hard drive may be failing

memory · 04-28-2008, 11:52 AM

I built my own pc a little while back. Everything was going good but it started going downhill when my pc would get so slow it would take forever to open up anything and the activity light would stay on constantly. Now when I turn my pc on, I get a message about a hard drive problem and it asks me if I want to back everything up. Right now everything is working fine.

Does this mean my hard drive is failing? Is there anything I can do to fix it or should I just wait until it fails? Luckily I have 2 hard drives and all of my information is on the second hard drive. The hard drive that is having problems has windows installed.

stalin90 · 04-28-2008, 01:29 PM

try gettin hd tune see what that says(health section/error scan):

HD Tune

veedubfreak · 04-28-2008, 02:39 PM

What are the specs of the drive? Have you run a checkdisk on it yet?

memory · 04-28-2008, 03:19 PM

It is a WD2500YS 250gb. No I haven't run a checkdisk on it. How do I do that? I am thinking I go through ms-dos but not sure.

veedubfreak · 04-28-2008, 04:13 PM

Go into "my computer"
right click on that drive > properties
click the tools tab
click on error checking click "check now"
Click both of the check boxes, then click start.
It will ask you to reboot, tell it yes. go get a beer and come back in 30 minutes.

memory · 04-28-2008, 04:18 PM

Okay I will do that later. Right now I am running HD Tune and using the error scan and so far no errors. It is about 3/4 of the way done. I will use checkdisk after this is done.

HD Tune is done and it found 1.7% damaged blocks. Also under the health section, at the bottom it says health status failed.

Mak213 · 04-30-2008, 02:46 AM

Sounds liek the HDD is in for a bit of troubled times ahead. See if you can get the check disk done.

memory · 04-30-2008, 12:13 PM

Well I got the checkdisk done and everything seems back to normal. I have not received the message from Windows about a hard drive problem. But under HD Tune in the health section, it still says health status failed. I did a quick error scan with HD Tune and no blocks were damaged. I am going to do a full scan to see if any blocks are damaged.

Since I ran checkdisk, my computer has not been real slow like before. The activity light has not came on either.

veedubfreak · 04-30-2008, 02:12 PM

When you run checkdisk, basically if it finds a bad sector, it deletes that sector, and writes whatever was on it to a good sector, then locks out that sector so that it wont get used anymore.

memory · 05-01-2008, 12:28 PM

So it is ok to keep using this hard drive? Or should I contact WD about the warranty?

Thanks for all the help.

04-28-2008, 11:52 AM	#1 (permalink)
memory Super Techie Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 254	hard drive may be failing I built my own pc a little while back. Everything was going good but it started going downhill when my pc would get so slow it would take forever to open up anything and the activity light would stay on constantly. Now when I turn my pc on, I get a message about a hard drive problem and it asks me if I want to back everything up. Right now everything is working fine. Does this mean my hard drive is failing? Is there anything I can do to fix it or should I just wait until it fails? Luckily I have 2 hard drives and all of my information is on the second hard drive. The hard drive that is having problems has windows installed. __________________ Old rig for sell: Dell Dimension 9100 Pentium D 820/ Corsair 2gb of ram/Pny Geforce 6800GS OC/2 dvd burners/Maxtor 250gb HDD/WD 200gb HDD/Soundblaster Audigy 4 New rig: Thermaltake VA8000BWS / Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4ghz / Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro / Gigabyte P35 DS3L / EVGA 8800GTS(G92) 512mb / OCZ 4 gigs of ram(2x2) / 2 WD HDD's(250gb and 320gb) / OCZ Gamexstream 700 watt PSU / Samsung DVD burner / 19in Wide screen Hanns G monitor

04-28-2008, 01:29 PM	#2 (permalink)
stalin90 ÜBER MICRO Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Kansas Posts: 623	Re: hard drive may be failing try gettin hd tune see what that says(health section/error scan): HD Tune __________________ EVGA 680i SLI A1 EVGA 9800 GTX SLI Intel q6700 @ stock w/ xigmatek 4gb Patriot vipers @ 1066 160GB+250GB WD SATA HDD Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Corsair tx750w Coolermaster cm690

04-28-2008, 02:39 PM	#3 (permalink)
veedubfreak Representing Deutschland Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 5,254	Re: hard drive may be failing What are the specs of the drive? Have you run a checkdisk on it yet? __________________ Gaming Rig Mountain Mods UFO Intel Q6600 g0 3.6ghz 1.4v Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme 2x2gb Ocz Reapers@ 4-4-4-12 HIS 4870 Crossfire DFI LT x38 (i killed it) Corsair 750TX 24" Acer + 24" Soyo new 3dmark06 score to come when i get the board back

