error code BIOHD-8 and BSOD crashes help

Hi,

I have been having lots of problems with my pc for the last 2 and a half months. First my processor's cooling fan died and my computer would go to a black screen telling me it was going to shut off automatically and that the fan needed replacing. Replaced with the same model fan and heatsink computer booted back up again normally. Then a month later I began noticing my pc slowing down a bit during boot up. It was also beginning to slow down while opening up folders and minimizing/opening windows. Until it took too long that i powered it off manually then thats when it began to boot up the black screen for me to boot system repair. So from this point on I would boot up my pc and it would tell me to boot up system repair which i did otherwise there was no way i was going to boot up my windows desktop.

As this went on load times were looong and i became impatient and would manually turn off and on only to make things worse. I then decided to boot up Diagnostics Tools which should everything passed except for my HDD. I would get warning signs telling me to make sure the connectors on my hard drive were in correctly and what not but atleast I was able to boot up windows to my desktop. I tried to do a system restore and restored it to a month earlier but after still having the same issues i decided to undo the system restore and thats when the cause of the state of where i am with my pc began.

Undoing the system restore took so long that i left my pc on for hours and it still showed like it was in progress. So being that i noticed the time in the desktop froze (iirc) i rebooted my pc again manually this time I made it worse. The Diagnostic Tool then reported the test on my hard drive as error code BIOHD-8 telling me that it failed a SMART test and to backup my stuff. No longer does my pc boot system repair. Now i have to wait a while and it either boots up Recovery Manager asking me if i would like to restore the factory default image or it just crashes to a blue screen. I tried a SMART test scan from the bios for my hard drive and a few tries i get both passed and failed results.

So now when i boot up my pc after a slow booting up process it either opens up Recovery Manager or crashes to a blue screen. I have took pictures on my phone of the Diagnostic tools test results that i was getting and i took one of the blue screen. If it helps to upload what it says on the blue screen please let me know if i should upload it to a image hosting site to put it on here for you guys to see what it is. Hopefully that may help me get somewhere with this issue.

The main question I would like answered positively is if it's possible i may be able to recover my files and documents via an external hdd enclosure on a new working pc? Since my pc can still be able to open up Recovery Manager from my hard drive after a long booting process which is INSIDE the factory image partition on my hard drive along with the other partitions which contains all my files and data etc.

P.S. If this thread belongs on another section of the forum i apologize as i am quite new here and dont know exactly where all posts belong.

As long as the hard drive is still working, you should be able to hook it up to another computer and retrieve you're files. It would just be another external drive to the new one. You might need to connect the hard drive via SATA cable to the other computer if USB doesn't work.

Hello, in addition to Wither 's advice. you may very well try another procedure if the above does not work. Try to do this procedure : Use Ubuntu Live CD to Backup Files from Your Dead Windows Computer - How-To Geek, If you are able to do this . there may be hope, you would want to also check that hard drive if the prior procedure does work. Make a bootable disk and run long test and short test from here : HD Diagnostic, Post back please results as you follow our suggestions so we may advise further.

How do I burn Ubuntu Live CD using a blank CD-R disc or DVD-R disc?

download the ISO , then use Imgburn per the directions on that link.. or some other image burning software.

Okay, so I downloaded Ubuntu iso and burned it onto a cd-r disc. Placed it on my dead computer and it booted up Ubuntu. I clicked on Try Ubuntu it started up the system but i cannot locate places\computer to view my hard drives partitions to see if my data is still on the hard drive. By the way the tutorial shows ubuntu 8.04 and i'm using 11.10 so it may be in a different location than in the link.

The commands should still be the same. Follow those steps one by one , they can be a little tricky, If the commands will not work to show the files , then we have a hard drive issue. Just re try the steps to access the hard drive files.

I did but it's telling me to go to the menu and choose places\ computer but i dont see places anywhere in my version of ubuntu.

well. dang.. how bout making the version in the tutorial and give that a shot ?

Do I have to install Ubuntu first before I can check if my hard drive partitions are there? Or can i check them while using the "try ubuntu" mode?

Now that you have the boot cd (which you should keep in a safe place, as it’s very useful), just stick it in the drive of the computer and boot from it. You should see an option to “Try Ubuntu without any change to your computer”.

Once the system has started up, the first thing you want to do is choose Places \ Computer from the menu.

