Hard Drive Failure: Is anyone familiar with this issue?

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Excelsius

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I have a 750GB Hitachi Deskstar (Deskstar 7K1000 HDS721075KLA330). I have had it for less than a year and have used it only for storage as an extra drive. The OS (XP) is not on it. The only usage it has seen is when I used to download files from P2P once in a while.

Here is the problem: I tried to transfer some of the files and every time the HD freezes. I can browse my files and even transfer small files, but if I try to make large transfers or several small ones, the HD freezes and it freezes part of my OS.

Recently I ran SpinRite 6.0 in recovery mode (I think level 2) and I got an Overflow error. I don't know know what else to do. I have almost 400GB info on it. Sure, most of the files are backed up (thank god), but I haven't updated my backups in a while. I also have all the files I have ripped from DVDs that took a lot of work and now don't want to lose them. Can anyone tell me what I can do here? I have read about the HDD Regenerator, but if my problem is mechanical, then no software can help, I think. And if I send it to recovery, it seems that I will have to pay over $300. On top of that, I have no idea how Hitachi is going to enforce the warranty. If they want the drive back to replace it, I am not going to be able to do that, especially when I have personal files on the HD.

For once I tried a drive other than WD, and this is what I got. I regret saving that stupid $70 on this drive. A true deathstar. Are there any experienced pros here who can make a suggestion other than a professional recovery company? And if that is my last option, are there any cheap places?

In 10 years I haven't had a single WD (and one Maxtor) fail on me, yet this damn HD couldn't even last a year next to my WD in the same case that has worked for the last five years.:confused:

PS: My motherboard is MSI K9N SLI Platinum Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI MCP ATX
 
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I don't understand. You'd take them to small claims court for what, exactly? For making a drive that died prematurely? They offer a warranty, it's your responsibility to back up your files, not theirs. If they're perfectly willing to honor that warranty you have no basis to complain.
 
Ok, I edited that part out so that we don't spend half of this thread submitting replies that are not helpful in the least. My fault. Thanks.
 
IMHO I would try to image the drive onto another after I had exhausted my software resources. That way youyre not working off a failing drive. That may or may not work, so next I would go in and break all the files into rar format and try to transfer them off the drive in small chunks maybe ??? IDK man, hope you get it figured out.
 
I understand, but in order to image the drive, I have to actually write from it. If it already freezes at small transfers, I don't think it will last imaging. Are there any good software solutions? I am also not clear on this - is my hard drive failing (hardware issue) or do I have a simple logical error? Is there a good diagnostic tool to tell me exactly what's wrong?
 
Do you have another computer or external USB case you can put it in and verify that it's the drive itself?
 
if your data was that important you wouldn't be storing it on a single hard drive for starters, drives fail sometimes, get over it.
 
That's probably a good idea to try. I just figured that since it is just one of four HDs on my PC and all others are working, then it must be the drive. I already switched the connection of the SATA cable in my motherboard. So it can't be my motherboard. If anything, it could be a software issue with my PC, but could that cause the drive to freeze like that? I'm not sure.

I am trying to limit handling the drive so that it doesn't get damaged further. But like I said, I still don't know what is the problem. No one has yet suggested that my drive is failing. The drive doesn't seem to make any unusual sounds either. I'll try it on another PC as a last resort.
 
MrGuvernment said:
if your data was that important you wouldn't be storing it on a single hard drive for starters, drives fail sometimes, get over it.
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All my important data is backed up. I am just missing some files because I have not made updates recently. However, I have a lot of DVDs (operas) that I had ripped there temporarily and was soon going to burn onto a DVD. Ergo, no backup of those. I have also been trying to keep only ONE HD on at a time: 1.Lower energy consumption and 2.Quieter computer. But again, this is a separate issue.
 
my seagate did the same thing used HDtune and got 1.1% bad sectors and you should scan it with this first and then definitely try HDDregenerator

you dont even understand how it works its not just a software it can fix magnetic errors on your hard drive which is possibly the case here

dont be arrogant and freak out on hitachi especially if your are downloading i11egal files in the first place

im not suprised to see you still as a n00bie for 3.5 years when you make threads with comments such as this one... there are step by step procedures you can take to find out whats wrong and your options to fix it FYI hitachi will just send you a refurb or new hard drive they will not repair this one for you and save the data

run HDtune see if you have bad sectors then try HD regenerator if you do have bad sectors and then go from there
 
