Been a while since I have been here, college is kinda all consuming right now. Anyways, to the problem

I'm running an Acer laptop with a TOSHIBA MK4021GAS Hard Drive. The laptop in used so I would not be suprised if the drive went bad but I wanted to make sure before I invest in another drive. I am getting the following errors in my event viewer regarding this problem.

The driver has detected that device \Device\Ide\IdePort0 has old or out-of-date firmware. Reduced performance may result.

The device, \Device\Harddisk0\D, has a bad block.


Many MANY more of the latter are showing up. Performance has droped EXTREMLEY since these errors starting showing up. Also, sometimes when it really locks up it makes the exact same pattern of sounds over and over again.




P.S. Toshiba support SUCKS!!!

Sounds like your HD is going to die...

QUOTE (Fallen_Angel @ Oct 13 2005, 06:40 PM)

P.S. Toshiba support SUCKS!!!

Toshiba support does not exist. Nothing to download from their website, no diagnosis utilities... no answers from support chat.

Unfortunately, I think you'll need to buy a new HD.

I strongly recommend a Seagate Barracuda 7200 RPM, as Seagate has a comprehensive support (even here in Brazil ) and downloadable utilities and wizards.

Maybe some other members will add a comment in here ?

Chris

I can't seem to find that drive in 2.5" form, mabye its only made in 3.5".

I was looking into this one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16822146216

Run scandisk or chkdsk /f and see what you find out about the drive. If this computer is old, you might be better off getting a new laptop instead of changing the hard drive. I guess it all boils down to cost versus benefit.

Yep... didn't noticed it was an old Acer laptop... will only support 4200 rpm hard drives...

It's an Ultra-ata one, will it be compatible with your HD controller ?

Well I had run chkdsk /f before and it runs for a while then seems to get stuck in a loop. I left it running for 3 days and it never got past a certain %. It also made the same sounds over and over again like I described before. I would love to buy a new laptop but I really can't spend that kinda money right now. To be honest I can't afford a new drive either but I need a laptop so I will have to get one.


My IDE Controller is an Intel 82801DB Ultra ATA storage controller which supports up to Ultra ATA/100

My computer is not that old really, I don't know exactly how old it is because I bought it used. For referance its a TravelMate 800Lci

Run scandisk or chkdsk /f in Safe Mode, or shell or boot to a dos prompt and type chkdsk /f

Specs: Intel Pentium M 1.3 GHz , 512 MB / 2 GB (max) , 40 GB , 15" TFT active matrix 1400 x 1050 / 24-bit (16.7 million colors) , CD-RW / DVD-ROM combo - plug-in module

Yeah should do you for a while yet. (Looks like the laptop was made in 2003)
I wouldn't go out and buy another laptop if I were you I woul just replace the hdd. (if it is your hard for sure)

General
Recommended Use Small business, corporate business
System Type Notebook
Mobile Technology Intel Centrino
Form Factor Portable
Built-in Devices Stereo speakers, wireless LAN antenna
Width 33 cm
Depth 27.2 cm
Weight 2.7 kg
Height 3 cm
Processor
Processor Intel Pentium M 1.3 GHz
Data Bus Speed 400 MHz
Features Enhanced SpeedStep technology
Chipset Type Intel 855PM
Cache Memory
Type L2 cache
Installed Size 1 MB
RAM
Installed Size 512 MB / 2 GB (max)
Technology DDR SDRAM - 266 MHz
Memory Specification Compliance PC2100
Storage
Storage Controller IDE
Hard Drive 40 GB
Display
Display Type 15" TFT active matrix
Max Resolution 1400 x 1050 / 24-bit (16.7 million colors)
Optical Storage
Type CD-RW / DVD-ROM combo - plug-in module
Read Speed 24x (CD) / 8x (DVD)
Write Speed 8x
Rewrite Speed 4x
Video
Video Memory 64 MB
Graphics Processor / Vendor ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9000 - AGP 4x
Max Resolution (external) 1600 x 1200
Audio
Audio Output Sound card
Compliant Standards DirectSound, Sound Blaster Pro
Audio Input Microphone
Input Device(s)
Type Keyboard, touchpad, 4-way scroll button
Telecom
Modem Fax / modem
Max Transfer Rate 56 Kbps
Protocols & Specifications ITU V.92
Networking
Networking Network adapter
Data Link Protocol Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Bluetooth
Compliant Standards IEEE 802.11b
Remote Management Protocol DMI 2.0
Expansion / Connectivity
Expansion Slots Total (Free) 2 memory ¦ 1 ( 1 ) x Smart Card ¦ 1 ( 1 ) x CardBus - type II
Expansion Bays 1 x front accessible
Interfaces 1 x modem - phone line - RJ-11 ¦ 1 x network - Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX - RJ-45 ¦ 1 x parallel - IEEE 1284 (EPP/ECP) - 25 pin D-Sub (DB-25) ¦ 1 x display / video - VGA - 15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15) ¦ 1 x audio - line-in/microphone - mini-phone 3.5 mm ¦ 1 x audio - line-out/headphones - mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm ¦ 1 x infrared - IrDA ¦ 4 x Hi-Speed USB - 4 pin USB Type A ¦ 1 x display / video - S-video output - 4 pin mini-DIN ¦ 1 x IEEE 1394 (FireWire) ¦ 1 x docking / port replicator - 100 pin docking
Power
Power Device External
Power Provided 75 Watt
Miscellaneous
Features Locking device keyhole (cable lock), system password, hard drive password, Disk Anti-Shock Protection System (DASP), Smart Card security, wake on LAN, wake on ring
Compliant Standards ACPI 2.0
Included Accessories 2 Smart Cards
Operating System / Software
Software Included Drivers & Utilities
OS Provided Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Battery
Technology Lithium ion
Installed Qty 1 / 2 (max)
Average Run Time 5.5 hour(s)


As to what hard drive maybe you could buy one of these. http://www.fcpa.com/products/hard-drives/m...ifications.html
40GB MHS 2040AT
60GB MHS 2060AT (the 60GB isn't much more cost wise so you might want to look at it.)
Maybe this one. http://www.samsung.com/sg/products/harddis...ies/mp0804h.asp