Hard drive my zen was freezing up and i hit the reset button, after a while that stopped working and everytime i hit reset it went to recovery mode, now as soon i turn it on it goes to recovery mode and wont leave, when i try format all of reload firmware it says "harddisk problem"

Support for Zen Vision M on this site:

One of the Knowledgebase Solutions for "freezing" gives this answer:

Solution ID: 64087
Solution ID # 64087 --> -->
















Player is Freezing
Keywords / Key Phrases: freeze, freezes, freezing, hang, hanging, freezes at creative logo, at docked screen, rebuilding library screen, playing audio files, switching to other functions or menus while shutting down, freezes at recovery mode, freezing at music playing now screen

1. Gently push the end of a thin object (such as a pin or straightened paperclip) into the Reset hole.
   The reset button for your player is located at the bottom of the player, to the left of the sync adapter port.
   
   
   


2. Refer to the article below to access the recovery mode and perform a Clean Up.
   
   SID 64088: Accessing the Recovery/Rescue Mode of your Player
   
   Note:
   
   
   
   
   
   1. Clean Up scans a player\'s hard disk/memory card and removes any invalid links from the music library. It does not affect the working music files at all. It is recommended that you perform "Clean Up" first before formatting or reloading the player\'s firmware.
      
      
      
   
   
   2. It is advisable for you to clean up your player regularly if you are frequently transferring files from you computer to your player or vice versa.

Last updated: June 16th, 2009

Hello,

This sounds like it might be a hard drive problem. Have you tried to put it into Recovery Mode so you can troubleshoot it? Put a paperclip in the Reset hole while holding the power button in the On position. Then release the paperclip and continue to hold the power button until it goes to the Recovery Mode screen. You should at this point try Format and Scan Disk/Cleanup, then Reboot. If it still gets stuck at the same spot, then its going to be a hardware failure.

Click here to view my step-by-step troubleshooting guide.
Click here to send in your device for free diagnostic testing.

Hello,

This sounds like it might be a hard drive problem. Have you tried to put it into Recovery Mode so you can troubleshoot it? Put a paperclip in the Reset hole while holding the power button in the On position. Then release the paperclip and continue to hold the power button until it goes to the Recovery Mode screen. You should at this point try Format and Scan Disk/Cleanup, then Reboot. If it still gets stuck at the same spot, then its going to be a hardware failure.

Click here to view my step-by-step troubleshooting guide.
Click here to send in your device for free diagnostic testing.

It sounds like the hard drive may be damaged. Have you tried to put it in recovery mode?

Put a paperclip in the reset hole while holding down the play button until you see the screen go to recovery mode. Then try the format option; this will erase all your files but it will tell you if you need a new hard drive.

replaced the hard drive. with a flash drive.
Replace hard drive
http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?cid=9&id=1331

Detach your player from the PC if it is connected, and turn off the player.
If the player stops responding, you can reset the player. To reset the player, gently
insert a thin object into the Reset hole located below the power switch.

2. Press and hold the Play button while powering on your player.

3. When the player displays the Creative logo, release the Play button.
do a Clean Up
this Scans the player and removes invalid links from its music library.
Does not affect music files themselves.
Reboot the device.
it it continues to boot into revcovery mode see below:


Booting straight to the Recovery menu
I decided to open it up to check out the hard drive to see what kind I would need so I could try replacing it. The data plug that attaches to the hard drive itself was partially unplugged. So, I pushed it back in all the way, put it all back together again, and turned it on just to see if something different might happen. (I had it set in my mind that the hard drive failed and I would need a new one, so I didn't expect anything different to happen) And to my surprise, it worked just like new again.

Before you go off and invest in a new hard drive, I suggest opening it up and make sure that plug is in all the way. Since you'll be opening it up in any case, it wouldn't hurt

hard drive sounds bad. has it been dropped?
try to do a cleanup

1. Detach the Zen player from your PC , and ensure that the Zen Sleek is turned off.

2. Connect the power supply to the player.
3. Hold down the Play/Pause button while inserting a paper clip into the Reset hole
underneath your player, beside the data/power connector. Keep on holding the
Play/Pause button while you release the Reset button. The Rescue Mode screen will
then appear.
4. After the recovery mode has started, release the Play/Pause button

It will display the following options.
Clean Up Scans the player and removes invalid links from its music library.
Does not affect music files themselves.
Format (All) Caution! Erases all content!
Save a copy of your player's content before formatting.
Reload OS/ Firmware Caution! Erases your player's firmware.
DO NOT select the Reload Firmware option unless you have access to a PC and you have downloaded the necessary firmware to install.
Reboot Reboots the device.

hard drive is bad.

sounds like bad hard drive try using the recovery tools at creative:
http://www.creative.com/products/mp3/MP3PlayerRecoveryTool/welcome.asp?region=1

Ok, it might have a bad hard drive. But either way, I have some suggestions. First, test for a bad hard drive by putting it in recovery mode. Get a paperclip and straighten out one end of it. Put the straight end into the reset hole on your Zen, and while its in there, push and hold the power button in the on position. Keep holding the power button in the on position until the screen shows that you are in recovery mode. It will have 4 options; select to format the drive. If it completes the format, the hard drive is still good. If it says "hard disk error" then the hard drive will need to be replaced. Now, if the hard drive is good, you need to try something else. Upgrade the firmware to version 1.62.02. Go to www.creative.com/support to download the firmware. Once its downloaded onto your computer, plug in your Zen and click the icon and start the upgrade. If that still doesn't help, I don't have a solution.