Possibly dying Harddrive?

superman22x

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My friend has a computer she had since 8th grade I think, so about 4 years. No formats in that time I assume, and she only uses it for like school stuff, LOTS of music, internet and IM. But I was over there the other day, and I noticed that the Harddrive would run normaly, then for like 5 minutes it would get really loud, and then back to normal, and it would keep doing that. Also, she says, that sometimes while she is on the computer, it will randomly shut off. So, what would you say the problem is?
 
My friend has a computer she had since 8th grade I think, so about 4 years. No formats in that time I assume, and she only uses it for like school stuff, LOTS of music, internet and IM. But I was over there the other day, and I noticed that the Harddrive would run normaly, then for like 5 minutes it would get really loud, and then back to normal, and it would keep doing that. Also, she says, that sometimes while she is on the computer, it will randomly shut off. So, what would you say the problem is?

AUTOMATIC NEEDS TO REPLACE THE HARD DRIVE
 
Intermittent shutdowns doesn't sound like a hdd problem. More like a PSU problem. But I would wait for the problem to develop some more, as its most likely a hardware one, to be able to diagnose it more accurately. Plus it doesn't seem like a huge problem right now.

The hdd speeding up is probably because the information on the drive is so fragmented. So the computer is calling information up from the hdd, but its spread out over so many places that it has to spin fast and work real hard to find it all and pull it up, seemingly randomly. But in actuality its just program files that are being run that are fragmented throughout the drive.

She should defrag her hdd, which I'm going to assume she hasn't done since she bought the computer. Also to make sure that the intermittent shutdowns aren't a virus related problem; I would boot into safe mode and run a thorough virus and some spyware scans. Should also help clean up her computer even if there is nothing wrong with it.

She most certainly DOES NOT need to replace the harddrive, however backing up important information is always a good idea :p, I myself have a redundant drive.
 
im not so sur . u sure its the hardrive thats getting louder and not the CPU fan ? sounds like a possible heat problem to me,

download some temp monitoring programs and c. hardrive sound are not often heard its usually fans that get louder
 
im not so sur . u sure its the hardrive thats getting louder and not the CPU fan ? sounds like a possible heat problem to me,

download some temp monitoring programs and c. hardrive sound are not often heard its usually fans that get louder

True, but they have two distinct sounds. You can check using any of multiple temp monitoring programs, or use your ears. The hdd spinning up real fast has the distinct sound of metal vibrating against metal; while a cpu heatsink fan does not. Even if its not a heat problem you should also clean out the dust for her, as she probably hasn't done that in 4 years either.
 
No, its the harddrive that is making the sound. I will tell her to defrag it. And I think she told me she already has virus scan and whatnot.
 
Am easy way to check the drive is to go to the drive manufacturer's site and download their utility. It will fully diagnose the drive and tell you whether it's going bad or not.
 
Intermittent shutdowns doesn't sound like a hdd problem. More like a PSU problem. But I would wait for the problem to develop some more, as its most likely a hardware one, to be able to diagnose it more accurately. Plus it doesn't seem like a huge problem right now.

The hdd speeding up is probably because the information on the drive is so fragmented. So the computer is calling information up from the hdd, but its spread out over so many places that it has to spin fast and work real hard to find it all and pull it up, seemingly randomly. But in actuality its just program files that are being run that are fragmented throughout the drive.

She should defrag her hdd, which I'm going to assume she hasn't done since she bought the computer. Also to make sure that the intermittent shutdowns aren't a virus related problem; I would boot into safe mode and run a thorough virus and some spyware scans. Should also help clean up her computer even if there is nothing wrong with it.

She most certainly DOES NOT need to replace the harddrive, however backing up important information is always a good idea :p, I myself have a redundant drive.

the hard drive is 4 years old
its probally aound 80 to 120 gigs

i would format and reinstall
and check for dust
 
superman get everest ultimate and check her temps. and if ur temps are mad crazy then that would prolly be the reason for the shutdown. if so clean out the heatsink. its probably full of dust blocking the airflow into the heatsink
 
I woul run a scan disk to check for errors on the drive.

Open My Computer, and then select the local disk you want to check.

2: On the File menu, click Properties.

3: On the Tools tab, under Error-checking, click Check Now.

4: Under Check disk options, select the Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors check box.

All files must be closed for this process to run. If the volume is currently in use, a message box will appear prompting you to indicate whether or not you want to reschedule the disk checking for the next time you restart your system. Then, the next time you restart your system, disk checking will run. Your volume will not be available to perform other tasks while this process is running.
If your volume is formatted as NTFS, Windows automatically logs all file transactions, replaces bad clusters, and stores copies of key information for all files on the NTFS volume.
 
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