Need a Hard Drive

[astr0creep]

Hello,

 

I've recently had some problem with my computer that led me to believe I had a major virus. So I did a full format of my 3-4 years old Maxtor 40gb drive.

In one month, I did three such formats, all because of the same problem.

 

I format using PowerMax, a tool for Maxtor drives that can also test the drive for various problems. During those tests I always get the same 8 digit error code. From the Powermax site I learned that an 8 digit code means I need to replace my hard drive because it is failing.

 

So what is this problem?

 

What happens is that after about 1 week from a format, my computer becomes very slow(this was the original symptom that made me believe I had a virus). When this happens, within about an hour my machine starts to reboot on it's own. The boot sequence goes all the way to the Windows Load screen, where the little progress bar is, and then reboots again. During the boot sequence I also get to choose if I can boot in safe mode or normally or with previous settings that work, etc and when I boot in safe mode, it passes the WinLoad screen and then it says it can't find the domain/user and ask for a password that never inputed during reinstallation of Windows.

 

Because of all this, I believe I simply need to change my hard drive.

 

My questions are:

 

1- Do I really need to change my Hard Drive? (If I can avoid the spending of currency, I will. The drive was fine before all this).

2- I have my sights set on a Maxtor 100Gb 7200rpm Ultra Series. Is this a good choice?

3- If my hard drive is shot, why does it go through the Windows Loading screen?

4- Could it be a heating problem? I don't overclock, I keep my case open at all times but the only fan I have is the one inside the power supply.

 

Thank you for any info anyone can give me.

 

[Surreptishus]

Sounds like its corrupt. If so, then you have to get a new one.

Edited January 12, 2007 by Surreptishus

[astr0creep]

I needed a hard drive anyway but I'm worried that the problem lies elsewhere.

The drive will cost me at least 100$ and since I'm kinda poor I'd rather put that cash on the real problem.

[Deraldin]

I needed a hard drive anyway but I'm worried that the problem lies elsewhere.

The drive will cost me at least 100$ and since I'm kinda poor I'd rather put that cash on the real problem.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

If you are spending $100 on a hard drive and only getting 100GB then you need to do some searching. A quick search shows 80GB drives as low as $60* and 250GB at around $100*.

 

*All approximate prices listed in Cdn dollars.

[astr0creep]

I needed a hard drive anyway but I'm worried that the problem lies elsewhere.

The drive will cost me at least 100$ and since I'm kinda poor I'd rather put that cash on the real problem.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

If you are spending $100 on a hard drive and only getting 100GB then you need to do some searching. A quick search shows 80GB drives as low as $60* and 250GB at around $100*.

 

*All approximate prices listed in Cdn dollars.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I found a 160GB at 85$. The 100Gb for 100$ was at Staples(Bureau en Gros, you're in Mtl, right?) and the same drive at Best Buy is 130$.

 

Still, my point was that after I install the new drive, if the problem is still there I'm pretty much frakked.

[mkreku]

I like this site:

 

http://www.storagereview.com/

 

This is one of the reasons why I usually go for the Hitachi brand of hard drive.

 

I have my eyes on the revised version of Hitachi's Deskstar T7K500 500GB.

 

http://www.storagereview.com/php/benchmark..._3=322&devCnt=4

 

(I am mostly concerned with the gaming performance, which is where Hitachi dominates)

[Gfted1]

4- Could it be a heating problem? I don't overclock, I keep my case open at all times but the only fan I have is the one inside the power supply.

 

Im just curious, is this a home built system? Ive never seen a PC that didnt have a fan for the processor. IIRC, my rig has one for the power supply, one for the processor and one mounted directly on the video card (GE Force 6800) which I hadnt seen before until I bought it.

[Bokishi]

Go with the Raptor!

[Diamond]

Still, my point was that after I install the new drive, if the problem is still there I'm pretty much frakked.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Borrow a spare one from your friend and see if it is a HDD issue.

[astr0creep]

4- Could it be a heating problem? I don't overclock, I keep my case open at all times but the only fan I have is the one inside the power supply.

 

Im just curious, is this a home built system? Ive never seen a PC that didnt have a fan for the processor. IIRC, my rig has one for the power supply, one for the processor and one mounted directly on the video card (GE Force 6800) which I hadnt seen before until I bought it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Lol ok. The only fan I don't have is a case fan.

I do have one for the CPU and my vid card has a heatsink.

Plus the PS fan.

 

 

Anyway I bought a Western Digital 233Gb 7200rpm 8Mb Cache for 89$CAN which I think is a pretty good deal.

[Deraldin]

4- Could it be a heating problem? I don't overclock, I keep my case open at all times but the only fan I have is the one inside the power supply.

 

Im just curious, is this a home built system? Ive never seen a PC that didnt have a fan for the processor. IIRC, my rig has one for the power supply, one for the processor and one mounted directly on the video card (GE Force 6800) which I hadnt seen before until I bought it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Lol ok. The only fan I don't have is a case fan.

I do have one for the CPU and my vid card has a heatsink.

Plus the PS fan.

 

 

Anyway I bought a Western Digital 233Gb 7200rpm 8Mb Cache for 89$CAN which I think is a pretty good deal.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

$10 cheaper than what I've usually been able to find them for.

[astr0creep]

4- Could it be a heating problem? I don't overclock, I keep my case open at all times but the only fan I have is the one inside the power supply.

 

Im just curious, is this a home built system? Ive never seen a PC that didnt have a fan for the processor. IIRC, my rig has one for the power supply, one for the processor and one mounted directly on the video card (GE Force 6800) which I hadnt seen before until I bought it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Lol ok. The only fan I don't have is a case fan.

I do have one for the CPU and my vid card has a heatsink.

Plus the PS fan.

