Ok, this all my fault, but I fell while listening to my Zen mp3 player and when I tried to listen to it, the screen looked like it had frozen (sort of like a computer). The highlighter that showed which song I wanted to play wouldn't move, even though I heard the "clicky" sound of the touchpad moving. Just, nothing would work. So I attempted to clear the memory. I pushed the reset button and turned it on. A screen came up that said this:

Recovery Mode____________________
Creative Zen Touch v0.0.8
1. Clean Up
2. Format All
3. Reload Firmware
4. Reboot

Now, I was desperate and tried to click everything, but when I did, it displayed the underside of a cd and the words "Hard Disk Problem".

Can anyone tell me what happened and what to do? I have not opened up the mp3 player but I assume that there is a disk inside that is not reading properly, but I am not certain and I don't want to risk screwing it up even more. Can someone please help me?

Tom J., February 2006

I have my Zen Touch since circa 2005 and i powered it on today for the first time in a while and got the recovery menu, i did the below suggestion of hitting it with my hand while rebooting it a couple of times and lo and behold it came back on and works, 15yrs on the go, this thing is indestructible... it has lasted longer than all the other mp3 players i have had over the years. Rock on Zen....

Alan, April 2020

I dropped mine for the first time in about 3 years. Mine said the same thing 'Hard disk problem'. I know virtually nothing about electronics, but it was second hand, and I thought I might as well have a look inside. I carefully opened the case (you can find instructions online) and had a look. Where the hard drive was attached, there was a little ribbon cable thing that looked like it wasn't plugged in properly. I shoved it back in, and when I switched on, everything was back to normal. All tracks still there. Surprised myself I managed to fix it, and I wonder how much money Creative make from people who would have sent it back to them...

Eyemelt, December 2011

OK, so yet another happy customer. Had exactly the same problem but on v0.0.10 and had to really bash the thing a few times on the carpeted floor during boot up before my song list suddenly appeared instead of the dreaded recovery screen.

Thank you so much to whoever came up with the original fix. My trusty Zen (which has outlived iPods and other MP3 players and mobile phones) lives on!

mishabgt, August 2011

Talk about strangely creative fixes.
As per various peoples posts, my zen wouldn't boot up properly either. It just showed the choices;
Creative Zen Touch v0.0.8
1. Clean Up
2. Format All
3. Reload Firmware
4. Reboot

Thinking, "what do I have to loose", I followed the suggestion that a few others made, which was to smack it while powering it up, "not dropping it or banging it against my knee", but while pushing the power button and smacking it against the palm of my hand hard several times, and sure enough, it restored itself to the play settings.
" True Story "....

D.J.L., September 2010

My thanks to those who posted the "bang on knee" solution. Wanted to use my Zen today (unused since around January). The battery was dead but after a few minutes on mains power, when it did come up I got Recovery Mode and then "Hard Disk Problem" after the various reset approaches. So having found this thread I tried a few bangs on the knee but no joy. Two hours later I tried again. Success!! I do have a secondary theory. Not long after I got it some years ago I took it away on a very cold day. When I arrived where I was going I showed my new Zen to a relative. Dead! "It is a solid state drive" he said, "It has caught cold." 2 hours later it fired up again. So maybe 6 months unused and no power stored in a cupboard it was cold and needed to get to room temperature again. Maybe it was a combination of both solutions - bang on knee and get warm again! Anyway, many thanks once again folks.

Peter C, July 2010

i had the same problem i nearly got a new hard drive for it then i decded to just drop it on the floor it took 3 drops then it just reset i had the unit switched on when i dropped it give it ago what do you have to loose thankyou to the chap that made the drop it comment, i can go back to my music now drop it face(display) up so you can see what it does when it is on the floor about a mtr high onto hard floor did the trick good luck

graham nottingham uk, January 2010

It seems this crazy solution works. My Creative ZEN suddenly locked up with a strange clicking sound and the screen giving the options clean up, reformat, re-load firmware, reboot. I couldn't get anything to work. I tried the pinhole reset button but nothing worked. I read the threads about hitting the thing really hard and couldn't believe them. I tried this several times with no luck. Finally, I actually smacked the thing into the floor (carpet over concrete) while powering on and it started working. My experience was you have to hit the thing pretty darn hard. Absolutely mystifying. Anway, I have had it 5 years and am glad it is working again. Time to make sure I've got all my tunes backed up!

