Windows 7 - Hard drive crashed and burned

After some problems yesterday with my laptop doing some really weird stuff I decided to factory default for the 4th time as the drive has played up in the past though the dealers deny anything being wrong with it.

Have tried said factory default this morning and the machine starts up "loads" Windows then goes to a screen that says an error has occurred.

It reads
ERROR:F3-F200-0002 and then tells me to switch of the machine.

I have tried booting with a rescue disk done in January but same thing happens.

So looks like a trip to the dealer on Monday and I am not holding my breath there as I did buy an extra two years warranty.

However Toshiba in Sydney apparently did not get the extra warranty card I sent off when I bought it. So it looks like I shall have to rely on the dealer doing the right thing and contacting them to get my extra warranty honoured.

I suppose if they (the dealer as they have the receipt for the warranty) do not honour the warranty I'll have to buy another drive not that it would be that expensive but also the OS which is of course.

Well thats the plan of action unless someone can come up with a way of getting it to go in some fashion that is beyond anything that I can think of.

Add: If II do have to replace the drive myself that will be a 2.5" one won't it? and do you reckon I could get away with an OEM for the OS?? - Win 7??

Google generates over 1400 hits on that error:

"ERROR:F3-F200-0002" - Google Search


You might be able to find a solution in those hits.

Yes, an OEM disc should be fine.

Look here in particular:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/w...4-fad23b3a564d

Hiyya ignatzatsonic Yeha mate saw the cast of thousands bit like Ben Hur eh??

Well my friend this will be the last Toshiba laptop for me as I said two in a row with hard drive failure - someone's gotta be doing something wrong somewhere.
Trouble is it's like car insurance claims it's just all too much time down and paperwork eh?

The OEM well if it's ok I'll go that way can always say I rebuilt the thing eh?

Anyway will go look in that site and see what I can come up with but I have a suspicion that it is a hardware / physical malfunction.

Technically, the OEM thing is NOT OK.

Microsoft has changed their policies on OEM versions.

I'm sure someone else will jump in here with the link to the official MS policy and definition for OEM versions.

However, I'd like to address your problem.

My first question is whether you have gone to the Toshiba website to find info on this problem. Have you asked in the Toshiba forum?

I'm sure ignatzatsonic will correct me if I'm wrong, but you do not have to buy a new OS if you are replacing a hard drive. Just reinstall the original OS and use the number from your Toshiba. I had an OEM disk and replaced a motherboard and reinstalled with my original disk and it was activated by Microsoft.

You will find following of interest:

You cannot legally install an OEM version of Windows 7 on your own - Microsoft Answers



Clean Install of OEM OS

Basically, yes you can use the OEM on a machine with a COA sticker.
Please read both articles but especially the 2nd one.

There may be a misunderstanding.

I assumed that the OP meant "hard disc" when he said "do you reckon I could get away with an OEM for the OS??", figuring he intended to replace the hard drive on a laptop.

I answered yes because I have always used OEM hard drives, by which I mean bare hard drives, not retail packaged hard drives.

If the OP meant OEM OS installation disc rather than OEM hard disc, then Karl is right as far as I know.

Only the OP knows whether or not he meant hard disc drive or OS install disc.

If you have an OEM-coa sticker on the computer, you can install with any disk of the same version and same OS and Activate it. It may require a robo call to MS, but they will activate it. The OEM sticker on the computer proves that you have purchased a legal copy of that OS. It is just the activation process is different for OEM makers than for normal customers.

Have tried all of Brinks suggestions I have two OEM disks here one for a machine I bought pre built and one that I bought for my own build.

Have tried both in this machine plus a rescue disk I made but I think the actual drive hardware ? read write heads, platters - oh whatever have had the Richard, and after paying good money for it 15 months wear isn't my idea of value especially as I got a Toshiba thinking it was a reasonably alright brand.

But after the A200 Vista HDD crapping itself and now this one - this will be the very last Toshiba for me I am afraid.

Personally I think it would be so much better to be able to buy the machine for x $'s and the OS separate for x $'s and not have to bloody well mess around with all this OEM rot. In my mind it is nothing short of a rip off.
If one could do that then it would be a simple matter of just taking out the drive and reinstalling it.

Plus on top of all this there is the down time that it takes to get these things done which again I personally find extremely irritating, and takes away a lot of the enjoyment of using a computer

I mean what would everyone say if one bought a car and was then told that one could only use Dunlop tyres of a particular tread design on it and be possibly prosecuted for doing otherwise!!

Try running the hard drive manufacturer's disk utility application on the drive to find out if it is broken or not. If it is broken, you should be able to replace it yourself if your warranty won't take care of you.