Is my HD dying or not ?

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Rug
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Is my HD dying or not ?

Post by Rug » Wed, 3. Apr 19, 13:50

Hi knowledgeable ones ...

My PC has been crashing out a few times recently, so I looked at the event logs and find several errors for my disk.

eg:

Code: Select all

The IO operation at logical block address 0x69725268 for Disk 0 (PDO name: \Device\00000030) failed due to a hardware error.
So I think the HDD is packing up. But when I run checkdisk, or a SMART analysis tool I get no reports of problems. So which should I believe ?

And if it is dying, then is there a nice simple (and free) way to move Win10 over to the new drive ? I have a Disk for Win 7 , but took the free updgrade to 10 option, so I don't have win 10 media. Is this a problem ?

Can you tell that this isn't really my area of expertise ?

Rug
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Bishop149
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Re: Is my HD dying or not ?

Post by Bishop149 » Wed, 3. Apr 19, 14:30

Everytime I've had such a question I have run the HDD manufacturer's own checking software.
These are usually little boot programs that (IIRC) you should run for and extended period of time such as overnight.
I'm no expert I think they basically amount to a far more thorough version of chkdisk.
Here is the Seagate one: https://www.seagate.com/gb/en/support/d ... /seatools/

Having said all that, every time I've suspected and HDD was dying. . . . it was.
Backup the important stuff ASAP.
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pjknibbs
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Re: Is my HD dying or not ?

Post by pjknibbs » Wed, 3. Apr 19, 14:55

I'll have to disagree with m'learned colleague, simply because I had a situation many years ago that had all the hallmarks of a hard disk problem, but wasn't. There would be mysterious errors reading files from the disk and a CHKDSK executed inside Windows would generally find errors, BUT--and here's the kicker--no such errors would be reported when running CHKDSK at boot time. Replacing the hard drive didn't solve the issue either. I eventually tracked it down to a RAM issue--some random bits were getting flipped in parts of memory that were too high to be used by the boot-time CHKDSK, but which *were* in use while Windows was running. So, at the very least you should also check your memory to make sure it isn't the culprit here.

Oh, as for installing Win10 on a new hard drive, you can download it from Microsoft:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/softwar ... /windows10

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Re: Is my HD dying or not ?

Post by Alan Phipps » Wed, 3. Apr 19, 15:00

A good rule of thumb is that if you have to ask such a question then you are indeed in a risky and probably worsening situation that may be the HDD failing or could instead be a memory or system stress issue.

The safest way (IMO) to be ready to transfer your system to another boot drive is to use a backup/cloning application to make an image of your boot drive onto backup or removable media or drive. You now have that image as insurance and can install that image onto a new cleanly formatted boot drive of equal or greater capacity if needed. Of course there is the possibility that your issue (whatever the cause) could corrupt the image too, but a reputable backup/cloning application should conduct verification checks and inform you if that happens such that you then have the opportunity to try again as necessary.

Either way, don't leave it for too long!
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Redvers Ganderpoke
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Re: Is my HD dying or not ?

Post by Redvers Ganderpoke » Wed, 3. Apr 19, 15:05

I've seen errors, as Paul has mentioned, from dodgy memory. I've also had similar errors with a failing PSU.

As your licence should be linked to your MS account, reinstalling and activating win 10 is quite easy. As you have the Win 7 to win 10 licence you can even move it to another pc. ( The old pc in that case would revert to not activated)
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Morkonan
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Re: Is my HD dying or not ?

Post by Morkonan » Thu, 4. Apr 19, 00:45

Rug wrote:
Wed, 3. Apr 19, 13:50
Hi knowledgeable ones ...

My PC has been crashing out a few times recently, so I looked at the event logs and find several errors for my disk.
We have to take that into consideration. Is there anything else in there that shows a problem?
eg:

Code: Select all

The IO operation at logical block address 0x69725268 for Disk 0 (PDO name: \Device\00000030) failed due to a hardware error.
So I think the HDD is packing up. But when I run checkdisk, or a SMART analysis tool I get no reports of problems. So which should I believe ?
And, is your Hard drive assigned to "Disk:0?" This is an internal drive, correct? Of what type is it?

Make sure your motherboard's drivers are updated. You've gone through an evolution from Win7 to Win10 on the same machine, same hardware, right? There could be controller issues, etc, too. Check your board's manufacturers. Checkdisk didn't find anything wrong with sectors, so it could be anything from a driver, a more sporadic hardware issue to a cable.
And if it is dying, then is there a nice simple (and free) way to move Win10 over to the new drive ? I have a Disk for Win 7 , but took the free updgrade to 10 option, so I don't have win 10 media. Is this a problem ?

Can you tell that this isn't really my area of expertise ?

Rug
At the worst, if Win10 won't revalidate because you've upgraded your hard-drive/hardware then call Microsoft and they'll likely just wave you on through with no problem.

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fiksal
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Re: Is my HD dying or not ?

