Hard Disc Testing: Command Line Options

On Sun, 10 Jul 2005 06:58:46 -0700, Malke
wrote:

Anna wrote:


"John Latter" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I've downloaded Seatools to test my HDD but the program hangs
whenever I run the boot CD.

In the help file it says:

"J. Command Line Options
--------------------
To restart SeaTools on the RAM drive from the command line use:
seatools /ve:32

/GRAPHICSFIX - some graphics cards give problems during the
display of progress and horizontal scroll bars. This switch
uses a different style progress bar and disables the horizontal
scroll bar on the trees. Without doing this, there
is either a crash or a hang.
seatools /GRAPHICSFIX /ve:32 (video mode must be last on the
line)

/FIXALL to pre-approve writing zeros to any bad sectors that
may be detected during the long test scan. Starts automatically
and assumes all drives. Provides unattended repair. Do not
use this option if you have to protect critical data.

/ve:32 video mode for 800x600 resolution, 256 colors
/ve:31 for 640x480

How do I access the command line while the boot CD is running?
(or do I do it while windows is still running? dunno much about this
stuff!).

Thanks,
--
John Latter


John:
Assuming you have a floppy drive, why not download Seagate's SeaTools
Desktop diagnostic that you can easily create on a single floppy disk?
http://www.seagate.com/support/seatools/
Anna

He said he'd started with the floppy and had the problem and that's why
he switched to cd. John - two things:

1. Open the computer and find the mftr. of the hard drive, or if you
already know it go to their site (assuming it isn't Seagate) and d/l
their specific hard drive testing utility and run it.

2. If the drive is made by Seagate and/or you still get problems running
a diagnostic, there are hardware problems:

a. The drive is bad.
b. The motherboard is bad.
c. Or both.

Things to try, testing after each change:

1. Swap out the drive cable for a known-working one.
2. Put the drive on a different IDE (or SATA if appropriate) connector
on the motherboard.
3. Swap out the power supply for a known-working one.
4. Try the drive in a different computer.

This will help determine which hardware component is failing and will
need to be replaced.

Malke

Hi Malke,

Its a Seagate hard drive. THe problem I have is that I don't know when
or how to access the command line so that I can follow these
instructions:

"J. Command Line Options
--------------------
To restart SeaTools on the RAM drive from the command line use:
seatools /ve:32

/GRAPHICSFIX - some graphics cards give problems during the
display of progress and horizontal scroll bars. This switch
uses a different style progress bar and disables the horizontal
scroll bar on the trees. Without doing this, there
is either a crash or a hang.
seatools /GRAPHICSFIX /ve:32 (video mode must be last on the
line)

Do I go start then run while windows is still running or can I access
the command line while the seagte boot cd is running?

--

John Latter

Model of an Internal Evolutionary Mechanism (based on an extension to homeostasis) linking Stationary-Phase Mutations to the Baldwin Effect.
http://members.aol.com/jorolat/TEM.html

'Where Darwin meets Lamarck?' Discussion Egroup
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/evomech

John Latter wrote:


Hi Malke,

Its a Seagate hard drive. THe problem I have is that I don't know when
or how to access the command line so that I can follow these
instructions:

"J. Command Line Options
--------------------
To restart SeaTools on the RAM drive from the command line
use: seatools /ve:32

/GRAPHICSFIX - some graphics cards give problems during the
display of progress and horizontal scroll bars. This switch
uses a different style progress bar and disables the
horizontal
scroll bar on the trees. Without doing this, there
is either a crash or a hang.
seatools /GRAPHICSFIX /ve:32 (video mode must be last on the
line)

Do I go start then run while windows is still running or can I access
the command line while the seagte boot cd is running?


SeaTools creates a RAM drive and when you boot with it, will usually
tell you what drive letter it assigns - most often "R". When you boot
with SeaTools, IIRC you can exit the graphical program and that will
put you into the commandline. You probably are already at the RAM
drive, so you would just type the command as above.

However, if you can't get through the SeaTools diagnostic, the hardware
is bad. Don't bother with the commandline. Proceed to test the hardware
as I previously suggested.

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User