Uh oh, is this a sign my hard drive is dying? :(

[Murkon]

Ok, so a problem I've been having is this.

When I do anything involving video, like gaming, my system locks up for a millisecond every 5 seconds for quite a while. Eventually it smooths out.

I've ran memtest86 and it's not my ram.

Well today I installed a new 160gig Maxtor and I decided to toss XP on it and load a game and see if the same problem occured.

Problem is NOT there when I play a game from the Maxtor. My other drive (the one I'm on when I have these problems) is a Western Digital 80giger.

I would say it's because the Maxtor has a fresh XP install but I've tried that many times on the WD.

Is this a normal sign of a HD dieing? I've had no trouble with corrupt data or anything...just this one weird ass problem. Since this is the only problem I've had would it be safe to use it as storage only since I've had no trouble w/ corrupt data?

Also, I don't have any receipts or anything and the drive is maybe a year old - is there anyway I can do an RMA?

All information is greatly appreciated, thank you!

[Phoenix86]

Run a full scandisk, there can be many issues causing that kind of stuttering, but HDDs on the list and kinda high, so start there. GL

[lopoetve]

defrag

[Murkon]

Done full scandisks and defrags many times.

Tonight I'm going to do some disk diagnostics thing I got from the WD web site that takes about 6 hours to run...

Am I SOL on the RMA?

[darktiger]

Well do the diagnostic, you might be SOL on RMA. Check to see if it has the 3 year warranty. If not then yes. But from your discription it does not sound like HD. Maybe something was just correpted.

[Murkon]

Originally posted by darktiger
Well do the diagnostic, you might be SOL on RMA. Check to see if it has the 3 year warranty. If not then yes. But from your discription it does not sound like HD. Maybe something was just correpted.

How could something be corrupted if I have reformatted, scandisked, and defraged multiple times? I'm not trying to be an ass, just curious. I used the exact same ghost image on the maxtor that I did on the WD and have had no problems...damn I don't want to lose my 80 giger!

[Murkon]

I just got off the phone with a friend of mine who said I may have had a HD that was just messed up and didn't run at 7200rpm - how likely is this?

Also, I've ran and passed the "quick test" using Western Digital Data Lifeguard Diagnostics. Wouldn't this have told me if the drive wasn't running at 7200rpm?

[jacuzz1]

There is a RMA section that you enter the serial of the hd into a field. It will inform you of warranty eligibility and subsequently issue a rma for the drive.

[Murkon]

jacuzz I did just that

WOOT they are gonna RMA it :)

They are gonna ship me a box w/ the replacement HD in it and I just throw the old one in the box and ship it back. Mad props to Western Digital for being so convenient.

Appreciate the quick answers! [H]ardforums rock :)

[Phoenix86]

How=ghost image... Generally I like known working images, but there can be issues. Now we know your imaging I have some better questions to ask.

Is this the same machine that the ghost image was created on (exact same setup except the HDD)?

If not, did you sysprep the load before you imaged it?

Have you tried a clean install (bad image)?

If the HDD runs scandisk clean, and their diags (if it does), what makes you think it's a bad disk? I wouldn't think so if it checks out with these tools.

edit: just read your reply, get it RMAed and let us know. GL.

[Murkon]

Originally posted by Phoenix86
Is this the same machine that the ghost image was created on (exact same setup except the HDD)?

Have you tried a clean install (bad image)?

If the HDD runs scandisk clean, and their diags (if it does), what makes you think it's a bad disk? I wouldn't think so if it checks out with these tools.

edit: just read your reply, get it RMAed and let us know. GL.

Yes

Yes

B/c the problem doesn't occur when I tried w/ a different hard drive and the exact same setup.

I will definately let you know.

[Phoenix86]

If you spend the time learning ghost you might as well sysprep the machine (removes all hardware IDs and drivers from device manager) before you image so you can push it down to different hardware, if you ever change it. You can also force the drivers you want to load, it's good stuff.

And, yeah, "B/c the problem doesn't occur when I tried w/ a different hard drive and the exact same setup." is pretty definitave stuff. That's what's so great about images vs. reinstalling, but you already know that. :cool:

[Murkon]

If anyone cares - I RMA'd the WD and the new one they sent me work fine. The problem is completetly gone now.

Appreciate all the info!

[jacuzz1]

Originally posted by Murkon
jacuzz I did just that

WOOT they are gonna RMA it :)

They are gonna ship me a box w/ the replacement HD in it and I just throw the old one in the box and ship it back. Mad props to Western Digital for being so convenient.

Appreciate the quick answers! [H]ardforums rock :)