# General Failure Reading Drive C? NOOO!!!!!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-failure-reading-drive-c-nooo/189063>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [July 17, 2003, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-failure-reading-drive-c-nooo/189063 "2003-07-17T04:39:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Xploder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a183cd/32.png) [@Xploder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xploder)\
**Post date:** [July 17, 2003, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-failure-reading-drive-c-nooo/189063/21 "2003-07-17T12:05:43Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by spooje \*  
> \*\*You must sacrifice a small electrical device to the computer God, along with chanting and incense and the naked dance of shame.
> 
> A walkman or a really nice calculator will do. \*\*

No way buddy…I **like** my calculator to much.

Be like me and just use Win98. I have **still** never had a problem that I didn’t cause using it.

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**Author:** ![heid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/278dde/32.png) [@heid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heid)\
**Post date:** [July 17, 2003, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-failure-reading-drive-c-nooo/189063/22 "2003-07-17T15:29:15Z")

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A number of things could be wrong with your hard drive. A corrupt FAT can cause this problem and Norton Utilities could fix it up if the second FAT is intact.

A hardware problem can also cause this problem. If this is the problem, try the freezer trick. It sometimes works but rarely as a boot drive in my experience. The best product I’ve ever used to recover files from a dying hard drive is Lost & Found. If you can still find the product and if the drive is still spinning and the heads are moving you will likely recover files from the drive. A second drive and a lot of patience is required but the end result is usually good.

Good luck and remember… all hard drives will fail eventually if used long enough.

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**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\
**Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-failure-reading-drive-c-nooo/189063/23 "2003-07-18T00:31:58Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Muad’Dib \*  
> \*\*step 5.
> 
> Profit. \*\*

I read your procedure carefully, and I may have missed something, but I could have sworn that underpants were required at some point.

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**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\
**Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-failure-reading-drive-c-nooo/189063/24 "2003-08-03T02:41:39Z")

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I took it in to the local computer place last week, and it should be delivered Monday. I found a data recovery place with a student rate, so I’m sending off the dead hard drive to them (verdict from the local techs: electronic failure.) Meanwhile I had the local place upgrade my machine to WinXP Pro for good measure.

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