Managing Disks
Hard Disk Troubleshooting
Hardware and File structure problems
- Hard drive problems fall into two general categories:
- Hardware: Hardware-related problems involve the hard drive itself, cabling, power, connections, or the motherboard.
- File structure: File structure problems involve the tracks and partitions on the hard disk, the boot records, or the files the OS uses to initialize itself.
- If you power up your computer and the BIOS cannot find the attached hard drive, chances are, you
have a hardware problem. On the other hand, if the BIOS finds and recognizes your hard drive but
fails to boot, you likely have a file structure problem.
- File structure problems and hardware
problems can sometimes overlap. For example, a damaged master boot record (MBR) might be
the result of a failing hard drive; repairing the MBR might fix a consequence of the problem, but not
the problem itself.