SATA HD problem

[llama_man]

Last night my SATA drive developed a problem - I was trying to access some files on it and my PC locked up. Eventually it managed to end process and the drive letter was gone. I assumed it was a connection problem and so opened up the case and checked the connections.

Restarted the computer, and the same thing happened. And again. And again.

The strange thing is - accessing other files on the same disk appaears to be OK - it just seems to be one particular folder on the drive that causes Windows to 'lose' the drive. I don't even have to open the files- just selecting them (i.e. to try and delete them) causes the lock-up.

What do you think the problem is? Corrupted files or faulty hard disk sector?

 

[fishmahn]

One or the other...

Go to your hard drive mfg's website and download their drive diagnostics. Give it a full test and see if its the drive. If the drive comes back clean then it is probably corruptions.

Mike.

 

[linux_0]

It might be a virus, bad sector problem, windows issue or any number of other issues.

You might want to download Knoppix and see if it can read your disk, if it can use it to backup your important data to another medium, such as an external HDD, USB flash drive, CD-R, DVD-R, etc.

http://www.kernel.org/pub/dist/knoppix/KNOPPIX_V4.0.2CD-2005-09-23-EN.iso

700MB CD

http://www.kernel.org/pub/dist/knoppix/knoppix-dvd/KNOPPIX_V4.0DVD-2005-08-16-EN.iso

3.1GB DVD

Good Luck!

 

[llama_man]

Update - did a full virus scan on my PC, and didn't find anything.

I deleted the suspect folder (it was all replacable), and then ran the windows 'check for errors' utility. 'Lo and behold, the drive disappeared again. 8O

My guess is that the drive is dodgy and will need to go back. I've managed to transfer over half the data to a spare drive, and will try to get the rest off tonight onto DVDs, so at least my data is safe, and then try running some diagnostics on the drive.

I'll probably buy a new drive anyway, as you can never have too much storage (especially now I've installed Football Manager 2006!)

Next time, I'll learn my lesson and test the drive BEFORE filling it with data. I'd assumed the formatting would have identified disk faults, but apparently I was wrong

 

[pscowboy]

Formatting will identify faults. This problem may not be your hd.

To clear the mystery, chkdsk will ascertain if your drive is "dodgy".

Right click the drive - Properties - Tools - Error Checking - Check Now.
Check both boxes and reboot. The process will take 30-60 minutes.

When you come back to your desktop, to print out a report, go to Control Panel - Admin Tools - Event Viewer - Application. Look for WinLogon near the top of the list. Open it and click the clipboard. Close out, and open your word processor (if not, Word Pad or NotePad will do), paste and print.

If the report shows no bad spots, the hd is not the issue.