HDD problem in WinXP Pro SP1

[SuRGV]

Hi everyone,
I'm having trouble with accessing to one of the two HDDs on my system and I'm seeking for help.
This afternoon, I was still playing some MP3 songs stored on my second HDD, which is Fujitsu 6.4 GB, and turned off my computer to go to school. Now I returned home, turned on my comp and realized that I can't access to this HDD (which is drive D) in Windows XP SP1. It keeps showing the error message " D:\ is not accessible. The parameter is incorrect" and asks me to format the drive.
It's name also changed from "Download" to "Local Disk".
I can see as well as copy and delete all the files on this HDD in the DOS environment using Win98 startup disk.
What do you think may cause this trouble and what can I do to fix it ?
Please don't tell me to format it as the first solution since I have tons of good files there. I can copy all of those files to the main HDD but it would take ages to finish copying few hundred MBs in DOS...
Please help. Any suggestion is greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
SuRGV

[Gurm]

Err... bummer.

Check to make sure the device is properly enabled in the device manager?

- Gurm

[SuRGV]

Gurm.. that's a quick !!

yes it is enabled in the Device Manager and Widows says that it's working properly.

BTW..what do you mean when you say "bummer" ? English is not my first language.. hehe

SuRGV

[GTP]

Bummer = bad luck.

[Paddy]

Try running IBM's Drive Fitness Test.

[Paddy]

Here is the link: http://www.hgst.com/downloads/DFT32-V330.EXE

This will tell you if the drive is dead or not.

[Technoid]

and in DOS, smartdrv command will speed up disktransfers

[Kooldino]

Yeah, good idea Tech.
SuRGV, back up that data while you can if you have the space to do so...just in case. With the Win98 disk run scandisk (or chkdsk), etc etc. Use the autofix and surface scan, etc command line switches so you can run it and walk away. It may just be an iffy FAT or something.

If that won't work, try that IBM fitness test.
If you still come up with nothing, unplug the drive, boot into windows, shut down. Plug in drive, boot up Windows.

Nothing still? Check disk management just to see what it says.

That's all I can come up with off the top of my head.

[SuRGV]

-GTP: thanks.
-Paddy: I don't think the drive is dead since I still can access to it in DOS. I will try run the test anyway when I get home today.
-Technoid: How do I use smartdrv command ?
-Kooldino: I will try your suggestions.

I think I had this problem before and I had to copy all files to another HDD in DOS... This drive might have something wrong.

SuRGV

[SuRGV]

Ok the problem is fixed. Simple but painful.
-First, neither scandisk nor IBM test could test the HDD. They both reported that there was problem with the HDD and they were not able to scan it.
-So I decided to go in DOS and copy all important files to the second HDD (thanks Technoid for the smartdrv tip. It was really so much faster)
-Then I did a completely deletion of the drive using Fijitsu Eraser utility.
-Formted the HDD and it is now working normally.
No clue what caused this problem. At least it is not dead yet I still can use it. Hopefully it wont happen in the future.
Thanks all for trying help me anyway.
SuRGV

[Fat Tone]

It can't hurt to do a DFT now and see what it says. Also, do you have SMART enabled? That could be useful too.

T.

[Wombat]

Any big temperature swings in your case?

[Paddy]

Yup, Do a DFT or you could find you have the same porblem again.

[Gurm]

Yeah, sounds like some of the MFT and/or MBR blocks got hosed.

I'd do a full test with the low level tester (DFT for IBM, DLG for WD - Fujitsu will have a similar utility) before using the drive further.

- Gurm

[SuRGV]

well, I just used Fujitsu Diagnostic Tool to test the drive and there was no problem reported in both Quick Test and Comprehensive test.

Wombat, my case is always open and temperature now in Canada is always below -10°C (Yesterday was - 40°C ). My room temperature is kept at around 17°C. So I don't think it's too hot in the case.

SuRGV