If this is not gonna work, i fear the hard drive is bad.. to confirm try the Hard drive diagnostic from link i posted earlier.

Alright.

Ok I created the bootdisk for seagate tools dos version since thats the manufacture model of my hard drive. I failed both short and long test runs. I tried to repair the bad sectors after the long test run but it couldn't repair the bad sectors.

P.S. I downloaded the 32-bit version of the ubuntu iso file. Since it said recommended. Although I've been using vista 64 bit version on the dead computer. Is that fine or should i have downloaded and burned the 64 bit version? Or should i try to find the 8.0.4 version of ubuntu that is shown on the link you gave me yard dog?

P.P.S. Also check this link out http://old-releases.ubuntu.com/releases/8.04.0/ it says i could download the 64 bit version if i have an amd 64 processor. I downloaded and burned a 32 bit version the first time. Would you have suggested I download the 64 version?

Well, the fact you ran the hard drive test and failed long and short test tells the whole story. Sorry for the bad news.

Hey Yard Dog i got news.

After trying trying ubuntu 8.0.4 again I decided to check and see if i should give it another shot.. So this time I went to places and computer and wala....all the partitions from my hardd drive showed. It showed a few usb devices, Dos partition, HP partition (the c: drive that is) , CD/DVD drive, factory image partition, and the New Volume partition (where i stored all my music, videos, photos, data, etc. at).

So far i can access the files and folders in the dos partition and in the c drive partition but i get the can't mount volume warning for the image factory partition and the new volume partition. I want to force the mount for the new volume partition so that i can access the items inside but its tricky. Do you know any other commands for unmounting the partitions? Can you really try to help me here please?

You might consider trying EasyBCD to fix your boot problems. I found it here- EasyBCD - Download.com. I don't know if that's a free one. I have an old one that's free and it works.

Originally, you wanted to know if you could hook up your hard drive to another computer and retrieve your files. That's the easiest route to go. If you did that, you could install EaseUS Partition.... on the computer you have it hooked up to and fix the partitions (if that's what you want to do).

Hey wither 3, its been a long time but now I finally got a brand new PC with windows 7. I also purchased a Docking Station for my Hard drive from my old pc that hooks up with usb or eSata. I have it hooked up to my PC along with my Sata 3.5 hdd using the usb connection. The new PC I'm using at this moment automatically detected my HDD after hooking up the dock station and turning it on. Like when I was using the Ubuntu LiveCD it detected all my partitions but my HP and DOS partitions are the only ones I have access to and not the image factory or new volume (where I had ALL my personal data files and folders in) partitions.

It asks me to access them I have to format those partitions but I of course click cancel. Now, before I was using an old laptop from 2000. And was lucky enough to still operate firefox and IE to some degree. After using the HD Diagnostics and finding out my HDD has bad sectors I did a google search for bad sectors on HDD and found a program called "ddrescue" that goes thru Hard drives with bad sectors on them and tries to get as much as access from the bad sectors as it can and recover any files on them. Here's a link to someone with a similar problem to what I have. Urgent: Failing NTFS HD - Will ddrescue Read & Write To Windows NTFS Drives?

What I want to know from you guys is should I use ddrescue program to try it out and to see if it can help me recover my files from my old hdd. If I can get it to work on windows can I try using it on my new pc i'm using now? Or now that I have a new pc and my old hard drive hooked up should I try using that EasyBCD app wither 3 suggested first?

The other volume may be hidden. If you install EaseUS Partition on your Win 7 hard drive and look at your old drive, it can unhide those. Once it does, you'll have full access to your files. It might be worth installing and see if there's anything else there that also might be useful for recovering your files.

I don't think you really need that other program yet.

Okay wither 3, I downloaded and install EasyBCD from the link above and it says the license is free so I guess I don't have to worry about buying a full version. I'm running it right now. Can you guide me threw? It's my first time using this and I want to know what I'm doing.

Question. Is EasyBCD and EaseUS Partition the same apps or totally different from each other? If not should I also Download EaseUS Partition and use that instead of EasyBCD?

Edit: I downloaded and installed EaseUS Partition which was also free of use. My question now is do I use EasyBCD first to identify my old HDD connected on USB and then use EaseUS Partition to recovery the partitions on the old Hard Drive?