I don't see how having a failed HD within 10 months and getting upset about it is in anyway arrogant. I did not say I am downloading illegal files, though even if I was, this is a SEPARATE issue. And although my status says "noobie" since I do not have time to constantly post in any forums, I know what a magnetic error is (that's not mechanical) and that Hitachi is not going to save my files. If that was the case, I wouldn't be here. Whew!!

Thanks for the HD Tune suggestion. I ran it in quick mode, and it brought back no errors. Then I did the standard Error Checking - it got stuck at 1:54 (less than two minutes). The elapsed time just stopped ticking. As such, HD Tune was not able to diagnose anything. And Hitachi is so good that their tool doesn't work on your PC unless you have the archaic floppy drive. I don't know, maybe I'll try the WD tool as well, but so far things aren't going well.

I will also try Hard Drive Mechanic and HDD Regenerator. Perhaps I'll do the latter first since it's supposed to be so powerful. On the other hand, I might be wasting my time. If there is a mechanical problem with the motor or the "needles," then I don't think I can have a software solution. I'll call Hitachi to see what they're saying.
 
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Excelsius said:
Thanks for the HD Tune suggestion. I ran it in quick mode, and it brought back no errors. Then I did the standard Error Checking - it got stuck at 1:54 (less than two minutes). The elapsed time just stopped ticking. As such, HD Tune was not able to diagnose anything. And Hitachi is so good that their tool doesn't work on your PC unless you have the archaic floppy drive. I don't know, maybe I'll try the WD tool as well, but so far things aren't going well.
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Ultimate Boot CD includes the Hitachi tool, though I find MHDD (also included), while a bit more complex, is much more useful. Bad sectors on your hard drive will typically cause the drive to keep trying and trying forever until the operating system times out the read, which can often be a minute or more. Windows seems to deal particularly poorly with this, where the whole UI often freezes when an I/O stalls in this manner, and is probably what you're experiencing. Your options for recovery are slim, though some tools will allow you to time out the failed blocks quickly and just replace them with zeros, which might get some usable data back for you. I would use one of these tools (can't think of any names off the top of my head, been a while since I did this) to create a full-disk image to the network or another drive and then see what's corrupted and what's not when you mount the image.

But disk failure is a fact of life, next time be prepared ;).
 
Thanks for the info. I was just able to burn the Fitness Tool from Hitachi onto a bootable CD. Ran the advanced mode test. Here are the results:

System Error. Bad Cable.
Disposition Code = 0x41

(P8GXADWL)

So, I guess I can only call Hitachi at this point.
 
Did you try the obvious fix of swapping the cable? Didn't sound like you had, so... I'd also try an external enclosure as suggested (or one of those USB->SATA dongles) to rule out the controller or some weird compatibility issue as well.

Hitachi has a pretty poor RMA process IMO, I had to RMA a laptop drive to them a couple months ago and it took nearly 8 weeks for the replacement to arrive, and as far as I could tell they don't do advanced replacement (ie. you give a CC as collateral and they ship your replacement right away and give you 30 days to get the failed one to them).

They will need the failed drive back to honour your warranty, so make sure you're satisfied that your recovery efforts are complete before you set that up and send it back.
 
We use ddrescue to recover data in my university's IT department. You need to be some what familiar with Linux (we run it in Ubuntu) but I have seen this utility perform miracles.
 
curtcheese64 said:
We use ddrescue to recover data in my university's IT department. You need to be some what familiar with Linux (we run it in Ubuntu) but I have seen this utility perform miracles.
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That's the one I was thinking of! Great stuff indeed.
 
Reconsider your troubleshooting strategy....jeez.

Switch the cable already.
 
Syntax Error said:
Reconsider your backup strategy.
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nitrobass24 said:
Reconsider your troubleshooting strategy....jeez.

