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General discussion

Incosistant Hard Drive

Apr 8, 2006 4:45PM PDT

Every few times I start up my computer, Windows says that it must check drive D for consistancy. I have 2 hard drives, C and D, C holding the operating system and programs, and D holding everything else, both NTFS. When the disk is being checked, it fixes some files, and recovers lots of orphaned files. I can tell when it will run the check the next time I restart my computer, because I will try and open a folder, and it will say that the folder is inaccessible. I have run a disk diagnostic from the manufacturer at one of these times, and it reported the C drive had the problem with the file table, which makes sense. The C drive is a 20 GB WD Cavier that is a few years old, and the D drive is a 160GB Seagate Baraccuda that I got for Christmas.
My question is, is the D drive having problems, or is the C drive holding the file table for the D drive having problems? I usually leave the computer on for long hours downloading torrents. Might the torrent client also be responsible?

Discussion is locked

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Clue = "Might the torrent client also be responsible?"
Apr 8, 2006 9:46PM PDT

I find such issues with P2P users in general. They report the stranger issues.

Cheers,

Bob

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response
Apr 9, 2006 2:20AM PDT

It seems odd though, any recovered files are not the ones that are being downloaded. Also, I use Azureus, which is written in Java, and therefore I would imagine it would use Java's standard method of writing to disk.

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What's worthwhile to note
Apr 9, 2006 2:46AM PDT

Is that the downloader may not be the cause but that some pest has found its way in or that the OS is not current or drivers out of date etc. Such use flings the door open to many possibilities compared to machines that don't have P2P use.

Your posts so far are incomplete and yield no glaring clue outside of P2P use. Your posts also have ignored the Note that appears in RED LETTERS with each post.

If you want to keep going, fill in all the blanks so the forum members have something to chew on.

That is... a proper machine doesn't do what you reported. But then again, gettine Windows XP with all updates, drivers and clean is a bit of a chore.

Bob

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More info
Apr 9, 2006 3:38PM PDT

My apologies for incomplete posts. I attempted to only mention the information related to the problem, which on the hardware side, is only the hard drives, as far as I know. I am using Windows XP with the latest updates. I haven't used the computer for anything other than P2P recently, though it perplexes me how a program writing to one file can corrupt other files. I use the same bittorrent client (Azureus) on my laptop, and download some of the same files, and similar files from the same source, and I have had no problems on the laptop. I had the idea that it might just be the continuous writing of relativly small packets to the disk, but I have no idea if that might be it.
Also, I am not looking for the one answer to my problem, I am just trying to get an idea of what it might be so that I have an idea of where to start to look to fix it. If anyone else has seen this problem, I would like to know what caused it for them and how they may have fixed it.
I believe this problem also persisted before my last reformat/reinstall. Before the last R/R, I attempted to open a folder, and was told that it was inaccessible. After I restarted the computer, my D drive was gone.
I don't know if it is a hardware or a software problem, but if anyone knows of an example of either of these cases, please let me know what you did, so I may see if that helps for me.

Athlon Thunderbird 1.2 Ghz
Propriatary Motherboard from Gateway
IDE hard drives: C- WD Caviar 20GB
D- Seagate Baraccuda 160 GB
Sony and Memorex Optical drives
Windows XP SP2 with updates
Running virus/spyware scan now, 98% sure it will comeback clean.
After the virus scan I will check drivers.

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Little details.
Apr 9, 2006 10:06PM PDT

1. What style IDE cables are used on the hard disks?
(40 or 80 conductor?)
2. That's a lot of drives. Usually a sign that the machine was upgraded over time. The stock power supply may be fading or overtaxed. What rating was it?
3. Do the drives pass the maker's disk tests?
4. What's in the S.M.A.R.T. hard disk report?
5. For scans, get the second opinion tests by Housecall and Ewido.
6. The machine may be older. Heat buildup can be an contributing factor with all those added parts. Leave the case cover off for now.

Bob

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Thank you
Apr 10, 2006 6:44AM PDT

1: 80
2: Yes, upgraded over time. What is a good way to estimate power needs?
3: Yes, they pass the manufac. tests
4: SMART OK last check
5: will do
6: It is an older machine, will leave the cover off.

If any of this fixes, or doesn't fix, my problem, I will let you know
thanks again.

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So far, promising.
Apr 10, 2006 7:11AM PDT

Most of your replies were spot on. It helps to toss out items like the IDE cables as prime suspects. Not that it's gone, but it moves it down the list.

"2: Yes, upgraded over time. What is a good way to estimate power needs?"

Given what I've read in the posts, a new 350Watt or larger power supply. This is my estimate and I'll share I rarely fit less than a 450 Watt to keep out of trouble.

Hopefully the cover off will help. If it does, then we know to suspect that heat or some component/card is not intollerant of being warm.

Bob

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My Power Needs
Apr 10, 2006 11:39AM PDT

I have the Athlon T-bird @ 1.2 GHz, 384 RAM, the 2 hard drives, a DVD burner, a CD burner, and a PCI card (maybe 2). No extra video cards, and not usually any USB devices.

More than just knowing what this particular set up needs, do you have a general formula for figuring out power needs, so that I could properly estimate power for any set up?

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Not done as much anymore.
Apr 10, 2006 11:49AM PDT

The cost difference from 350 to 450 is only a few dollars with the downside of missing being a flaky system and the one with the bigger power supply paying off in stability and less heat.

Bob