i have a hp desktop pc which recently crashed due to a bad sector error ( i think that was the message ). anyway a friend tried to repair it for me and now i cant access the hard drive at all. since it had 2 hard drives i have installed the o/s on the second drive (d) and transfered all the docs across to that. i have tried to format the original ( c ) drive so i can reinstall my o/s on that but it will not let me. the c drive has 2 partitions on one of which is a recovery drive (e)and i think this may be the reason it wont format. can anyone offer any advice on what to do.

ps i'm sure this is something simple but as i have never had any computer training i'm shooting in the dark if i try anything

With it being a HP, I'm assuming Windows?

On the keyboard, hold down the key with the 'flying window' logo on it (usually located between [Ctrl] and [Alt]) and press [E]. In the Explorer window that opens [right click] on the faulty drive > properties > error checking > check now. Tick both boxes and hit start. Go grab a brew and put the TV on, this may take a while (depending on the size of the hard disk).

You may also want to put the drive through a few tests. If the drive manufacturer doesn't have any testing tools, Seagate's SeaTools (free) is able to test most S.M.A.R.T. enabled hard drives: http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/downloads/seatools

cheers rob will try that

if the drive has failed I have a little program here called easy recovery by on track that will recover files even after the partion has been formatted and then written over, pm me if you need help getting any files back off the drive, good luck getting it sorted

dont suppose you could do me a copy of that program could you ?