hard drive failure code:7

Question

hello I ran the bios hard drive diagnostic test on a optiplex gsx270 and returned with failure code of 7 were can I find an explanation for these error codes

DELL-Stephen S · Answer

tekhelp,

Thank you for visiting the Dell Community Forum.

I don’t have a list of that specific code but failure codes from the BIOS diagnostics often indicate a problem with the drive itself. With the power off and the system unplugged, try reseating (unplugging and reconnecting) the hard drive data cables a couple of times to clean the connections off and then run the diagnostics again. If you still get the same problem I would advise contacting Dell Technical Support with the details of the trouble-shooting you have done so far.

D-Boy · Answer

Return code 7 is a read failure ( if my memory serves me right ) Give Dell support a call and they will replace the hard drive for you...

wlrandalljr · Answer

5 bucks says its a maxtor 20, 30, or 40gb

fishboston · Answer

Is there any way to recover data off of a Maxtor drive with the failure 7

mike6304 · Answer

I have been able to get data out of a hard drive that was defective and had a Code 7. Connect to another computer as the slave drive and retrive your data.

Lynchsta · Answer

You'd lose that 5 bucks if it were a bet with me. I got the same error just this past weekend. The drive is completely unaccesssable right now.

What drive is it ya say? It's a WDC.

It's actually not my computer, it's my parent's. They don't think they've burned any backups which will really bite if I can't connect their drive to one of my computers and read info off of it as a slave drive. I hope that works, but I'm not holding my breath.

Has that worked for anyone else?

Also, has anyone ever been able to recover their HD after it dying out like that?

The original error was: Warning: Dell's Disk Monitoring System has detected that drive 0 on the primary EIDE contrler is operating outside of normal specifications. It is advisable to immediately back up your data and replace your hard disk drie by calling your support desk or Dell Computer Corp.

Yah, that's all fine and dandy, assuming you can access the drive again. Upon hitting F1 to continue, I was able to get into windows and scandisc started running right away. After less than a minute, it took a dive a blue screen saying the drive couldn't be written to. 3 or 4 blue screens later, the computer hung and had to be rebooted. Now I no longer get that DMS error, but I get "invalid system disk", as if I had a floppy in the floppy drive.

*sigh*

Anyone have any advice?

bshims · Answer

I could not get one of our pcs to boot.  Tried the emergency recovery console, ran chkdsk and got the message:'the volume appears to contain one or more unrecoverable problems'   I called Dell tech support (30 minute wait) and spoke with a tech.  He told me that I had to reload the o/s and that would correct the problem; it was definitely a software problem.  I graciously disagreed and noted that we should run the diagnostic tests.  He stated that it would probably come back with an error code 7 and that it was software related.  I told him that I wasn't going to reload the o/s and wipe out any chance of recovering the data on the disk just to see if his theory was correct. We ran the test and indeed it came back with an error: return code 7.  He then asked for me to hold the line.  I did and he promptly hung up on me... :robotmad:I didn't get his name (but he had a hillbilly accent) but I'm holding back in the queue in order to get a knowledgeable support tech to send me a drive.  This is the 6th drive failure we've had (out of an original order of 140 pcs, almost a 5% failure rate. That stinks).  The last time this happened, I was able to recover the data by (believe it or not) freezing the hard drive in a freezer for 2 hours and installing back into the original pc; this was recommended by a techie friend of mine who works for HP.  I couldn't believe it but it did work!:smileyvery-happy:

Storage, Drives & Media

hard drive failure code:7

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