Hard Disk Failure

[AC3STAR]

I have a 160 GB WD hard drive in a newer PC and it has been acting up recently. Often the access light on the front of the computer will be solid while it's not doing anything and it is becomeing increasingly slow. Im also getting weird clicks from it and at times when i try to access files i will get CRC check errors.

Im guessing that the hard drive is almost gone but when I took it to the place I had bought it from cuz it's still under warranty they tried to give me some BS answer that it was because I had installed XP Pro on there when it was bought with XP Home and that was what was causing the problem.

I guess my question is more of a reassurance that me putting XP Pro on couldn't be the cause of this...?

Any ideas?

 

[_WW_]

1. Backup everything important now!
2. Go to the WD site and download their diagnostic tools if you don't have them already.
3. Run the diagnostic tool.
4. You can RMA the drive directly through the WD website. They will even mail you a new one first and you can then return your defective one in the same packaging.

....WW (5.0)

 

[sjonnie]

Check for file fragmentation, I bet it's a mess, particularly if you upgraded to Pro over the previous Home install. Check your pagefile usage, could be the hard disk is using alot of pagefile and the pagefile is fragmented. Clicks may or may not be normal, they're just the sound of the actuator moving. CRC check errors are not normal. Are they in compressed files? If so check you have the correct drivers for your controller. If not run the Western Digital disk diagnostic program, it will tell you if anything is wrong with your drive hardware and you can RMA it.

 

[mrmonsoon]

This could be totally off base, but scan for virus/scumware-they could be running in the background, I use ad aware se, spybot 1.3 and microsofts antispyware-all free.

Does you harddrive make more noise than it did when you first got it? If you are not sure, try removing the side of the case and see if it makes a noice like sand grinding on a plater.

 

[RichPLS]

I guess my question is more of a reassurance that me putting XP Pro on couldn't be the cause of this...?

No that is not the problem....

<pre><font color=red>°¤o,¸¸¸,o¤°`°¤o \\// o¤°`°¤o,¸¸¸,o¤°
And the sign says "You got to have a membership card to get inside" Huh
So I got me a pen and paper And I made up my own little sign</pre><p></font color=red>

 

[Guest]

Yeah, I agree with Rich, those guys are full of crap.

<font color=green> Woohoo!! I am officially an <b> Addict </b>!! </font color=green>
<i> <font color=red> One new Firefox fan </font color=red> </i>
<pre> Always remember to keep testicles away from live wiring </pre><p>

 

[AC3STAR]

Sorry I should have indicated that it was a full install of Pro not the upgrade. And I have anti-virus and spybot on there so I'm pretty sure it's not spyware or viruses.
Oh and as for the sounds, these are not normal hard drive actuator access sounds, they are full blown *click click* *click click* and after it does these clicks for awhile (usually when im trying to access a file) it will give me the CRC error.
But I'll go over the diagnostic stuff though and see if it tells me more.
Thanx a lot for the replys everyone!

 

[Rugger]

Backup data if you haven't done so yet....

__________________________________________________
<font color=red>You're a boil on the arse of progress - don't make me squeeze you!</font color=red>

 

[Rugger]

*ROFL*

__________________________________________________
<font color=red>You're a boil on the arse of progress - don't make me squeeze you!</font color=red>

 

[Codesmith]

If the Drives Self Test says the disc is fine, but you have bad sectors in windows then its usually a controller problem.

You did use a SP1 or an SP2 CD when you installed windows right? Because otherwise you will have problems with drives over 127 GB!

Windows XP keeps reinstalling the wrong drivers for my ATA 100 controller which disables 48 bit LBA support. So my 200 GB drive is seen as having bad sectors. The real drivers are not signed, the MS drivers that dont' work are and MS loves to second guess you.

Bad part was I checked "automatically fix...". Wish more people would start using linux so the top game developers would have a reason to create linux versions.