G50VT - Bad HDD

I've had this laptop for a few months now, and for the last few weeks I've been having a few issues with the hard drive. It started with LoginUI.exe popping up some errors while starting up/shutting down, and from there progressed into a full blown "nothing-works-i-hate-you" situation. I tried running CHKDSK, however being that the previous and current problems I have are both within the C:\ partition, Windows can't check it. I tried everything I could find to get CHKDSK to run after rebooting, but nothing wold work. I ended up reinstalling Vista using the recovery discs, reformatted the entire HDD with the same two partitions the laptop came with, and went about a week without problems.

The same problem has popped up again. It's with LoginUI.exe again, but different files. C:\Program Files\Windows NT\TextTableService to be exact. When I try to access the folder, I get the error that the folder is not accessible and that the file or directory is corrupt or unreadable. It's the same with the previous problem.

The laptop has been taken care of very well, never dropped, never met liquids, and I'm the only one who uses it. Ever.

So, my conclusion is that a section of the hard drive is bad, and just happens to be the section Windows is installed on. So I decided to just bite the bullet and replace the hard drive (and add another one as well). It was something I planned on doing in the future anyways.

My question, however, is I only have the driver and recovery disks that came with the laptop. I do have a Vista DVD, but that is back home in NJ and I'm currently living in SC where I was stationed by the Coast Guard. I know there is a little hidden partition on the hard drive that ASUS put some windows files and driver software into, and I am wondering that if I do replace the hard drive, will I be able to reinstall Vista without that small partition using only the recovery disks?

 

You can reinstall just fine.

In fact I removed those partitions and did my own anyway.

As for your hard drive. how come you wanted to replace it anyway? Also I would get the drive replaced by asus under warranty. At least it gives you a spare again, and if you have the nb with only one drive you can put it in as a second drive.

What exact model is you G50vt?

Also you may want to test your RAM as its possible thats your trouble maker also. While it is prob the hard drive better to play it safe than go through all the trouble to have same problem.

Bad memory can damage files and give same effect.

 

Ouch - bummer dude. Should've asked before getting another drive as there are always ways to recover from drive problems, even if they're broken.

Try this program (it's freeware):

PC INSPECTOR™ File Recovery 4.x

It's for recovering data in bad sectors on most of the OS's.

Your recovery disks have the OS installation files on them, so you don't need an additional Vista disk. In fact if you install an OEM copy of Vista you might have problems with some of the drivers - remember that systems from 3rd party vendors have customized installation files, drivers and firmware for the components they install that are different from their OEM counterparts.

 

I haven't bought the hard drive yet, but I'm thinking I may have to.

I ran the memory check, no problems. I then downloaded and installed the PC Inspector File Recovery program, but when I try to run it I get the error:

"Run-time error '339':
Component 'gif89.dll' or one of its dependencies not correctly registered; a file is missing or invalid."

Just going to be one of those problems I guess.

Bryanu - You said you re-did the partitions yourself, and I was planning to do the same, but when I tried earlier the recovery disks only give me the option to format the entire drive as a whole, reformat the first partition (C:\), or reformat the entire drive with two partitions, both at preset capacities. I wanted to do a partition big enough for Vista, then have the remaining space on that drive for movies/music and the other hard drive for games and downloaded files.

*edit*

I found that the problem I was having with PC Inspector was pretty common, and they had a FAQ entry for it. I tried their suggestions (un-registering the .dll and deleting it) but I couldn't un-register the .dll, Windows would give me an error saying it couldn't be found.

 

I did somewhat different than you, I never used the recovery disk it came with. I use my stand alone vista disk I already own and did mine so I could customize the partitions during setup.

I have the G50vt-A2 so it has 2 drives. Mine are in a raid 0 for speed and than I just split the two partitions in half so it looks like I have the two drives still but got much more speed.

I didnt like the asus setup with like 4 partitions. Such a waste.

But if you have any blank DVD's with you just download the vista trial online from MS and you can burn it and install. It will be the same CD you have back home. During setup just put the key in thats under the laptop, unless of course you own another version.

But all vista disk are the same except 32 & 64-bit.