Is my HDD dying ?

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Is my HDD dying ?

by minimac17 May 11, 2014 6:01PM PDT

Hi people I am new here and would lie to ask the community for some assistance.
I was wondering if anyone could support my assertion that my HDD is dying based on the issues I am having. I believe my system 500GB drive is at fault however I do have a 1TB storage drive as well, could this drive be causing issues ?
I am experiencing Boot issues as well as blue screens as well as hard crashes to a black screen upon which my PC reboots itself.
I have run memory diagnostics and they pass.
Also if this is the best candidate for the issue what would people advise as a way forward.
I have looked at cloning the drive however I don't have the funds to get an SSD big enough for a straight swap.
Could I get a smaller one and clone over just the OS and user files or would a new install be better and transfer the other files over to my second drive.
I am fine with just starting again, unfortunately this is a shared PC and so I would like if possible to swap out the system drive without disrupting too much.
thanks for your time and any input.

minimac

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minimac17 has chosen the best answer to their question. View answer

22 Posts

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RE: Drive

by minimac17 May 11, 2014 9:01PM PDT

Thanks for the reply.
I realize that I'm not going to get a definitive answer on the fault. I was more looking for a couple of responses saying they had similar and it was the drive for them, tapping into the community experience pool you might say.
I guess I will have to stop trying to find a way around it and jut do the fresh install, as obviously anything I don't clone across would need re installing anyway so I guess its no easier in the end.
Even if it does not fix the fault the worst outcome is I have a new SSD to move to a new build in a year or so.

I will leave the post open for a day or so before selecting best answer in case there is any more input.

Thanks
minimac

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RE: Drive

by minimac17 May 11, 2014 10:20PM PDT

Thanks to Kees_B for the suggestion of testing using the manufacturers diagnostic tool.

The drive in question is a Samsung drive and I went around in circles looking for the right utility even after I discovered that Seagate owns them.
Here is teh link in hopes that it will help others in the future.http://www.seagate.com/gb/en/support/downloads/item/seatools-win-master/

Its very quick and easy with a how to link to the side of the download page. It tests other makes of drive as well.

Thanks again

minimac

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Did the drive pass the test ?

by VAPCMD May 13, 2014 10:21AM PDT

Let us know how it works out.

VAPCMD

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update on drive

by minimac17 May 13, 2014 5:12PM PDT

Hi Thanks for your interest,
The drive failed and was removed. The drop ours and restarts still happened so I have now swapped out the Gpu. This morning after a fresh OS install, the PC is now hanging at the user log in page. I have re run Memtest which crashed out with an unexpected interrupt ?
Next step is to check to see if I can find out if that means the CPU is now the main candidate as I now think.

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Tell us more about the 'SYSTEM' .....

by VAPCMD May 14, 2014 10:53AM PDT

the brand, series and model number, age.... or if a CLONE, the MB mfg/model number, the CPU, GPU and PSU.

Have you cleared the CMOS and replaced the CMOS battery ?

VAPCMD

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More info

by minimac17 May 21, 2014 4:05AM PDT

Ok let's go into a little more detail,
CMOS cleared safe defaults loaded
The PC is a home built unit that I have had for about 3 years now.
CPU Phenom II 555BE cooled by an Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev. 2.
Motherboard GA-MA790X-UD3P
PSU is a corsair 650 watt unit Not sure of the exact model Bronze 80 cert.
4 GB Ram Generic but not cheap cheap bought to replace a Ballistics set that went south after about 2 years.
HDD 1TB Samsung Spinpoint.

The CPU was tested for unlocking and 3 cores worked. Overclocked a bit, nothing extreme given the cooler but all reset to stock as I didn't consider it to be worthwhile risking leaving it unlocked and overclocked for the gains I got while gaming.
Resetting the CMOS and doing a complete examination of the board for blown or discoloured caps is next on the list.
The motherboard has twin bios chips so I would hope that shouldn't be the issue ?
There is a message stating that there is an AMD update to the DMI information at start up sometimes that I don't really know what it means, mentioning it in case its relevant ?

I'm going to buy a PSU tester just to cover that base. May have to buy a cheap Sempron to replace the CPU to test that. If it is the CPU then getting a new one for that socket would probably be a waste of money.
It's a bit up in the air really as if I start having to replace things to check I will quite soon get to a point where I could have spent the same money swapping out for a new CPU and MoBo.

Thanks

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Ouch ouch ouch.

by r. proffitt Forum moderator May 21, 2014 4:10AM PDT

Overclock can mess up other peripherals such as the SATA and its timing. Sometimes the owner will write it worked for years but any clock changes are at risk of upsetting the other parts.

I see the options of cloning to avoid disruption was noted but if the machine is failing that's a bigger disruption than a working machine that lost what the other users didn't backup.
Bob

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Additional

by r. proffitt Forum moderator May 21, 2014 4:22AM PDT

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&as_q=Phenom+II+crashing tells us this is nothing really new. But pushing any clock up can exacerbate the problem. For me I try stock settings or relaxed settings (slower) and even limit the CORE COUNT in Windows to sniff out possible ways to run stable.