Switch the cable already.
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Captain Cook and his parrot! You guys crack me up. Since I already mentioned changing cables above... reconsider your reading comprehension? Hahahaha. This is why I don't post too much, nostalgia to junior high.

Keenan and Curt, thanks a lot of your advice. Something very interesting happened - I switched the SATA cable once again, the drive passed the Advanced Fitness Test fine. I restarted the PC and started transferring files. Everything was going well except at 35 seconds the transfer froze again and the whole PC froze - it seems explorer.exe shut down since my desktop items disappeared. Had to reset the PC.

What do you think? Is it possible that my four year old mobo is giving out? Could it be an OS issue? It seems that the possible variables just shot up. This is assuming that if Fitness Test finds no errors than your drive is indeed healthy. Is it possible the test is wrong? I mean if it was my motherboard, would the test be successful?
 
Restarted the PC and tried again - now the only thing that's not responding is the HD (at least inititally), after transferring about 4GB. I am not so sure it's the motherboard.
 
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Excelsius said:
What do you think? Is it possible that my four year old mobo is giving out? Could it be an OS issue? It seems that the possible variables just shot up. This is assuming that if Fitness Test finds no errors than your drive is indeed healthy. Is it possible the test is wrong? I mean if it was my motherboard, would the test be successful?
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Run MHDD and see what happens, it'll give you much more detailed information. If you get lots of read timeouts or long delays for reading blocks, it's likely the drive is failing. If that's the case try it in an external enclosure or on another PC and if the problem persists, get what data you can off it with ddrescue or any other tool you have at your disposal and send it for RMA.
 
Stinks it is bad, i had this same problem recentyl got a Samsung F2 1.5T drive, it would transfer sooo sloowwww, so i finally ran windows check disk and it had 4 bad sectors it had to move, now i dont trust the drive and plan to RMA it.
 
OP.

You really need to chill out, hard drives die, it happens. No rhyme or reason usually. You didn't make a backup recently, your fault.

You really need to try to get the data off using another computer. Maybe even recovering the data using a PC not running Windows. Why not try to clone the hard drive using a linux boot CD? Or Ghost / Acronis, etc?
 
You might find this incredible - I did a couple of tests of transferring and found out that the drive freezes when I try to transfer the files into my backup HD (which is an IDE WD 320GB) but it does not freeze at first when I transfer the files to my empty SATA WD 320GB. So I tried transferring the files to my SATA WD. It went for about 20 minutes with no issues and then froze. WTF? Now I am completely flummoxed. I know that my IDE WD could not be the problem from the beginning because I tried to transfer the files to an external HDD and even USB stick and Hitachi still froze.

This is crazy, but I think I have problems with TWO HDDs! My Hitachi might or might not be ok after changing the cable and my main "backup" drive seems to be totally screwed since I can't transfer files into any of the drives I have - or it could be a bad sector. Add to that the mobo variable!

.... Anyway, right now I am just trying to save the most important files I have. Frankly, with two drives down, I will barely have enough space to split my files into two HDDs. So here is what I am going to do:

1. Transfer all files into another WD HDD currently in my system
2. Buy a new 1TB WD drive and transfer a copy of all my files there
3. Run MHDD on the IDE WD or perhaps Hitachi
4. Get RMA for Hitachi and the WD (I think it is not over 5 years yet)

This is the drive I am considering to buy: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136317

Now my PC froze again and I have no frickin idea what is the cause anymore. You guys are right, I probably should try this on another PC. Given that I don't have access to one, I have to wait until I visit my friend. So the problem is pretty "simple": I either have a problem with one HDD, or with two HDDs, or maybe even with all three HDDs, or all or one or more HDDs are fine and it is my motherboard screwed up or it is my OS or a firmware issue!

You have no idea how disconcerting this whole thing is. It looks like I am going to have to spend a lot of time on this. Damn it.
 
