Windows XP, Hard Drive Problems, Toshiba Laptop, Recovery CD: HELP!

[sowak]

I have a Toshiba Satellite laptop without a floppy disk and it has a CD/DVD Rom drive.

The hard drive has been wiped clean. It does not have Windows XP on it.

When I try to run the recovery DVD that came with it, I get write errors associated with the hard drive. I am assuming the hard drive has issues. After numerous attempts, the recovery DVD will not complete its ghost installation.

I want to run a program to check and correct any problems with the hard drive and then format it. Which program should I use, and how do I boot into the program without a floppy and without being able to get into Windows XP?

Thanks! Fred

[Broni]

You are in pretty tough situation, because, as you can see here:
http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287
Toshiba is the only HD maker, which doesn't provide HD diagnostic tools.

I did some search, and some people would recommend , either Hitachi tool:
http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/download.htm
(on the above site, you'll also find "CD Image", which will create bootable CD for you.

or Seagate:
http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/downloads/seatools/

[sowak]

Thank you. I have also read about the Hitachi Drive Fitness Test and I can create a bootable CD with it. I plan on using it, but how do I NTFS format the hard drive after I repair it with the Hitachi tool?

[Broni]

What OS are you gonna install there? Do you have a CD?
If so, it's bootable.
If not, you can create one:
http://www.nu2.nu/bootdisk/cdrom/

[sowak]

The Hitachi tool would not work with my Toshiba hard drive.

Windows XP. Yes, I have the CD and it is bootable. It is a recovery CD. It tries to recover the ghost image on the CD and then fails due to a problem with the hard drive. I need to try to scan and repair the hard drive.

I need to know which program will enable me to scan and repair the hard drive???

[Broni]

You tried Hitachi, already?
How about Seagate?

[sowak]

Yes, I already tried Hitachi. The website I read said it would work, but it did not. I am not going to spend time trying Seagate.

[sowak]

I am going to try a Linux Live CD. (R)ecovery (I)s (P)ossible Linux rescue system. I am downloading it now. It has some tools that may work.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recovery_Is_Possible

[sowak]

RIP loaded up into Linux and I am formatting the HD into NTFS right now. It has not failed as of yet. After that, I will scan the drive for problems. I will update.

[sowak]

The Linux Live (R)ecovery (I)s (P)ossible RIP Linux rescue system worked great. It loaded up and I used the hard disk tools that is comes with. I repaired the drive, formatted, and used my Toshiba recovery disk. I ran checkdisk in windows when I got XP loaded, and now everything is running great.

[Broni]

Way to go, sir! I'm happy for you.
Good hint, too. Worth to remember!