04-28-2008, 03:19 PM	#4 (permalink)
memory Super Techie Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 254	Re: hard drive may be failing It is a WD2500YS 250gb. No I haven't run a checkdisk on it. How do I do that? I am thinking I go through ms-dos but not sure. __________________ Old rig for sell: Dell Dimension 9100 Pentium D 820/ Corsair 2gb of ram/Pny Geforce 6800GS OC/2 dvd burners/Maxtor 250gb HDD/WD 200gb HDD/Soundblaster Audigy 4 New rig: Thermaltake VA8000BWS / Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4ghz / Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro / Gigabyte P35 DS3L / EVGA 8800GTS(G92) 512mb / OCZ 4 gigs of ram(2x2) / 2 WD HDD's(250gb and 320gb) / OCZ Gamexstream 700 watt PSU / Samsung DVD burner / 19in Wide screen Hanns G monitor

04-28-2008, 04:13 PM	#5 (permalink)
veedubfreak Representing Deutschland Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 5,254	Re: hard drive may be failing Go into "my computer" right click on that drive > properties click the tools tab click on error checking click "check now" Click both of the check boxes, then click start. It will ask you to reboot, tell it yes. go get a beer and come back in 30 minutes. __________________ Gaming Rig Mountain Mods UFO Intel Q6600 g0 3.6ghz 1.4v Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme 2x2gb Ocz Reapers@ 4-4-4-12 HIS 4870 Crossfire DFI LT x38 (i killed it) Corsair 750TX 24" Acer + 24" Soyo new 3dmark06 score to come when i get the board back

04-28-2008, 04:18 PM	#6 (permalink)
memory Super Techie Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 254	Re: hard drive may be failing Okay I will do that later. Right now I am running HD Tune and using the error scan and so far no errors. It is about 3/4 of the way done. I will use checkdisk after this is done. HD Tune is done and it found 1.7% damaged blocks. Also under the health section, at the bottom it says health status failed. __________________ Old rig for sell: Dell Dimension 9100 Pentium D 820/ Corsair 2gb of ram/Pny Geforce 6800GS OC/2 dvd burners/Maxtor 250gb HDD/WD 200gb HDD/Soundblaster Audigy 4 New rig: Thermaltake VA8000BWS / Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4ghz / Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro / Gigabyte P35 DS3L / EVGA 8800GTS(G92) 512mb / OCZ 4 gigs of ram(2x2) / 2 WD HDD's(250gb and 320gb) / OCZ Gamexstream 700 watt PSU / Samsung DVD burner / 19in Wide screen Hanns G monitor Last edited by memory; 04-28-2008 at 06:14 PM.

04-30-2008, 02:46 AM	#7 (permalink)
Mak213 Commander SMod Autobot Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: In Trotter's crawl space Posts: 12,069	Re: hard drive may be failing Sounds liek the HDD is in for a bit of troubled times ahead. See if you can get the check disk done. __________________ If I have helped you, consider making a donation to help me build a better PC.

04-30-2008, 12:13 PM	#8 (permalink)
memory Super Techie Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 254	Re: hard drive may be failing Well I got the checkdisk done and everything seems back to normal. I have not received the message from Windows about a hard drive problem. But under HD Tune in the health section, it still says health status failed. I did a quick error scan with HD Tune and no blocks were damaged. I am going to do a full scan to see if any blocks are damaged. Since I ran checkdisk, my computer has not been real slow like before. The activity light has not came on either. __________________ Old rig for sell: Dell Dimension 9100 Pentium D 820/ Corsair 2gb of ram/Pny Geforce 6800GS OC/2 dvd burners/Maxtor 250gb HDD/WD 200gb HDD/Soundblaster Audigy 4 New rig: Thermaltake VA8000BWS / Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4ghz / Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro / Gigabyte P35 DS3L / EVGA 8800GTS(G92) 512mb / OCZ 4 gigs of ram(2x2) / 2 WD HDD's(250gb and 320gb) / OCZ Gamexstream 700 watt PSU / Samsung DVD burner / 19in Wide screen Hanns G monitor

04-30-2008, 02:12 PM	#9 (permalink)
veedubfreak Representing Deutschland Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 5,254	Re: hard drive may be failing When you run checkdisk, basically if it finds a bad sector, it deletes that sector, and writes whatever was on it to a good sector, then locks out that sector so that it wont get used anymore. __________________ Gaming Rig Mountain Mods UFO Intel Q6600 g0 3.6ghz 1.4v Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme 2x2gb Ocz Reapers@ 4-4-4-12 HIS 4870 Crossfire DFI LT x38 (i killed it) Corsair 750TX 24" Acer + 24" Soyo new 3dmark06 score to come when i get the board back

05-01-2008, 12:28 PM	#10 (permalink)
memory Super Techie Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 254	Re: hard drive may be failing So it is ok to keep using this hard drive? Or should I contact WD about the warranty? Thanks for all the help. __________________ Old rig for sell: Dell Dimension 9100 Pentium D 820/ Corsair 2gb of ram/Pny Geforce 6800GS OC/2 dvd burners/Maxtor 250gb HDD/WD 200gb HDD/Soundblaster Audigy 4 New rig: Thermaltake VA8000BWS / Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4ghz / Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro / Gigabyte P35 DS3L / EVGA 8800GTS(G92) 512mb / OCZ 4 gigs of ram(2x2) / 2 WD HDD's(250gb and 320gb) / OCZ Gamexstream 700 watt PSU / Samsung DVD burner / 19in Wide screen Hanns G monitor

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