Software Based

The most common problems originate from corruption of the master boot record, FAT, or directory are software problems which can usually be taken care of with a combination of tools like Fdisk,mbr,chkdsk to refresh the master boot record followed by a reboot.

Hardware Based

The most common hardware problems are a bad controller, a bad drive motor, or a bad head mechanism.

1. Can the BIOS see and identify the hard drive correctly?
If it can't, then the hard drives gone bad.

2. Does the drive spin and maintain a constant velocity?
If it does, that's good news. The motor is functioning.

3. Do you hear a lot of head clatter when the machine is turned on and initialized?
Head clatter would indicate that the spindle bearings are sloppy or worn badly.

Note:Usually if the hard drive has gone bad, just throw it at the garbage and this including bad sector. Because bad sector will infect the good sector until the hard drive can not be used.

Solution

For software based: Insert the Windows CD and try to repair it using command like chkdsk or fdisk.

For hardware based: Eventually, all the possible solution will so lead the hard drive no longer can be used.