hardrive is was bad now its fine.

[aidynphoenix]

hardrive was bad now its fine.

i just made the move to windows 7 64bit. and got everything installed and running.. when i reinstalled i moved all my files over to a 250gb ide hardrive. so i could reformat my 500gb sata (main drive) for awhile the 250gb was working ok.. than suddenly my computer started freezing. and whenever i tryed to copy a large file from the 250gb ide drive it would make a "click" noise than pause for about 37seconds than would start copying at about 7mb a sec.. than work its way up to about 8.2mb a sec than click again.. that would repeat itself untill the file was completed..
so i was thinking only small files wernt stressing the drive enough to mess up... and small files were about the only ones that would copy without going through that nasty clicking buesness..

i guessed the drive was dieing and i should try and recover anything i need to while i can..
so i started copying things off of it.. (taking a hell of a long time)
than decided i would try something... i wanted to feel it and see if it was getting hot. also wanted to remove it from my other drives so i could hear exactially where the sound was comming from. (hopefully it not being my other drives)
so i removed the drive and it is sitting outside my case still plugged in..
and now it is working just fine.. no clicks,, no pauses.. its copying at a full 45-60mb a sec..

now i am guessing something else was the cause of my troubbles..
my other drives are sata.. this is the only ide drive in my system..
is it possible the ide cable is bad, or was in a odd position, i do know however the cable was tucked away under some others, and resting on the far side of the case itself.. anybody else ever have anything strange like this happen to them?

i plan on replacing the ide cable.. backing everything up on it while i can..
than trying some testing on the drive.. anybody have any reccomended programs or tips for me??

 

[foothead]

I would just replace it if it was clicking. There is no point in keeping a dying drive.

 

[berry120]

As above, better to replace it anyway. Check the SMART status if you can, but if it was making clicking noises it's almost definitely on the way out. These problems can be intermittent sometimes, but that doesn't take away from the fact they're there.

 

[Atomic Rooster]

Most drive manufacturers have a drive testing utility on their website that you can download that will fully diagnose any problems the drive may be having.

 

[frank2085]

most manufactures actually have a built in diagnostic utility, if you are using a dell if you hit f8 you can click on diagnostic and it will run through some tests and tell you if the hardrive is bad. You can also run a chkdsk.

 

[aidynphoenix]

thank you verry much guys.
well it ran for the entire night last night and my computer never locked up.
but id still like to do some testing on it..
the drive is a 250gb maxtor quickview (i pulled it out of a tivo box)
anyways if the ide cable was too thin, or was pintched somewhere or laying up against a 12v rail wire.. could that possibly make the drive act as it did?

i am going to look for some tools and let it run for a while
has anybody ever had a drive do something like this??
all of the other drives i had that failed did clicks that were repeatedly and quickly.. and constantly weather it was in use or not.
this one took about 37 seconds between each click and only did it while copying files.. if it wasent working it wouldent do it.. i could browse the drive and view photos and videos and didnt have the problem happen.. it seemed like the drive really had to get going before it would mess up.

what exactially is the cause of the clicks? is it that the drive encounters a error and lifts the heads from the drive cylinders?
could a faulty ide cable make one of these errors happen?

 

[foothead]

No, that would be a drive that is just beginning to go bad.

You really should replace it. If you don't, you need to get a second drive to keep it backed up, in which case, you might as well just replace it and save yourself the trouble.

 

[aidynphoenix]

thanks again for the help guys..
i have downloaded segate seatools for windows and installed it..
i had it check the smart status.. and it passed..
i just got done running a long drive self test. and it passed.. took awhile though.. i didnt hear any clicks while the test was going on..
should i do some of the advanced tests??
also is this program good at this sort of thing??
thanks again
~john

 

[aidynphoenix]

well after 5 days of use its still fine.. no more clicking issues..
this is a maxtor quickiview drive. i believe, considering it was in a tivo or dish dvr box the drive was probably never being stressed or worked hard.. it probably never got really hot either.. i believe the drive was simply getting too hot.. it was placed at the top of my stack of 3 drives, also there was no fans pulling air over them..
i have another maxtor quickiview this one is a 160gb drive. i tryed that drive and in not much time it was causeing lockup also..
i am pointing my finger at heat issues..
i have sence done a mod to my case to have fans forcing incoming air over them before entering the case.. no drives are hot now. and everything is running great! also both those quickiview drives are installed now.
i didnt think heat was much of a issue for hardrives.. maybe these drives are low profile and not ment for the stress of common desktop use..

but i have a question about hardrive useage id like to throw out there for you guys..
running windos 7, in power options there is setting to turn of hardisk after ammount of time.. does this apply to all drives, and also is this a good feature to enable? perhaps prolonging drive useage and saving power? and also reducing drive heat??
and.. most importantly .. if i let my computer download while i am away is only the main drive where data being saved going to be on, while the others are going to be off??
tyvm... ~ john

 

[aidynphoenix]

hey guys.. sence its springtime here and getting warmer i swapped everything into a bigger case.. and then i was having the computer lockup and hardrive pause problems again. than i moved some stuff around again, and now its working ok again. yet it was never getting warm. is it possible. there is just a bad connection in the ide plug? or is it likely a bad component on the hardrive-board? or worse?