Is my hard drive dead, or another issue?

CRITICALThinker

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Feb 2, 2014
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My old laptop, which I was using for a short data entry job because it had a numpad, I have recently replaced it, and I should have the most important data off by now. I would like to know what may be wrong with it though. it boots to the lock screen in windows 7 at a fairly regular rate, and it works in safe mode as well, but when I attempt to log in after starting normally I am left with my cursor frozen on a black screen after it loads.

I should probably also mention that the one time I have gotten it to load properly, windows explorer crashed shortly after
 

Im Spartacus

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In safe mode go to device manager in control panel and disable your graphics driver then any other third party driver listed rebooting each time then by process of elimination you can find the driver causing your issue, Sounds like a driver issue if it boots to safe mode.
 

CRITICALThinker

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Feb 2, 2014
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System restore sounds like a good bet, except for the fact that I had deleted my restore points after defraggler made a ton, and it seems to have lost the one I made right after (sigh)

I may have to uninstall drivers, or reinstall windows.
 

CRITICALThinker

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Feb 2, 2014
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~2 hour update, it works great in safe mode, but as I go down the list in device manager I have a feeling that some will crash the pc if disabled, I have managed to get a copy of the version of windows this pc is using, but I would like to hear any other options before I reinstall in the morning (This may give me a chance to reformat the hard disk into one disk form the original two partitions)
 

Im Spartacus

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Mar 25, 2015
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if your computer won't start Windows normally, you can access Startup Repair and other tools in the System Recovery Options menu from the Windows 7 installation disc
 

CRITICALThinker

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It does boot into windows now, but it seems to run like it has a heavy load, and it is extremely unresponsive, would it be worth it to try and upgrade to windows 10 and see if that fixes it, or just re-install 7 and try and get it back to stock
 

Im Spartacus

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Mar 25, 2015
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Sounds like software corruption or failing hard drive
type msconfig into your start menu then pressing enter and a box will appear turn off boot up programs all of them in the start up tab does it stop hanging after a boot up if yes turn each one on, one at a time and rebooting you may have a corrupt program trying to load on boot up then do the same with the services tab. Also disable your antivirus to see if it's hanging your system during a boot up. You may already have tried these suggestions if not good luck.

You could always run mem and hard driive checks try doing a chkdsk on your hard drive to check for errors.
 

CRITICALThinker

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CONCLUSION - I did not find what was causing the problem with my laptop, but after attempting a chkdsk I ended up about 24% through the 4th step out of 5 before it froze - twice. This was in safe mode with command prompt. After this the computer no longer would load safe mode, so I had to reset the laptop to factory settings.

On an ASUS laptop the process to start is pressing f9 on the keyboard after a power on or restart, and following the onscreen instructions. this can take between 45 mins to an hour and a half (I lost track of time)
 

N3rdR4ge

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Jun 16, 2014
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even though you reset the machine you may still have hard drive problems. a reset can appear to fix the issue but it is likely to reoccur in different ways if your hard drive is on its way out. test it with western digital data lifeguard diagnostic since you have it up and running. do a full scan. if it fails your hard drive needs to be replaced.

http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=612&sid=3
 
Solution

CRITICALThinker

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Feb 2, 2014
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The drive failed the quick test, and the extended test ended due to too may bad sectors. I will be looking for a replacement, but seeing as it is no longer my daily driver I have no need to get it done fast (hoping for a good sale on 240gb SSDs