Fixed: Hard Drive Error Code 0142 [4 Solutions + 1 Tip]

Quick Navigation:

• About hard drive error code 0142

• Effective solutions to Dell error code 0142

• Bonus tips for fixing error code 0142

• Conclusion

About hard drive error code 0142

Working on a computer, you may encounter different kinds of errors. To help users figure out which hardware components are causing a PC to fail, Dell offers the Pre-boot System Assessment (PSA) tool. Failures related to corrupted memory, CPU failure, or an unsuccessful hard drive self-test will be reported.

Dell error code 0142 Status 79 happens to a lot of users. You may receive this error message when the hard drive fails self-test:

Following are the possible causes for error code 0142:

• Hard disk connection problem

• Corrupted or died disk

• Damaged Windows files or MBR data…

Then, how to fix Dell error code 0142 efficiently? Please read on.

Effective solutions to Dell error code 0142

Four effective solutions will be described below for your reference. Take Windows 10 as an example:

• Solution 1: Check hard disk connection

• Solution 2: Perform a disk check from Windows installation disc

• Solution 3: Reinstall Windows

• Solution 4: Replace faulty hard drive

Solution 1: Check hard disk connection

Turn off your computer, open the computer case and check the connection between the hard disk and the motherboard. You may reseat the hard drive and hard drive cables and run the PSA test again to see if Dell error code 0142 is fixed.

Solution 2: Perform a disk check from Windows installation disc

1. Insert the Windows 10 installation disc and boot from it.

2. Choose the language, time and keyboard type and click Next.

3. In the next screen, choose Repair your computer.

4. Select Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Command Prompt successively.

5. In Command Prompt, input chkdsk C: /r and press Enter to repair corrupt data on C drive. You can check other partitions on your computer by replacing the drive letter.

6. Exit Command Prompt and restart your computer to see if error code 0142 still exists.

Solution 3: Reinstall Windows

Bear in mind that clean installation of Windows will cause total data loss, so backup important files before you do. Then, follow the instructions below:

1. Download the media creation tool from Microsoft. Click the Download tool now button to save the installer on your computer.

2. Right click the MediaCreationTool.exe and select Run as administrator.

3. On the License terms page, select Accept.

4. On the What do you want to do? page, select Create installation media for another PC, and then select Next.

5. It should recognize automatically your current version of Windows if you currently run Windows 10. Leave the Use the recommended options for this PC checkbox checked and click Next.

6. Dot at USB flash drive and click Next.

7. Plug an empty USB flash drive (at least 4GB) on the computer and click Next.

8. Media Creation Tool will now begin to download the Windows 10 installation files. Click Finish when you see “Your USB flash drive is ready”.

9. Restart your computer with the Windows installation USB inserted, and boot from the USB.

10. Select Install now once the Windows installer starts. Follow the wizard to finish Windows installation.

Tips: You will see the activation screen after clicking “Install now”, click “I don’t have a product key” if you’ve ever installed and activated Windows 10 on this computer before. Windows will automatically activate once it’s installed.

Solution 4: Replace faulty hard drive

If the three solutions offered above fail, you have no choice but to replace the original hard drive.

• If the system is under warranty, contact Dell support with the error and they’ll replace the drive. 

• If the system is out of warranty, find a possible replacement for the faulty hard drive according to your computer model.

Tips: It is wise of you to copy old hard drive to new hard drive before hard drive replacement. Thus, you don’t need to reinstall the operating system and all your applications after replacement.

Bonus tips for fixing error code 0142

As you see, the process of fixing error code 0142 can be complicated, especially if you pick Solution 3. To avoid system reinstallation when serious errors occur, you may backup system regularly. AOMEI Backupper Standard, the best free backup software, can be your good assistant.

◆ It offers you four types of backup: System/Disk/Partition/File Backup, which can meet your different needs.
◆ With the Schedule feature, you can set your backup tasks to run automatically, so new changes won’t be missed.
◆ You can create bootable media using AOMEI Backupper to boot your computer in case of boot failure.

Just download this freeware and go to Backup > System Backup to create an image backup for your operating system. With a backup at hand, you can repair corrupted system files or MBR by system restore instead of system reinstallation, which will save you much time and efforts.

Conclusion

There are four effective solutions provided in this article to help you resolve hard drive error code 0142. If you want a more efficient way to perform system recovery, you can turn to AOMEI Backupper. Apart from the backup and recovery features, AOMEI Backupper is capable of clone. Use it to clone disk if you encounter the issue of Samsung Data Migration on non Samsung SSD. Don’t hesitate to go for this tool!