Harddisk failling

I have already re-formatted vista from boot with the CD, but i just did a system assessment with BIOS on start-up and the hard failed the DST short test and showed an error code of '2000-0146.' I'm thinking about deep formatting the whole computer, is this the solution and what software shud i use?

Boot the Vista disk
Delete the partition
format the drive
If it still fails the test[s] it's toast.

Depending on the make of the HDD go to the Manufactures site and download their testing software. Run the long test and see if it comes back with errors. If it does chances are the HDD is on the way out. Use it sparingly, I have had drives fail the test and keep working and drives that passed the test that I couldn't format.

I'll add this: ASAP, back up anything you don't want to lose. If your drive is failing, it could go out at any moment and you may not be able to recover anything.

Thanx for the replies

yer i've backed it up now, luckily it was b4 anything went wrong but because the HD slowed down the whole OS it took almost 2 days to transfer 112GB thru LAN, lol. Wud it work if i just installed the OS on an external HD n run it off there? Wud it be slower? Do external HDs have less rpm than internal HDs?

You can run an OS on an external drive but you will be bottle necked by the USB connection. The Speed of the external drive depends on how fast the HDD is that's installed most are the same thing as a standard HDD (7200)

true that, well are there any programs you know of that can repair my HD, or identify the problems in more depth?

IF the HDD failed the manufactures test its not worth saving unless you have irreplaceable data on the drive that needs recovered. The drive likely had damage to the read/write heads or to one of the platters. If you want to try a low level format you can use a program called Killdisk you will need to burn the Image to an ISO or make a bootable dos diskette. If you do a low level format and re-install windows you are only prolonging the inevitable you should keep current back ups incase the drive goes completely dead if its not already.

my hard disk is coming up "OK" in all diagnostic test after i re-formatted vista, so it seems. Now i have to do 81 vista updates (which takes hours), i've tried doing these updates several times and restarting afterwards, but everytime my computer starts back up again it fails and i have to do a start-up recovery and system restore .... very frustrating!

P.S. comp works fine after restore but i have to do the updates again. :/