Master hard disk error..press f1 to resume

Computer Hardware
#1

Happy new year to me? "-( me not too happy.

WinXP Pro/ Q6600 Intel Core 2/ 3.3Gb DDR/MSI P-35 Platinum MoBo/ GeForce 8600GT

I was told that this message - HARD DISK ERROR" could be the operating system as well as maybe a hard drive issue…is this right? I always thought this is a hard drive problem.

Well, here’s the thing. I am at the library because something strange is going on,and my computer is hanging and not responding. I’ve been getting the black screen with Hard disk Error Message, try to go to safe mode,then to command prompt, then to start windows normally, then to the start in Last known settings that worked, but it all takes me back to the Hard Disk error message. Maybe once or twice I can get on to the desktop, but then it just hangs, or I can get as far as the Welcome screen, then it hangs and hangs.

I have two SATA Western Digital Hard drives. 74GB Raptor for applications, and 500GB for storage. when I am doing anything on the computer, It’s been hanging recently and I ran the WD Data Lifeguard utility, the “Quick” and the “Extended” test on drive 2 (500GB) which came back with bad sectors which it repaired,then showed healthy. The test on the Raptor showed up as HEALTHY as well. This worked fine for a day and then I get this black screen with “MASTER HARD DISK ERROR…PRESS F1 TO RESUME.” again.

Before I left to come here to the library to post this, I called Western Digital and of course they told me it may be my Windows operating system,since the utility showed them as healthy. he told me to hook up each drive to another computer to test…WHAT? Another computer?

Well I do have an old antique compact with 256RAM 1.2 GHz AMD CPU and is slower than ratsnot. if I were to test, I’d have to use to IDE cables to each of the drives. The western digital guy told me that my WinXP Pro OS could be the problem, so does this mean I will have to wipe the hard drives and reinstall Windows,all the apps,hardware,drivers,all over again only to find out it is one of the hard drives?

Wish I could just plop in the original WinXP Cd to over write the old OS, and hope for the best!

Thanks to all that reply, and a happy new year to those who do not.

#2

You can use the WinXP CD to perform a “Repair” on the system.
Make sure you have got the latest slipstreamed WinXP CD though.
Repairing WinXP SP3/SP2 with an older WinXP CD will cause all sorts of problems.

Your problem doesn’t appear to be a windows issue though.

Press F1 to continue sounds more like a bios issue.

I’d suggest you check that your bios has detected your HDD’s correctly & you’ve set the right boot HDD.

#3

Thanks,
When I did finally get into the Boot sequence,oddly enough the first boot was set to floppy,and I don’t remember ever doing that. So the only SATA device I saw was only the raptor 74GB, (HD-0) then the IDE Pioneer DVD-Rom, which I set to the second boot.

if getting the message …“Press F1 to continue” sounds more like a bios issue, will changing the setting to the correct boot sequence fix this problem, or do you agree that once the HD had bad sectors on it, it’s time to cut my losses and replace it? Thanks a bunch!

#4

[QUOTE=rivrbyte;2485188]Thanks,
When I did finally get into the Boot sequence,oddly enough the first boot was set to floppy,and I don’t remember ever doing that. So the only SATA device I saw was only the raptor 74GB, (HD-0) then the IDE Pioneer DVD-Rom, which I set to the second boot.

if getting the message …“Press F1 to continue” sounds more like a bios issue, will changing the setting to the correct boot sequence fix this problem, or do you agree that once the HD had bad sectors on it, it’s time to cut my losses and replace it? Thanks a bunch![/QUOTE]

Try to reformat the drive and see if the problem goes away? That F1 error sounds more like a keyboard problem indications. But since you said the program showed healthy drive well if you reformat it again and reinstall the O/S and try again to see if the problem comes back and if it does on the raptor then that means the drives starting to show signs of future problems. But first reinstall the O/S and see what happens. But don’t forget to save important data files before doing this.

#5

Go into BIOS and set up the computer the way you like it save the settings.
Shut it down for more than 10 minutes and get back into BIOS, check the settings, has any of them changed? if so it is probable that the on board battery needs to be replaced. They are cheap and last 3-5 years.

#6

[QUOTE=rivrbyte;2485188]if getting the message …“Press F1 to continue” sounds more like a bios issue, will changing the setting to the correct boot sequence fix this problem, or do you agree that once the HD had bad sectors on it, it’s time to cut my losses and replace it? Thanks a bunch![/QUOTE]
No, but at least it ensures that it boots in the right sequence.

I was referring to ensuring that your HDD is detected correctly, which I guess it is.

If the problem persists, after redetecting the HDD in bios, the HDD is probably on it it’s way out & needs to be replaced. You can also check the cables, to make sure nothing has worked it’s way loose :slight_smile:

IMO: Any HDD older than 3 years should pretty much be relegated to light duty and/or non ciritical things.

Personally, all my documents (for ALL OS’s) are on the newest drive, and regularly cloned to a different HDD, just in case.