As per the disclaimer stuff - be careful if you try this approach. You could hurt yourself while banging the ZEN and if not careful how you bang it, you could damage the ZEN rendering it completely useless. This is obviously no expert solution but it does seem to work.

Jethro, July 2009

The only solution is maybe to tap a bit to try to get the harddrive to spinning. I've had ipods and Zens. No difference.

The harddrive is what stores the memory, just like on computer or on an XBOX. If they are bumped the wrong way, you may knock something out of whack. Id say tap it a few times unless it's under warranty, just take it back then

Ron Burgundy!, June 2009

Hey I've got the same f*&%king problem with my Zen. I think Ill send to it to Creative Technical Support with a recommendation that Zen models have a falling over warning sticker and doing so will seriously harm your hard drive

An ex and never to be again Creative customer, May 2009

i got mine as a gift ,the next week or so it worked fine,,but then after a 2 or 3 falls.....i start it and play a couple of tues . THEN!!!!! its freezes ,i then reset it and then i reach the recovery mode and then while cleaning up the device say harddisk problem..WHAT THE HELLS WRONG WITH IT ????

Slitzz, March 2009

I took the back off, turned on the Zen and it worked. I then turned it off and put it back together carefully testing (switching on and off) as I went. Got it back together and it's working fine.

John_M, February 2009

My god. I just did the knee thing as well. I was gonna go get a new player as well! Brilliant solution!

Clive, January 2009

i still have faith in the zen... im gonna give the knee thing a few more times... the screws on my zen are really tight... i cant budge them... no m atter what size the screwdriver is..

creative fan, December 2008

Had the same thing happen to mine and, guess what? The knee thing worked! Couple of light bumps and the disk started spinning again. Unbelievable...

Dimitris, October 2008

exactly the same problem, tried the knee thing & it does work !!!!

eric rotterdam, August 2008

Usually this problem is caused by what we call a stuck hardrive. The hardrive is not spinning and sticking. Alot of factors cause this, high impact damaging internal components. Dents (biggest cause) causing the harddrive to stop.

Opening it up and closing it again will work BUT its only temporary, you've caused the damage it will stick again after a few days, also the screws are very weak. A manufacturer trick to stop people fixing them themselves =p, so you need to fix it permanently first time you open it.

Firstly remove the back cover to reveal the hardrive. you then remove ALL dents from the back cover, even if they're small, they were never built to work with any sort of dent I'm afraid, just do it as best you can. the next step is unsticking the hardrive. This is quite difficult because if you cause any damage here you'll ruin the whole thing, we have really expensive equipment to do this so I'm going to go through this with a household item.

You'll need an antistatic cloth, the kind you use to dust furniture. First check the reader, the thing over the spinning disc, this should not move, well it can just not alot, it shouldnt move down onto the disk. If it does, you may have to solder or whatever to repair it, for this you'll need someone who knows what they're doing, this is rare though since the case would prevent this unless you're throwing it off buildings or something. After this is checked, nudge the hardisk(spinning circle) Nudge VERY VERY lightly, you want it to spin a little just to unstick it, do not force it. do not press it down, you scratch it and you'll ruin it for good.

Once its moved a little, depending on how the head is placed it might stop on its on if they're closed, forcing it passed this will damage the heads and cause it to spin uncontrollably. you get the idea you're just unsticking it, one rotation of it will do.

