microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support

"Rob" wrote in message =
news:1192329148.854834.271840@z24g2000prh.googlegroups.com...
> Hey all,
> I thought I would repost this as my original thread seems to be dying,
> and this would be a chance to give the current status. Please read
> the post before replying. Thanks.
> I have a friends computer that, when you turned it on, was
> automatically rebooting before ever seeing the windows logo. I
> attempted to put the hard drive in another computer, and got the same
> error, so the problem is the hard drive somehow.
> I put a new hd into her computer, and it booted no problem (proving
> yet again that the problem is the hd). I then tried to plug her hd in
> as a slave to my master, but the same thing happened again: automatic
> reboot before ever seeing the windows logo. Tried with her hd as
> master pressing F8...got the special screen with all the options, but
> no matter which option I picked (including "Disable automatic reboot
> on system failure"), it still automatically rebooted as soon as I
> pressed enter.
> I had a USB HD-enclosure sitting around, and so I stuck her hard drive
> in it. Happily and unhappily, windows detects the USB hard drive, but
> the partition on it is detected as active, yet unformatted.
> I want to get her data off, if possible. The hard drive is:
> Maxtor (3.5", 20.0 GB)
> Model: D540X-4K

Maxtor and Seagate have diagnostic software available for download.

http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/

Ben