Hardrive on the way out, but just a question...

[Goldengoose]

Hey Guys,

I have a SATA hard drive that is on the way out. I boot up and everynow and again it wont load past the windows screen, resets and then won't boot past that screen again. Currently i can get it working by swapping one power connector for another port(wrong terminology?) on the same lead, then it will boot up and be fine for another couple of days. It's been like this for about a year but funds and general stubborness has stopped me buying a new one.

I know it's buggered and will eventually not work, but i was wondering why swapping the power conncector for another one on the same lead will fix the problem for a short time?

Thanks!

 

[Hawkeye22]

That's a mystery. Are there any other symtoms? It almost sounds like a PSU problem, not necessarily a drive problem. Checking the SMART stats on the drive may shed some light on the situation.

 

[Goldengoose]

Hey,

I did a quick smart test and got:
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r140/Two-T/smarttest.png

No idea what half those number meant, the highlighted one concerned me slightly however.

Symptoms are that my computer will freeze up, can't even access ctrl alt and delete, then reset and does the before mentioned sit on windows loading screen. Running windows 7 at the moment.

I must admit, i did think it may be the PSU but i've no idea how to test for something like that.

Thanks!

 

[Hawkeye22]

The smart values look ok. Speedfan will use a yellow or red ball instead of the green "ok" if something is going off track.

Unless you are good with a multimeter/voltmeter, the only way to test the psu is to swap it out with a new one or a known working one.

You can check the event log, though I don't think you'll find anything there. Other than that, not sure what would cause that.