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[Brian_K]

Jules257,

You haven't answered Andy's question about a backup so I guess the answer is "no".

Can you run a chkdsk on the C: drive?

Can you run the HD Manufacturer's diagnostics? Maybe you have a bad HD.

[Jules257]

I have a backup of the files, but not an image I can restore from ,and can still copy files from command prompt.

Chkdsk manages to find errors but never seems to fix them.

Latest report

255680 File Records Processed

1064 Large File Records Processed

0 Bad File Records Processed

0 EA Reports Processed

107 Reparse Records Processed

304319263 Kb Total Disk Space

101090504 Kb in 212220 files

       114448 Kb in 27453 Indexes

                  8 Kb in Bad Sectors

       369971Kb in use by the system

            65536Kb occupied by log file

202744332Kb available on disk

Using the Compaq Hardware Diagnostic Test

Hard Drive passes SMART Status Test and repeatedly has failed the

Hard Drive SMART Short Self Test

Thanks again for the help.

[Brian_K]

Jules257,

I think you have an answer. You have a failing HD.

Sorry, but you will need a new HD.

[DaveH]

Thats a lot of work copying all yor data from the command line.  If you have a lot more you may want to consider using a Live Linux CD like Ubuntu.

I'm with Brian, your hard drive is failing and you need to get all your important data off it.

After your data is backed up you might be able to run a chkdsk /r followed by another startup repair and get the system to boot (douptfull).  I'm assuming you didn't use the /r switch looking at the results.

Either way you need a new hard drive.   To save you the cost of Windows, if you want to continue with Vista you should be able to copy or clone the old drive to the new drive and then run the factory restore from the new drive.

Dave

[Jules257]

I finally took the plunge and have backed up using the Recovery manager to an external hard drive and Reinstalled the machine to factory settings on the old drive.

I will be performing very regular backups from now on as I agree that the old drive may be failing. How easy is it to reinstall to a new hard drive.

[dickevans Super RootKit Eradicator]

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Jules257 wrote:

I finally took the plunge and have backed up using the Recovery manager to an external hard drive and Reinstalled the machine to factory settings on the old drive.

I will be performing very regular backups from now on as I agree that the old drive may be failing. How easy is it to reinstall to a new hard drive.

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Hi,

The ease or difficulty of that task is a function of your abilities. For a desktop it means opening the case and putting in the new drive. You need to be sure that you buy a compatible drive so I'd check that first. I've found it easier to configure the new drive with the old drive present, but disconnected. This allows me to reconnect the drive and copy over what I want to save. Then I can remove the old drive. There are other methods and I'm sure there will be other suggestions. Go slow and document the steps you take.

Hope this helps. We'll be here when you need us.

PS: which version of what Norton product are you running?