: Re: Hard disk problem
Post by: Computer_Commando on June 20, 2011, 04:52:22 PM
Check for overheating.  There are a number of free monitoring programs.
http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html
http://www.piriform.com/speccy

You might have to clean the Processor Thermal-Cooling Assembly (http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins1525/en/SM/cpucool.htm#wp1179839) by blowing out the dust.
Title: Re: Hard disk problem
Post by: SHESHE on June 20, 2011, 07:58:49 PM
I was able to clean the Processor Thermal-Cooling Assembly which was really nasty/dirty.  Then I was able to go back in and run the Data Lifeguard Diagnostics program and the computer didn't turn off and I was able to complete the diagnostic program and MY COMPUTER IS WORKING!!!  There was an error that the program was able to fix.

THANK ALL OF YOU AT COMPUTER HOPE FOR THE HELP!  I know I will be coming back here for any other issues or questions I might have.

Sheila
Title: Re: Hard disk problem
Post by: truenorth on June 21, 2011, 08:17:02 AM
If i might suggest for the future. As you have learned the reasons for computer problems can be quite varied. In your initial post i believe that you were convinced that your problem was with your HDD. Then as a result of some evidence the belief by members (including me) was that you were dealing with a RAM issue. You seem to present a willingness to try and repair things yourself as is evidenced by your previously having changed a HDD. So now my advice. Take your time to try and determine the real cause of an issue before rushing out to change or buy things that may not solve the issue. In this thread there were many suggestions (via web links) to try and deal with your issue. It is clear that you did read and follow many of them. However there are some principally those by Computer_Commando that i urge you to read even though you have seemingly overcome your current problem. By doing so it will expose you to knowledge of how to do things and will increase your confidence in how to deal with your computer problems in the future (because there certainly will be some ). In addition there are generally more than one way to test/do things. Pleased to hear that your up and running again.truenorth
Title: Re: Hard disk problem
Post by: patio on June 21, 2011, 04:37:32 PM
Do you mean the heat-sink/fan ? ?
I;ve never heard it called that.
Title: Re: Hard disk problem
Post by: Computer_Commando on June 21, 2011, 05:19:20 PM
Do you mean the heat-sink/fan ? ?
I;ve never heard it called that.
That's what Dell calls it in the Service Manual for that laptop.  The fan is not attached to the heat exchanger.
(http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins1525/en/SM/spearsc4.jpg)