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1.
Disconnect all external storage devices
such as external USB, Firewire, and eSATA drives,
jump/thumb/flash drives, cameras, and printers before proceeding with a Windows repair or recovery.
Failure to disconnect such devices could result in serious data corruption.
2.
Boot
up the computer.
3.
Insert
your Windows installation
CD/DVD
into the CD/DVD drive.
4.
Reboot
the computer, and it should boot up into the Windows disc.
5.
Select to perform a
repair or restore
action, and follow the steps provided there.
6.
If the repair or restore fails, the following articles may be of assistance:
Unable to refresh or reset PC after Automatic Repair fails in Windows 8
After you install a device or update a driver for a device, Windows Vista or Windows 7 may not
start
Windows 7 Startup Repair: frequently asked questions
Windows Vista Startup Repair: frequently asked questions
7.
If the
drive successfully passes
the diagnostics (but the Windows repair/recovery failed), then the
drive itself is most probably safe to continue using. You should therefore, attempt to
erase the drive
and
reinstall the operating system
.
The simplest way to reinstall the operating system (and probably erase the data, though that does not happen
every time) is to insert the Windows CD/DVD in the CD/DVD drive and then reboot the computer. The option
to repair Windows should appear as well as an option to reinstall Windows. Since the repair has failed, simply
choose to reinstall Windows.
If that fails to reinstall Windows, a stronger erase is probably required. Seagate's utility
perform a quick, a timed, or a full erasure (known as a "zero-fill") of the drive. In this case, a full zero-fill is
probably the best option. This can take many hours depending on many factors including the drive capacity, so
leave adequate time for this. If you are short on time, attempt a timed zero-fill of at least a few minutes.
Then insert the Windows CD/DVD in the CD/DVD drive and then reboot the computer. You should be able to
install Windows as if from scratch.
When the storage drive is no longer detected
If a Serial ATA drive, installed as additional storage in your computer, was previously detected
but is no longer detected, this set of troubleshooting steps will attempt to get the drive detected
again, or to conclude whether the drive has failed and should be replaced.
If a
has recently appeared on your computer, this generally means drive failure is
imminent or has already occurred. If you have received a SMART error, we strongly recommend
that you stop everything and make an immediate backup of any and all important data
contained on this drive that is not already backed up.