 

 

Anyway I bought a Western Digital 233Gb 7200rpm 8Mb Cache for 89$CAN which I think is a pretty good deal.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

$10 cheaper than what I've usually been able to find them for.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I suppose I'll know in about a week if I made the right choice.

 

It's really amazing. First going from a meager 40Gb to almost five times that and second, the quietness of the thing. I never realized how noisy the other one was.

 

)

 

 

EDIT: Anybody know of freeware application that will allow me to ghost my hard drive to a DVD?

If my current drive messes up again I want to be able to format it(which I can now) and instead of reinstalling Windows, all I would have to do is insert the ghost DVD and it would boot and put my drive back where it belongs.

 

Please?

Edited January 13, 2007 by astr0creep

[metadigital]

What do you mean by "ghost" your harddrive to DVD?

 

You can take a backup of it that is stored on a bunch of contiguous DVDs.

[astr0creep]

What do you mean by "ghost" your harddrive to DVD?

 

You can take a backup of it that is stored on a bunch of contiguous DVDs.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Ghost, clone, backup.

 

I want an exact copy of my current hard drive on DVD(just because of space).

I want to be able for that DVD to boot and copy all the contents of my current hard drive onto another so that I have an exact replica that works the exact same way.

 

In case I loose my data again.

[metadigital]

Why do you want a booting copy of your old drive (data)?

[Kaftan Barlast]

My old WD 160gb got a bit of a bang while moving so its developed quite a glitch and needed to be replaced. Unfortunantly I was only able to get this on such short notice:

 

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=196

 

 

I would have gone for the 500gb but theyre sold out. I hate noise so the Raptor was out of the question.

[astr0creep]

Why do you want a booting copy of your old drive (data)?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

So that I don't have to reinstall everything if I need to format again.

[tarna]

I would have gone for the 500gb but theyre sold out. I hate noise so the Raptor was out of the question.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Turn up your stereo!

 

I just bought ( and formatted a 750 Gb [ 3 hrs!!! ] and transfered the data). Seagate is quiet as hell . Standard drive ( as far as speed is concerned ).

[Watchman]

I've recently had some problem with my computer that led me to believe I had a major virus. So I did a full format of my 3-4 years old Maxtor 40gb drive.

In one month, I did three such formats, all because of the same problem.

 

...

 

So what is this problem?

 

What happens is that after about 1 week from a format, my computer becomes very slow(this was the original symptom that made me believe I had a virus). When this happens, within about an hour my machine starts to reboot on it's own. The boot sequence goes all the way to the Windows Load screen, where the little progress bar is, and then reboots again. During the boot sequence I also get to choose if I can boot in safe mode or normally or with previous settings that work, etc and when I boot in safe mode, it passes the WinLoad screen and then it says it can't find the domain/user and ask for a password that never inputed during reinstallation of Windows.

 

Because of all this, I believe I simply need to change my hard drive.

 

My questions are:

 

1- Do I really need to change my Hard Drive? (If I can avoid the spending of currency, I will. The drive was fine before all this).

2- I have my sights set on a Maxtor 100Gb 7200rpm Ultra Series. Is this a good choice?

3- If my hard drive is shot, why does it go through the Windows Loading screen?

4- Could it be a heating problem? I don't overclock, I keep my case open at all times but the only fan I have is the one inside the power supply.

 

Thank you for any info anyone can give me.

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Question 1. Yes you do need a new hard drive. You have damage that is teminable. Often it is from plater decay or surface damage that has destoroyed part of the plater. This condition often gets worse over time as loose debree bounces around causing further damage.

 

Question 2. 100GB is fine but as hard drives get beter you may consider a larger one. Just be sure to note the type of connector on your computer to be sure that you have a compatibale drive.

 

Question 3. Hard drives that have the kind of problem you mentioned have suface damage. With this kind of problem, often large areas of the drive are fine. But the bad areas cause problems that disrupt and crash the computer over time. Worse, as I said before, it can spread resulting in a greater damage that further speeds the demise of the drive.

 

Question 4. If it was a heating problem all your problems would go way if you got in better cooling. 40GB drives from 3-4 year ago do not have big heat issues and so cooling would be easy even in a hot room.

 

Also, your data is not lost. You can copy onto your new drive. Any pyhsical problems can not be transfered by software copying. However damaged software can be. If something fails to run on your orignal drive it always has a potental to not work when copied eather.

 

Good luck.

[Deraldin]

I just bought ( and formatted a 750 Gb [ 3 hrs!!! ] and transfered the data). Seagate is quiet as hell . Standard drive ( as far as speed is concerned ).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

What exactly do you do with all your hard drive space? Don't you also have several 500GB drives as well?

[metadigital]

He has detailed files ... :ph34r:

[tarna]

I just bought ( and formatted a 750 Gb [ 3 hrs!!! ] and transfered the data). Seagate is quiet as hell . Standard drive ( as far as speed is concerned ).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

What exactly do you do with all your hard drive space? Don't you also have several 500GB drives as well?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I've got a 500 ( Seagate ), 3 320s ( Western Digital ), 2 250s ( also WD ) and several smaller drives. The 750 was to consolidate my stuff onto just two drives.

 

Movies, music, board records form several boards, downloaded software, webpages. Pretty much anything that I think I might need at some point. The filing system to locate the data was a nightmare though.

 

He has detailed files ... :ph34r:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You might be surprised.

[metadigital]

I am rarely surprised.

[Deraldin]

He has detailed files ... :ph34r:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

He has your entire post history saved to disk.

 

And damn that's a lot of HD space. You've got almost three terabytes of storage there. I'd kill for that much space...

[Deraldin]

Since I can't edit my last post I'll have to double post here...

 

Tarna, what do you think about the new 1TB drives from Hitachi? Any plans to purchase one (or several) of those? "