Hard drives frying

Kage

Golden Master
Messages
13,873
Hi everyone,

I have a problem on my PC that keeps coming back... quite a deadly one too...
I have replaced the hard drive 3 times now, and each one has failed after about a month of use. Two of them were bought at the same time, and same model numbers (40gb) while the other was bought a bit later (120gb). They are quite respected manufacturers too, Maxtor and ...erm well I did know it... it's a respected manufacturer though.

I am sure we are not just having bad luck with the hard drives, and what makes things worse is the fact that the 4th hard drive is now showing signs of failing... :(

Now, each hard drive got a new windows installed, and all the back up files placed on it... well the ones that I backed up before hand, like documents. All computers were well protected too with new updates and virus, Spyware protection (none on all the drives)

The first two failed completey in the space of 3 weeks of each other, with them not booting up. It said that it couldn't find a drive, even though it was plugged in (a guy said one of the chips had died), and the 3rd one to go came up with "corrupted files" here and there. But going into DOS with a bootdisc tells me that no files are on the drive... and so are not accessable (using dir command). The hard drives are not getting too hot either, as they are well cooled...

Might help to say that the first two drives were in a caddy connected, which we switched hard drives around after use. But the 3rd one, we connected inside the computer on it's own, and still, the same thing happened about a month later!

It is getting a bit tiresome now and even though I am getting a new machine, I'd like to build the old one into a second PC. Could it be the motherboard frying them? Power supply? Even though, if it was the powersupply wouldn't other components fail as well? :(

Hope you can help :) Sorry about the long post... again
*KaGe*
 
The only thing I can think of is maybe a short in the connection from the power supply to the HDD. Have you tried using a different connector?
This may not be the problem at all....it's just all I could think of.
 
Would that fry them? I'm basically just using ones straight from the PSU, with the normal ports. I'll try that though, thanks :)

Just another little question. What exactly is Serial ATA? My hard drive supports it (120gb, another one, was on guarantee :D) but I don't think my motherboard would, but my new one will.
Is it a new sort of power connector to increase speeds on drives that support it? Or what? :S
Sorry if i seem dumb... hehe

*KaGe*
 
Serial ATA (or SATA) is just another kind of standard like IDE, SCSI, ect.
I really don't know if it's a power cord thats frying your HDDs, it's just the only thing I could think of.
I guess maybe it's possible some kind of static discharge could be causing it??? Do your drives have a protective leather-like cover?
 
Nope...

I guess it is probably something really simple though. Like my first impresion was def the motherboard or PSU.

This drive I have now is stable at the moment, but should a new 120GB 7200 RPM drive make a noise when loading? I thought only old models did that... Like for example, that sort of... wel sort of a clicking sound which repeats very fast (only thing I can thing of that describes it)... I can't really explain the noise... not the sort of click which would say the drive is dying though. If you've ever had an old drive, you'll know what I mean though

Ah, but it does have advantages over standard IDE?

*KaGe*
 
Maxtor is just a bad company... I've gone though 6 harddrives. They where kind enough to replace and upgrade me at some point, but this never solved the problem. And it wasn't my computer because I finally sold the drive and it died for my friend O.O
 
Oh... That might explain it...

The 2 drives that failed though I found out are made by Western Digital. These have a better reputation don't they?

*KaGe*
 
most people have there preferences for drive manufactures. But still, you shouldn't have this many problems.
As to SATA drives....I'm not very familiar with them, although I would think the would have some advantages over traditional IDE drives (maybe someone else with more experience with SATA could give us some details).
I'd say it's your PSU....or at least the power cable going from your PSU to your HDD. Before investing in a new PSU though, I would definitely try a different cable.
The reason I don't think it's your mobo, is because I would think you would have problems with your CD drives too.
 
Ok 2 things jump to mind...

First is your PSU may be surging. Check with a volt meter.
Second is they are not being cooled.
All 3 of mine sit right in the air blast behind the front 2 fans. They will take some high temps but not for long. And heat damage is aculutive. The more you flog them the quicker they crap out.
Another suggestion is to go in the bios and turn ON the S.M.A.R.T. system. At least it will tell you what is going wrong. SMART will give you advanced warning. Everest will show you the temps of the drives as long as the smart system is activated. Get that from> http://www.lavalys.com/
 
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