Crashing is bad since it can corrupt the OS installed and repair can be nearly impossible at times.

Be sure to try it in stock form and try Windows 7 own SFC tool (I'll skip what that is since it's on the net.)
Bob

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about the OC

by minimac17 May 21, 2014 6:32AM PDT

Hi Bob,
Thanks for your interest. Just to clarify the OC and unlock was only for testing. The chip only unlocked to a tri core anyway so it was reset to stock a day or two later. It's been at stock about two and a half years now.

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(NT) So it's relocked?

by r. proffitt Forum moderator May 21, 2014 6:36AM PDT

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RE locked

by minimac17 May 21, 2014 8:11AM PDT

Correct the CPU was only tested as it did not unlock to a full quad I figured it was not worth the risk of leaving it and relocked it two days after as said its run locked and at standard clocks for over 2 years now.

Thanks

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Then be sure to run the

by r. proffitt Forum moderator May 21, 2014 8:26AM PDT

Run the non-destructive drive tests as I read above.

But there are too many reports of similar machines randomly locking up or rebooting. I'd talk to it's maker about what they think needs to be replaced.
Bob

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Additional

by minimac17 May 21, 2014 4:11AM PDT

It has since crashed after loading fail safe defaults.Thing is I don't want it to beat me. I at least want to find out what it is that is causing the issue. My last roll of the dice will be to try the GPU in the second slot.
Unless you or another can offer any more advice I think a system upgrade looks to be the answer.
Its a shame as I have always handed down my old systems. I have been very luck and never had one die on me like this before.
I have checked the MoBo visually no bulging or discoloured caps.

Thanks again for your time and sorry I couldn't get back sooner.

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cheap RAM fails all the time

by James Denison May 23, 2014 8:04AM PDT

did you run memtest86 on your RAM to test it? I bet it fails right quick.

The only cheap RAM I trust anymore is KVR (Kingston Value Ram)

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cheap Sempron replacement for CPU

by James Denison May 23, 2014 8:02AM PDT

If that's it, don't fret too much, can still pass the computer on to someone for all things internet use.

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Answer

Solution for fixing HDD errors

by ronaldreed48 May 22, 2014 11:01PM PDT

Fix errors on computer hard drive manually by following step by solution, shown in this video.
Watch it here, http://youtu.be/MokFlL7cI7M

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2 issues with that.

by r. proffitt Forum moderator May 22, 2014 11:42PM PDT

1. I've had drives that don't fix with that.
2. No mention of backup before we repair.

There is some damage that use of what you propose may result in a total wipe out. I can only guess that safe guarding their files is not a priority.
Bob

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drive no longer a suspect

by minimac17 May 23, 2014 2:17AM PDT

Hi,
Thanks for the input,the drive has been ruled out as the issue now. It is dead and has been replaced.
Latest symptom is that it's getting stuck in a boot cycle.
I know this because I can hear the GPU spin up then it reboots.
PSU checker should be here soon to help rule that out.

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PSU Checkers are too forgiving.

by r. proffitt Forum moderator May 23, 2014 3:04AM PDT

I've seen too many over the years and only Tomshardware has it right. Example at http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/stress-test,1073-4.html

You'll usually only need to do full load testing in Phase 2 and 3. Otherwise that PSU test is not so good.

It's also why I take readings with the Volt meter (fair warning here, any tech without that is not a repair tech!) and if that fails or the PSU fails other criteria we put in a proper sized PSU.
Bob

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Update

by minimac17 May 29, 2014 7:54PM PDT

Thanks to everyone who has participated here I appreciate all the input.
Latest is that I have tested the PSU it's fine. I didn't expect it to be the cause but you have to check everything don't you.
My Ram passed an extensive memtest run however due to the nature of the fault I decided to check at the hardware level and pulled all but one stick.
So far I have had 2 days of error free computing. This weekend should see it get more testing.
Obviously at some point I will have to put the second stick in to test with that on its own, just to confirm as the issue could still be the slot and not the ram.

So it looks promising(everything crossed) just posting in case it helps someone else browsing for solutions to this kind of issue. I found many very similar threads all over the net with screen shots showing exactly what I was experiencing.
I will post a quick update in a couple of weeks once the system proves itself.

Once again many thanks
minimac

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Overheating?

by dromel Jun 25, 2014 5:17AM PDT

I had a similar problem many years ago. Someone on this forum suggested that it might be an over heating problem. Sure enough, the case intake vents were clogged solid. Cleaned vents, problem solved. Might also try running it with the case covers off as a test.

Back to Storage forum

Kees_B · Accepted Answer · May 11, 2014 6:47PM PDT

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Re: drive

by Kees_B Forum moderator May 11, 2014 6:47PM PDT

Without knowing the boot issues and the error codes on the blue screen, it's everybodies guess what's the cause.
So I would start with running the makers hard drive diagnostics.

Supposing it is the disk dying:
- On an new SSD better reinstall Windows.
- On a new 500 GB (or bigger) hard disk you can clone the current hard disk. But if it has issues, there's no guarantee that that will be succesful, so even then a clean install might be better.
After a clean install see what you can get back from your backup and the defective disk.

Kees

Is my HDD dying ?

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