Hi gurus and experts,

I have this 2.5" Toshiba MK4025GAS inside a HP nx9000 Notebook.
The SMART attribute was good the last time I checked.
Also the drive doesn't have any bad sector.
The HDD is about 8 months old.

Here's what happened,
1. I was chatting on Windows Live Messenger 8.5.
2. Suddenly the PC rebooted by itself.
3. Windows XP (Home Edition) couldn't load up and gave thie error message, "Error Loading Operating System".
4. I googled and found "fixmbr", "fixboot", and "bootcfg". Didn't dare to try "fixmbr" and "fixboot".
5. I only tried "bootcfg /scan", and it gave this message "Failed to successfully scan disks for Windows installations. This error may be caused by a corrupt file system, which would prevent bootcfg from successfully scanning. Use chkdsk to detect any errors".
6. I tried "chkdsk", and it says "The volume appears to contain one or more unrecoverable problems."
7. Then, I tried "dir", the error message came up "An error occurred during directory enumeration."
8. Checked the BIOS, and it seemed like there's a corruption.
Here's the informations obtained from BIOS,

Model: UOSHIBA MK5035GAS!!!! (Note: The "U" instead of "T", and there's 4 exclamation marks at the end)
Type: Auto
LBA Format
Maximum Capacity: 48,598MB
Total Sectors: 94,917,376

9. I ran Media Tools Professional 5 and got this,

Model: TORHHB@ LK4025FAR
Serial Number: 948J3668T
Firmware Revision: JA000A
CHS: (77519; 16; 63)
Drive Size: 39.07GB
Total Sectors: 78,139,904
Sector Size: 512

10. However, from the HDD label itself (see attached),

Model: TOSHIBA MK4025GAS
Serial Number: 948K3669T
CHS: (16383; 16; 63)
Drive Size: 40.00GB
Total Sectors: 78,140,160

Could anyone tell me what's happening to my HDD?
I'm guessing firmware corruption.

And finally, could you give me quotes how much to fix this kind of problem?

Thanks in advance. Any help would be much appreciated.

David

You need to first change the method of connecting the HD, this may include fitting HDD to a USB enclosure and connecting to PC.

This is generally caused by a bad connection whether it is the connection within your laptop, or the IDE channel itself.

Try conenct this to a secondary PC via USB and write here your results

First of all, thanks for super fast reply.

Actually, I did that already.
When I plugged the USB external enclosure, I heard the sound (usually when you plugged USB device).
But windows doesn't recognize it, both "My Computer" and "Device Manager".

I also tried my old 2.5" Hitachi HDD, the original HDD before I changed the brand new Toshiba.
It still have the Windows XP Home OS there, and doesn't have any problem loading Windows.
So, I don't think bad connection within the notebook nor the IDE channel is the culprit.

Any more suggestion?

Btw, is my data still there? Or they already damaged or lost?

Where are you located?
We can refer you to someone local.

_________________
www.datarecoveryne.com

If connection is not the problem then most likely PCB is faulty. Unfortunately, you cannot just swap out PCB because of adaptive information stored in onboard ROM. This would require professional attention. You can PM us if you wish more detailed info.

Double check you pins on the IDE connector on the drive, you may have a loose pin or a bent pin that is causing it. If it is a firmware issue you will need some soldering skills and another drive board to work with ( i would send to a professional on this as well). It it is a head issue, then i would take to a professional.

This happened once to me in a Seagate, it displayed "RTxxxxxx !!!!!" instead of "STxxxxxxx". I solved the problem changing the PCB and swapping the flash ROMs.