Hardware Why Does My Hard Drive Keep Failing?

[myles]

Hello....


Exactly a month from today, I had to format my hard drive because all the files were corrupt. Now today, after nothing happening other than usual orbiteering and internet surfing, All my files started to become corrupt! My hard drive is Western Digital... Is there anything I can do to stop this happening and/or uncorrupting my files? Please help me!

Thanks so much!

Myles

 

[dbeachy1]

It is very likely a hardware problem. The most likely culprits are a) the drive itself is failing, or b) faulty RAM. The first thing I would do is back up your files to either a flash drive (enough room for your data files) or an external hard drive (enough room for your entire hard drive image). If you had corrupt files before, simply reformatting the drive will not fix the root problem, which is why the problem is reappearing.

Once you have backed up your data the next step is to troubleshoot the box to pin down whether it is a RAM or hard drive problem. To test your RAM, download, burn, and run memtest86+, available here: http://www.memtest.org/. Run the test overnight and see if you have any RAM errors. If so, remove all but one RAM stick and re-run the test for several hours. Repeat until you pin down the defective RAM stick.

If your RAM passes, it is very likely that the hard drive itself is failing. How old is the hard drive? All hard drives will fail sooner or later, and most fail within five years. Also, most hard drives (including Western Digital) ship with a utility CD that lets you test your hard drive. If the drive is failing you can send it back to the manufacturer for a replacement if it is still under warranty; you can usually check that via the manufacturer's web site with your drive's serial number. For Western Digital, you can check your drive's warranty here: http://websupport.wdc.com/warranty/...090&custtype=end&requesttype=warranty&lang=en

And to reiterate, never trust your data to a single hard drive! All hard drives fail sooner or later, and they can fail at any time. Always back up your data!

P.S. If you do buy a new drive, don't buy a Seagate 7200.11 series drive right now; details here: http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/374/1050374/seagate-barracudas-7200-11-failing. User stories here: http://forums.seagate.com/stx/board/message?board.id=ata_drives&thread.id=3668. I just replaced four of those drives myself with WD Caviar Black drives. Seagate is working on a firmware fix, but until it's ready you will want to steer clear of new Seagate drives.

 

[Tommy]

Some Maxtor drives have the same problems as the Seagates, they use the same controller.

I've had the same problem twice myself. The first time I tracked it down to a defective RAM stick (the BIOS P.O.S.T. test showed it was working, don't trust the BIOS's test). The second was when I installed (full install, not upgrade) to XP, and I believe it was caused by a faulty install. After repeatedly reinstalling XP, eventually XP installed itself correctly , and has worked since. Since I didn't do anything other than reinstall (no hardware fixes or BIOS updates, etc), logic dictates a faulty install was responsible.
That is a very unusual problem, and the least likely cause of your problem.

RAM is one of the most likely causes, and the easiest to test and/or replace, so I'd start there.

Also, check to make sure that there are no ribbon cables or anything blocking the airflow to the drive. This is common on computers that have been inexpertly built or modified. Overheating the drive's controller board can cause this problem. If that's the case, replace the drive. Once overheated, the chips are damaged and will not be reliable, even if they aren't overheated again.

Also, it doesn't hurt to check the Power Supply. Most "store bought" computers use very cheap "no-name" PS's. Check the voltages while the computer is running. The 12v leads should test between 12.5 and 13.5 volts, and the 5v should be between 4.75 and 5.1 volts. Also, check using the AC setting (analog meters work best for this) to see if the PS has "ripple" You should detect extremely little AC voltage , more than 0.01 volts indicates a problem. A slightly failing PS can cause any number of seemingly unrelated problems, including drive corruption.