Excelsius said:
I can't believe this crap. I just submitted an RMA, and look at what Hitachi REQUIRES to ship back the HDD: http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/packaging2.htm. The damn packaging alone might cost me like $20 plus shipping!!! These guys are totally nuts. I am going to call them.
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YOU are Nuts

Seagate, WD, Hitachi Samsung

No one will let you keep the drive, you have to ship it back thats kind of how any Warranty on earth for any product is.

srsly? If they didnt people file fraudulent warranty claims and have two of everything and sell it and the companies would go out of business.
 
nitrobass24 said:
YOU are Nuts

Seagate, WD, Hitachi Samsung

No one will let you keep the drive, you have to ship it back thats kind of how any Warranty on earth for any product is.

srsly? If they didnt people file fraudulent warranty claims and have two of everything and sell it and the companies would go out of business.
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If English is your second language, maybe I can understand. Though considering that it is my third, maybe I should not. Anyway, read what I wrote again. I am talking about the packaging requirements and how they are ready to void my warranty if my packaging is "only" as good as the ones provided by newegg and amazon! Are you serious? Of course they want the HD back. Chillax dude. Those big companies are pretty well protected from meager consumers like us. No need to protect them any further.
 
I've never had problems with a denied warranty because of packaging. A conductive bag, some bubble wrap and a tight fit in a box has been fine IME.

If they offer advance replacement you can just ship it back in the materials the replacement comes in.
 
Put the hard drive in the freezer and try to get the stuff off. It should work for a few mins before it dies again. Also i would look into GetDataBack and running a chkdsk /r on the hard drive.
 
keenan said:
I've never had problems with a denied warranty because of packaging. A conductive bag, some bubble wrap and a tight fit in a box has been fine IME.

If they offer advance replacement you can just ship it back in the materials the replacement comes in.
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Well, maybe you've been lucky. Here, look at this: http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/packaging3.htm. It says at the top that those packages will "void your warranty."
 
I already transferred over 200GBs out of the drive. Had to reset the computer at several points along the way, but I was even able to transfer out a single 18GB file. So all my important files are now on three drives. I hope that at least one of them is functional.

I also ran the MHDD from the UBCD. I saved the log file in ./log/scrshot.log, but I can't find it anywhere on my system. I did a search. What's the point of a screenshot if you can't find it? The results didn't seem to have anything remarkable. I used the "scan" command and the results show numbers going up to 150ms max. Those other parameters, like UNC, etc, were blank. I don't know the details of interpreting the results, but this probably means no errors, right?
 
Here is example of the screen I got after my scan was done
screenshot


Didn't get anything reported beyond light gray.
 
Well, maybe you've been lucky. Here, look at this: http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/packaging3.htm. It says at the top that those packages will "void your warranty."
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I've returned quite a lot of drives to Seagate, WD and Hitachi and they all have this kind of wording in their instructions, but I've never had any problems. My feeling is that it's just there so that if the drive arrives in a soggy lettermail envelope with no protection they can deny your claim. I worried about it at first, but if it's packed reasonably you should be fine. If you're really worried about it either do the advance replacement as I suggested or you could try going to the store you bought it from and see if they have some spare packing materials from incoming shipments that you could have.

Excelsius said:
I also ran the MHDD from the UBCD. I saved the log file in ./log/scrshot.log, but I can't find it anywhere on my system. I did a search. What's the point of a screenshot if you can't find it? The results didn't seem to have anything remarkable. I used the "scan" command and the results show numbers going up to 150ms max. Those other parameters, like UNC, etc, were blank. I don't know the details of interpreting the results, but this probably means no errors, right?
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Yeah, saving the log is a bit deceiving. MHDD is designed to be run from a floppy disk and would save the log there, but since it's booting from CD the floppy image is loaded into RAM and then booted, so the file disappears when you power off the machine.

If you didn't get any read errors (the counts below the red box), assuming of course you scanned the right drive :p, your drive should be okay. If you can't read the data in Windows I would suggest booting an Ubuntu CD or something and see if you can reliably read the data off there and then reformat the disk and see if it works normally again. Or try fiddling with your controller drivers and BIOS settings to see if you can get it working reliably.
 
Excelsius, you sound like a dick. RMA the drive, get the replacement, and go about your business.

In other words, DEAL.
 
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