Post by fiksal » Thu, 4. Apr 19, 05:14

Backup immediately, obviously.
Alan Phipps wrote:
Wed, 3. Apr 19, 15:00
The safest way (IMO) to be ready to transfer your system to another boot drive is to use a backup/cloning application to make an image of your boot drive onto backup or removable media or drive.
Seconded. I have NAS for this purpose, where I have one or two images of my drives. That I restore sometimes.

Rug wrote:
Wed, 3. Apr 19, 13:50
And if it is dying, then is there a nice simple (and free) way to move Win10 over to the new drive ? I have a Disk for Win 7 , but took the free updgrade to 10 option, so I don't have win 10 media. Is this a problem ?
I had to do this recently myself. I didnt use the images I had, so you may need to do what I did myself below:


I ended up installing my Windows 7 first, since that's what I had a CD for, onto the new / fresh drive. Once I did that, I looked up how to upgrade to Windows 10.

Since you've upgraded once from 7, like me, Microsoft says that they'll keep honoring that. [1]

What you'll do then - is download the installation media and boot the pc with it. This will then proceed updating from Windows 7 to Windows 10. It's possible that maybe you can skip the installing of Windows 7 entirely, and just install 10. Just make sure to enter the key from your old Windows.

check out these notes for details

the link to the windows 10 installation media is here: (bookmark it)
https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/softwar ... /windows10

I've ended up making a DVD (4.7GB). If you dont have one, there's an option for the USB drive too.

After that, just follow the prompts.



[1] it becomes a complex question if you change hardware significantly. I've just replaced a drive with another one.
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pjknibbs
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Re: Is my HD dying or not ?

Post by pjknibbs » Thu, 4. Apr 19, 08:26

fiksal wrote:
Thu, 4. Apr 19, 05:14
Backup immediately, obviously.
I'd do the memory check first, because any backup you take is suspect if it's the RAM causing this issue, not the HDD.

Rug
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Re: Is my HD dying or not ?

Post by Rug » Thu, 4. Apr 19, 13:22

Update so far ...

It's a Seagate drive, so thanks to Bishop149 for the link - but it's not showed any issues with the selection of tests that I've run.
I've also run Memtest86 on it this morning, and that showed zero errors too !
I have taken the ram out and re-seated it, and replaced the SATA cable too as a precaution, but I'm confused as to where the errors were coming from. Is it possibl ethe CPU could be throwing a wobbly ? It's been a reliable machine for 4 or 5 years now I think, and I've not changed anything but the graphics card in years.

I'll have to just keep an eye on it and see if it settles down again now. I really can't afford to replace anything on it just at the moment.

Thanks to all for the help, and more suggestions always welcome.

Rug
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Chips
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Re: Is my HD dying or not ?

Post by Chips » Thu, 4. Apr 19, 22:07

I've a seagate too - and the last 5 days it keeps saying "You need to restart to correct Drive C errors".

I restart, it says something akin to "press any key to skip disk check" - then it starts checking and 3s after starting it goes straight to login.

Not noticed any issues other than that - and see others have had it prior online. Anyway, based on what people said, ordered a solid state drive (77 quid for a 500gb one) to install on Saturday and use my current 1Tb drive as backup (only using 350gb of it, and if i delete a few unused games and 20gb of movies it'll probably shift across... 100gb?).

Hope yours holds out just fine - I kinda think mine would, but i've had a SSD on the watchlist for over a year now, so... meh :D

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Re: Is my HD dying or not ?

Post by Praefectus classis » Fri, 5. Apr 19, 11:40

I would download CrystalDiskInfo and run that to check the hard disk. Check for reallocated sector count numbers.
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fiksal
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Re: Is my HD dying or not ?

Post by fiksal » Fri, 5. Apr 19, 16:07

pjknibbs wrote:
Thu, 4. Apr 19, 08:26
fiksal wrote:
Thu, 4. Apr 19, 05:14
Backup immediately, obviously.
I'd do the memory check first, because any backup you take is suspect if it's the RAM causing this issue, not the HDD.
Right you are. Years ago I was asking about memory on this forum. It did indeed damage quite a few files. And backup, while kept my files alive, also corrupted a fair number of them.

(to be exact, it's possible it wasnt memory specifically, it may have been, but more likely it was a motherboard or a RAID built in controller on the motherboard. I'll never know.)
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Morkonan
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Re: Is my HD dying or not ?

Post by Morkonan » Fri, 5. Apr 19, 21:09

Rug wrote:
Thu, 4. Apr 19, 13:22
...Thanks to all for the help, and more suggestions always welcome.
Are you using any Seagate drivers or disk management tools? Have you tried reinstalling those? (Make a boot disk or bootable USB and set your CMOS to go looking for those before you update/reinstall your Seagate proprietary drivers/management.)

This is a "Hard Disk Drive," right? Not an SDD?

You haven't flashed your CMOS anytime recently, right? Not suggesting that, but it may be worth going into CMOS and seeing if it is having any problems recognizing your drive for what it is. ie: "Seagate XXxX" rather than "Generic Volume X."

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