HDD health.

Well, some of you may remember the thread I had going about my computer screwing up, right before this board got made (I don't feel like looking it up).

I think I've nailed the problem down, and it was one solution offered up in that thread. I'm pretty sure both my HDD's are on the way out, and were damaged by my little defective NIC when it crashed my system. Here lately, my lag has gotten even worse, there's no way for me to use my graphics card acceleration for anything (two separate vid cards; either missing textures or painting textures, though software mode works fine), I'm hearing a loud click every so often from one of the HDD's, and my icons are starting to get all screwy (some get unknown file icons, one folder has an .exe icon, etc.). I've even got a couple files that I can't delete now, because it says they're in use by the system, and I know for a fact they're not.

But how do I tell? I have a program called FreshDiagnose, but I can't get the registration information sent to my email, so I can't benchmark the drives (free program, but a pain in the ass to get the serial numbers for them). FreshDiagnose gives a "Health Percentage" of each HDD. One's at 49%, the other's at 46%, and the program says that's fine, and there is no loss of performance.

Are there any good programs out there to test out a HDD, and tell me if there are any hardware errors? Running scandisk doesn't do anything, and I'm sick of FD.

Have you tried the utilities by the drive manufacturers themselves?

I keep hearing about a program called SpinRite... but it isn't cheap. Also, some people apparently have some issues with the author. Haven't heard any bad things about the program though.
Linky Link link
Disclaimer: I haven't used this program.

Eezy_Bordone wrote:

Have you tried the utilities by the drive manufacturers themselves?

Hmm... It might just work! Luckily they're both Western Digital drives, so I only have DL one program.

Well, I'm not looking to spend any money, but I'll see if I can't find some type of demo on that program when I get home, Rezzy. Thanks for the link.

There are programs that do the same things Spinrite does, but they do them better and faster. I used to be a big fan of Spinrite, until I actually tried it on a seriously defective drive, and until I learned that all of the features that "make it stand out" are pseudoscientific hype.

I'm hearing a loud click every so often from one of the HDD's, and my icons are starting to get all screwy (some get unknown file icons, one folder has an .exe icon, etc.). I've even got a couple files that I can't delete now, because it says they're in use by the system, and I know for a fact they're not.

But how do I tell?

Am I missing something here ? I hope you backed up your important data dude.

... but the files you can't delete is actually a blatant bug with Windows Explorer. It is usually older executables. It tries to extract icons from them, the thread hangs and doesn't let go of the file.

Running scandisk doesn't do anything, and I'm sick of FD.

Scandisk does not exist under Windows 2000/XP. Are you still running Windows 98SE/Windows Millennium ?

Or are you running CHKDSK ? Does running CHKDSK not produce any error messages about your filesystem ?

Both scandskw.exe and chkdsk.exe offer options to test the surface of the disc. Running chkdsk [diskletter]: /R would go over the entire surface and mark bad sectors as bad. In the end it tells you how much information is in bad sectors.

Make sure you run "cmd" from Start/Run first, then run CHKDSK from it. Running CHKDSK directly may cause the window to close after it is done and you may not see the results.

Also, before messing with any diagnostics, back up your data, dude.

Have you checked out your PSU?
I was running into lock ups with the "click", turns out my power supply was going bad and causing the HDD to shut down.
Check you system when you start up, go into the BIOS and see what the voltages are that are being put out versus the listed reference, if it is off by more than ~5% i'd say your PSU is going out.

shihonage wrote:

There are programs that do the same things Spinrite does, but they do them better and faster. I used to be a big fan of Spinrite, until I actually tried it on a seriously defective drive, and until I learned that all of the features that "make it stand out" are pseudoscientific hype.

I'm hearing a loud click every so often from one of the HDD's, and my icons are starting to get all screwy (some get unknown file icons, one folder has an .exe icon, etc.). I've even got a couple files that I can't delete now, because it says they're in use by the system, and I know for a fact they're not.

But how do I tell?

Am I missing something here ? I hope you backed up your important data dude.

... but the files you can't delete is actually a blatant bug with Windows Explorer. It is usually older executables. It tries to extract icons from them, the thread hangs and doesn't let go of the file.

Running scandisk doesn't do anything, and I'm sick of FD.

Scandisk does not exist under Windows 2000/XP. Are you still running Windows 98SE/Windows Millennium ?

Or are you running CHKDSK ? Does running CHKDSK not produce any error messages about your filesystem ?

Both scandskw.exe and chkdsk.exe offer options to test the surface of the disc. Running chkdsk [diskletter]: /R would go over the entire surface and mark bad sectors as bad. In the end it tells you how much information is in bad sectors.

Make sure you run "cmd" from Start/Run first, then run CHKDSK from it. Running CHKDSK directly may cause the window to close after it is done and you may not see the results.

Also, before messing with any diagnostics, back up your data, dude.

Also you most likely will be promted to run it next boot up as it can't/won't run with your OS running (on the system drive at least). In either case run chkdsk c: and select yes to run it on next boot and in the same cmd window to chkdsk d: and select yes... Knock both out with one stone that way on next boot.

chkdsk c: /R
chkdsk d: /R

When ran without parameters, chkdsk does not do a surface scan, and does not attempt any repairs. Unfortunately it is not possible to run a surface scan with this utility WITHOUT letting it do on-the-fly repairs at the same time.

Nosferatu wrote:

Have you checked out your PSU?
I was running into lock ups with the "click", turns out my power supply was going bad and causing the HDD to shut down.
Check you system when you start up, go into the BIOS and see what the voltages are that are being put out versus the listed reference, if it is off by more than ~5% i'd say your PSU is going out.

In my other thread, I went to pretty good lengths to test the four PSU's I have laying around here. This has been happening on at least two that I know are fine (tested by actively monitoring the voltage as I did things... nothing changed).

I meant checkdisk. Sorry, was writing fast and I used scandisk for too many years. And honestly, I don't keep anything on my drives that I can't replace. If it's that important, a copy goes on my online storage, or on a CD that I keep in a jewelcase, away from the others.