Thread: Help with Vista

I ran check disk and it got to 5% then froze. I'm gonna try swapping out the hdd to see if that corrects it

There might be some useful information in the event log. Read errors on your hard drive show up there. If I suspected hardware was at fault, I'd be running DOS-based utilities to check the hard drive (like Seatools) and memory (Memtest86).

ok so now I need some more help, his computer came with the hdd partitioned with a d drive for recovery. On my computer which is a xp machine I was able to open the d drive and burn all the files to a disk for a backup. On his machine when I try to go into the d drive I get the following message(see pic attached) is there a way a can burn the files on the d partition to a disk so I can install a new hard drive and try to do a new vista install on it? I checked the properties and it shows as read only. When I tried to change it to remove the read only status it never saves the change.

ok update, so my uncle brought over the computer today so i could try swapping in one of my hard drives, I noticed on the inside was very dusty. There was dust all over the psu, fans and heat sinks, I vaccummed all the dust out. Still havent swapped harddrives however I ran spybot and it completed. Could the dust blocking the ventilation cause the computer to freeze up like that?

Short answer yes. Here is a small utility that you may want to download called speedfan. I have it on both my computers. It lets you monitor your temps such as core and hard drive. I do not recommend changing any computer setting which you can do with this utility as well.
http://www.almico.com/speedfan439.exe

Here are a few screen shots from my desktop pc. Sorry about the quality. I forgot to mention it has a good hard drive diagnostic tool under S.M.A.R.T.

so its been running fine since yesterday, however I would still like to make the recovery disk. How can I make the disk if I can not gain access to the d drive?

Click on Start and type in Recovery Disk Creation in the search bar or click on Start, Help and Support, Recover Factory Settings, Create or Purchase Recovery Disks, and finally click on Recovery Disks and follow the prompts. If you intend on using those disks you have created I recommend backing up everything you have installed or stored because you will lose everything other than the factory installed programs. It is like putting the computer back to when it was first purchased......Well.... Sort of...... Good Luck!

Not a thank you or KMA. Maybe not an answer to what he was asking.............