2025-06-17

Glossary of Western Digital Hard Disk Drive (Letter T)

DATARECOVERYUNION.COM04 mins

TB
Terabyte. One trillion bytes (1000 GB) of data.

TCP/IP
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. A set of protocols for communication over interconnected networks. The standard for data transmission over networks.

TCQ
Tagged command queuing. Type of command queuing in which random reads and writes are intelligently ordered to read/write to/from the nearest disk sectors. Intelligently ordered (queued) commands avoid additional revolutions of the hard drive and greatly improve performance.

TFI
Thin-film inductive. A head technology using a thin-film inductive element to read and write data bits on the magnetic surface of a disk.

thin client architecture
A computer system in which data is stored centrally, with only limited storage capacity at its various points of use.

thin film
A coating deposited on a flat surface through a photolithographic process. Thin film is used on disk platters and read/write heads, as well as on the write elements of MR heads.

TLER
Time-limited error recovery. Technology that improves error handling coordination with RAID adapters and prevents drive fallout caused by lengthy error-recovery processes.

TLS
Transport Layer Security. Successor to SSL. See also SSL.

TPI
Tracks per inch. Also known as track density. The number of tracks written within each inch of a disk surface, used to measure how closely tracks are packed on a disk surface.

track
A concentric magnetic circle pattern on a disk surface used for storing and reading data.

track-to-track seek time
The time for a read/write head to move from one track to an adjacent track.

transfer rate
The rate at which a hard drive sends and receives data from a controller. Processing, head switches, and seeks must all be included in the transfer rate to accurately portray drive performance. The burst mode transfer rate is different from the transfer rate, as it refers only to the transfer of data into RAM.

triple interface
An external storage device with three interfaces available for connection to the computer.

TuMR
Tunneling magneto resistive (TuMR) heads. Next-generation head design that provides greater signal output which translates into greater signal to noise ratio, enabling higher storage densities.

two mirror mode
Mode available when four drives are installed in a device. In this mode, two independent RAID 1 volumes are created.

Read More

Error Messge: "DISK BOOT FAILURE".

DATARECOVERYUNION.COM22 mins

Disk Boot Failure Problem:
Error Messge: “DISK BOOT FAILURE“, while booting the system.

Cause:
There are several causes for this error message. The boot sequence may not be properly set in the system BIOS. Another cause is the presence of non-bootable media in the floppy or CD-ROM drives. The drive may not be properly configured or detected in the system BIOS. Incorrect Jumper Settings or a defective IDE cable may also be responsible.

Resolution:

  • Make sure that your boot sequence is correctly set. Generally, you should set the boot sequence to boot to the floppy drive first, then the hard drive, and the CD-ROM drive last.
  • Check your floppy drive and CD-ROM drive for media and remove any that you find.
  • Verify that your drive is properly detected in the system BIOS.
  • Verify that your Jumper Settings are correct.
  • Power off the system, replace the IDE data cable and try to boot again.
Read More

Glossary of Samsung Hard Disk Drive (Letter G, H, I)

DATARECOVERYUNION.COM04 mins

Samsung Hard Disk Drive Glossary Gigabyte (GB)
1 Gigabyte = 1,073,741,824 digital bytes / 1,000,000,000 decimal bytes, a unit of measure for data

Hard Error
a data error which is not able to be overcome when the disk is reread, it occurs repeatedly at the same location on the media, indicating a defect in the surface

Hardware
computer equipment (as opposed to the computer programs and software)

HC
High-speed CMOS)

HDA
Head Disk Assembly

HDD
Hard Disk Drive, magnetic storage device

Head crash
Occurs when a head and disk accidentally touch, thereby damages the media (and subsequently the data)

Head Landing Zone
Area on the media which is dedicated to head takeoff and landing, no data is recorded in this area

Head positioner
(see Actuator)

Host
the computer system that the drive is integrated into

Hot swap
replacement of hard drives, whilst computer is in operation with zero downtime

Host adapter
a plug-in board or circuitry on the motherboard that acts as the interface between a computer system bus and the disk drive

IC
Integrated Circuits. IC’s are arrays of electronic components such as transistors, diodes, resistors built from a single piece of semiconductor material. Huge numbers of components (millions) can be placed upon a single chip, the external connections being made via the pins on the IC package

IDE
Integrated Drive Electronics, a hardware interface that allows peripheral devices to be attached to a PC

IDE Controller
The controller translates commands from the computer into something that the hard drive understands

Interface
transmitters/receivers that establish links between various parts of a computer and facilitate the exchange of data between these components (e.g. IDE, EIDE, SCSI, and for notebooks PCMCIA). The way the drive and host communicate with each other. It is a standard defined by industry organisations

Interleave factor
the number of sectors that pass beneath the heads before the next sector arrives (a means to optimise performance of a drive)

Internal Transfer rate
the speed at which data is transferred to and from the media, reflected in millions of bits per second (Mbits/second)

Inside Diameter
smallest radius recording track on a platter

Inside Diameter
smallest radius recording track on a platter

I/O
Input/Output

ISA
Industry Standard Architecture

ISO

International Standards Organisation, sets standards for computer industry

ISO-9660
a data format designed by the ISO in 1984

Read More

Test a WD hard drive using a Data Lifeguard Diagnostics CD/Floppy disk

DATARECOVERYUNION.COM05 mins

Data Lifeguard Diagnostics CD or Floppy disk How do I create a Data Lifeguard Diagnostic disk (Floppy or CD)?