Re-essemble. Will work fine, if you left it stuck on the screen, there is a reset button, its a small hole, put something in it and it will reset it, i think theres two small holes on this model, we don't make it anymore and warranties have expired so forgive me for not knowing everything. One hole will do bugger all, the other will reset it.

Hope this helps you all out.

Dan Smith - Creative Labs Technician., August 2008

holy cr*p the knee thing worked for me!

shocked, July 2008

Mines been frozen for a day or so, whacked it on my knee and Bingo !!! its working!!

Cheers for the advice

Mr B, July 2008

just done the knee trick combined with opening player, looking at it and closing it again...
and it worked ! must be loose conectors somewhere!

richie d, July 2008

I'm havin the same f..king problem.
The knee trick is a useless thing ,
I almost broke it

Renegade, July 2008

Ok, you guys, believe it or not, but this just happened:
I turned my Zen off. I hit it on my knee. I booted it again.
Now it works...
Let's hope this won't happen again

kneebanger, July 2008

i have the same prob
then player is not mine
plzzzzz help me out of this mess

sapna, June 2008

WTF!!!
The knee trick worked!
It needed 3 times!
Give it a chance before using screwdrivers

Fc, June 2008

WTF!!!
The knee trick worked!
It needed 3 times!
Give it a chance before using screwdrivers

Fc, June 2008

This actually works. It happened to me last year, and when I read the advice on the internet I couldn't believe it, but I tried it, and it works.

Bang it on your knee, and turn it on. If it doesn't work, do it again. Eventually, it will work again. Stop banging.

It seriously does work. It worked for me.

Fionn, April 2008

just prise it apart with a knife then take out the hard drive take it to a computer shop and then when they tell you it will cost more than the player borrow a hammer smash it to peices infront of the guy then ask how much the ipods are

Frank Sinartra, April 2008

I have a similar problem.however ive had my zen almost 3 years now , and it has outlasted any ipod i know of.it is a machine.normally i press and hold the reset button lots of times till it eventully works.however now that doest work, it just reads "hard disk failure"or something similar.so, it being out of warranty i opend it up and the needle running the harddrive was loose.after i fixed that it works fine!however now its happend again , i think i should just buy a new hardrive.

warriorgaz19, December 2007

nah honestly woteva u do.....dont by an ipod....Zens rule....you probably have jst been unlucky.

Mambo, September 2007

u ned to go to th recovery mode. turn off ur player n press n hold down play button n power it up leave the play button whn it shows the creative logo

Ameer, May 2007

If you are already out of waranty and have nothing to loose, you can try opening it up. I read that sometimes when there is a hard impact, the connector to the hard drive comes loose, and reseating it can fix the problem. If that doesn't do it, you might need a new drive. (It's a hitachi 1.8 inch drive. You can get the exact model number off the drive itself.) Then you can format it in the system restore pannel that comes up, and with luck that will be the solution.
Disclaimer: I am not a technician. I have just done extensive reading because mine is broken too, but with a different problem, and this is a solution that worked for someone else. So if it doesn't work for you, don't sue me.

Monkey With Wrench, April 2007

buy a 1.8" drive and open the case. what duo you have to lose? ps ipods are no better

mike, March 2007

wrong

mike, March 2007

I've had my Zen touch for about 2 yrs....well it's my second as my first died with in a week. Put anyway now the touch pad is dead and i can't do jack with it. Everything else works fine no probs. Can this be fixed or should i just go buy a new one??

Mick, December 2006

yeah, i have the same problem, i have the 'harddisk problem'

is the only option just to buy a new one?

any help would be great. thanks

David, March 2006

That's what I was afraid of... Thanks for the reply though. I bought the Zen because I thought it was stronger than an iPod heh. Just goes to show you, bigger and bulkier isn't always stronger.

Tom, February 2006

the same thing happenened to me, my friends say that the hard drive is broken and that all you can do is buy a new one, i guess if webought ipod we wouldn't be in this problem right

alchemist1, February 2006