You will need a blank, formatted floppy disk or a blank CD to create the diagnostic disk. To create a diagnostic disk, you can follow one of the procedures below:

OPTION 1: Creating a diagnostic CD.

  1. Download the Diag504fCD.zip or Diag504fCD.iso file DLG Diagnostics for DOS (CD) download.
  2. Extract the Diag504cCD.zip file to your desktop with a file extraction utility. (Alternately, you have the option to download the ISO version of the file which does not require extraction with a zip utility).
  3. You must use a CD burning program (such as Nero Burning Rom or EZ-CD Creator) to burn a CD from the .ISO image.
  4. You can now boot the computer to the diagnostics CD. Make sure your boot order in your BIOS is set to boot to the CD-ROM drive first.

OPTION 2: Creating a diagnostic floppy disk.

  1. Download the DlgDiagv504f.zip file or DlgDiagv504f.exe file DLG Diagnostics for DOS (Floppy) download. Save this file to your desktop.
  2. Extract and run the DlgDiagv504f.exe file. (Alternately you have the option to download the exe version of the file which does not require extraction with a zip utility).
  3. You will see a Diskette Creator icon on your desktop.
  4. Insert an empty formatted floppy diskette into the floppy diskette drive.
  5. Double-click on the Diskette Creator icon, follow the prompts and create your diagnostic diskette.
  6. You can now boot to this diskette. Make sure that your boot order in your Bios is set to boot from the floppy drive first.

How do I test a WD Serial ATA or EIDE hard drive for errors using a Data Lifeguard Diagnostics CD or Floppy disk?

To test a Western Digital Serial ATA or EIDE hard drive for errors using the diagnostic disk, you can follow these steps:

  1. Boot your computer and set your system BIOS to boot to a CD or Floppy disk first. If you do not know how to enter or adjust your system BIOS please refer to your computer/motherboard user manual or contact the manufacturer.
  2. Save the new BIOS setting (F10) and insert the Data LifeGuard diagnostic disk into your disk drive.
  3. You will be brought to the License Agreement screen, read the agreement and hit the Esc button.
  4. Press the Y key to accept the license agreement.
  5. You will be at the main menu for the Diagnostic Utility. Use the down arrow button to highlight Extended Test and press the Enter key.
  6. The software will tell you that a Quick Test will be run first. Press R to continue.
  7. After the Quick Test is run you should receive a four-digit error code that will indicate the status of your drive.
  8. If you receive an error code of 0000, this indicates that the hard drive does not contain any defects or errors and is working properly.
Read More

ATA Hard Disk Installation Troubleshooting Tips

DATARECOVERYUNION.COM03 mins

ATA Hard Drive If your system hangs or locks up during the boot process after installing your new Maxtor Hard drive, either before or after setting the system BIOS, this indicates a jumper conflict with another device on the cable or a BIOS capacity barrier.

If this happens, please perform the following:

  1. Turn the system off.
  2. If the drive is on the cable with another device disconnect both devices from the cable. You will need to test the Maxtor drive as a “stand-alone unit” on the cable. Install a jumper on the cylinder limit / alternate capacity jumper, reconnect the ATA and power cables and restart the system.
  3. If the BIOS is set to AUTO-DETECT and the drive is now detecting without hanging the system, proceed with partitioning and formatting the drive with the MaxBlast software*. The device you removed from the cable in step 2 can now be reinstalled on the ATA cable. If the system continues to hang after reinstalling the second device, you will need to verify its jumper settings or place it as a stand-alone device on the secondary ATA port.
  4. If the system is still hanging after installation of the cylinder limit / alternate capacity jumper, you will need to try the user-definable option in the BIOS setup utility. Power the system off and disconnect the 40-pin ribbon cable from the drive (this will prevent the system from hanging while performing the next step).
  5. Restart the system and enter the BIOS setup utility, set the BIOS parameters to a User Definable Type with 1024 cylinders, 16 heads, 63 sectors, and set the LBA mode to normal or standard. Ignore the Write Pre Comp (WpCom) and Landing Zone (LZ) settings (they can be set to zero). Save settings, exit setup, and power system off.
  6. Reconnect the cables and power the system on. If the system no longer hangs, proceed with partitioning and formatting the drive with the MaxBlast software*.
  7. If you tried all the above steps and are still experiencing problems, the only options left are contacting your motherboard manufacturer for a BIOS Upgrade, or purchase an ATA controller card.
Read More