Hard drive question

[Lithium]

Kit if u havent used that trick then dont talk loudly, ive done it qutie few tiems with exellent results.
for dead hdd it can boot it temp but thats enough , last month i used it on my hdd which was showing same issues as mentioned here and i did that 2-3 times.
but wit further investigation the issue was the power supply , oppsss , which was making my hdd crazy

[Kit-Fox]

Removed

[Rudy Peña]

I would back up all files you want to keep, then take your laptop/computer to a computer repair shop and have them fix it. Then pay them when you pick up your laptop.

[Solus]

....
but wit further investigation the issue was the power supply , oppsss , which was making my hdd crazy

~soul

[Kit-Fox]

Removed

[Solus]

yes, I do. lol. thanks for catching me there, KF.
(a bit unwell, lack of sleep, etc etc.)

and yeah, it is a risky thing for freezer HDD's, though it is a last resort measure for data retrieval, and I dont believe clarkey is there yet.

over here, to have a professional try and retrieve the data is actually quite expensive, figures being in 3-4 digits, depending on where you go. and if the data is *that* important that you're willing to spend thousands of dollars on retrieval, then it should have been backed up long ago. the freezer method I'd only be willing to try if the hard drive was verified to be dead, and only for a quick data retrieval, not a long term solution by any means. there are a number of other factors to consider too, such as the humidity of the freezer, how well you have it sealed in a protective bag, etc etc.

tldr, I wouldn't recommend it either, but it is a method for last ditch data retrieval, we're not at that stage yet, and not to be done haphazardly.

~soul

[Jack]

I'm not suggesting Clarkey do that, if one reads my post carefully, they will see that I'm saying it's not something Clarkey should do. I've emphasized that it's a last ditch effort for dead drives.

Its not a good idea to give it as general advice, it doesnt really help the problem and can make things worse for you

IF your HDD is that badly damaged, then it is much better to get the data professionally recovered.

Professional data retrieval costs thousands of dollars. Freezing your HDD is free. Which are you going to try first?

[Lithium]

well dont be afraid of the fridge , because when u consider it u are in front of two solutions, home made 0$ (if it works u can take yr data and test yr drive or throw it) and repair shop, at the shop they ll just check it and offer u to sell another one 150$ but if u want the data inside they ll charge u smth like 500$ , if the disk doesnt load as slave they ll try the tricks , if they dotn work they ll play with the device (if they have the right tools and knowledge) and will wipe yr $ , wana try that fine go waste some 500$ (even more).

to check if u have hdd or power issue , then check if yr pc freeze often while booting or working , check errors , they will mislead if there is a power issue.

run the chkdsk with repair and fix , from cmd, or if u can boot it with bart pe , it ll fix the bad sectors. if u still ahve the roblem then for 80% its not the disk, the 20 % is the disk regenerating bad sectors.
or reinstall windows but u have to delete all partition, and create them with different size.

[Jack]

His HDD isn't dead, stop giving advice.

[Jack]

That all depends on several factors, the age of the PC being primary. He may not need a new system, if it's a power supply or HDD problem he can just get a quality replacement, then keep those parts when he upgrades again.

If it's RAM, motherboard, CPU or GPU, then he might think about getting an all new setup. If it's a mobo or CPU problem and the machine is old, then he needs to upgrade fully.

It really freaking sucks when an old but good processor/motherboard dies, I know from experience.

[Solus]

It really freaking sucks when an old but good processor/motherboard dies, I know from experience.

yeah same.... my old Pentium D 950 was a beast. lasted ages, across several motherboards, multiple coolers, etc. then the motherboard died. and when I looked for a replacement, the only motherboards available for LGA775 CPU's, were all in DDR3. SO. i thought it was worthwhile upgrading. and with AMD cores being ridiculously cheap, picked up an AM3 board, Phenom II x4 955 Black edition, (3.2ghz quad core) and 8gb of G.Skill DDR3 ram. WORKS WELL KAY.

~soul

[Clarkey]

Just upgrade to a better PC. They arn't that expensive these days. Granted all thats been said are great advice, but im just saying, why stop at a new hard drive?

As ive always done it, just replace when you begin having major problems. No sense in kicking yourself or spending money to get something fixed when it will (in most cases) just fail again. Granted, my experience in computers is limited these days, but in most other cases, its easier just to replace than to repair. Costs more in the short term, but long term it will pay off.

I can't remember when I got it, but it was sometime last year, I'd say a bit over a year ago. I'm not prepared to buy a whole new system yet when this one is good enough (besides the issue).

The issue happens randomly and days can go by without it happening, so i'd say it's not a major problem at this time.

The problem for me is not the "communication error" that's causing it, it's the not knowing what device is causing it.

[Kit-Fox]

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[HgE]

The issue happens randomly and days can go by without it happening, so i'd say it's not a major problem at this time.

The problem for me is not the "communication error" that's causing it, it's the not knowing what device is causing it.

It's not important who is causing that. The important thing right now, is your HDD, like Lithium said, could be also a problem with power supply. But, again this isn't important right now.
Bottom of line:

0. Open your Case and see if all the vans are working. Doesn't have dust on them. Clean your PC first. Dust can cause problem, also.

1. Enter in Bios to see if your Processor temperature it's high. How you can tell if it's high or not? Choose to make noise at the lowest temperature. if in Bios your temperature it's cool, Save the Changes and Restart .

2. Check your HDD of Errors. Even if it's Data Errors. Now, since it happen more than once, data are **Filtered** up. So, need to do that ScandDisk as quickly as possible. Restart!

3. Defragment your HDD. Restart!

4. If you don't have a program to monitor your computer Temp, and all the other **Filtered** that it's installed on your computer, for sure you can find a free one on internet, right now, I'm not the best to ask, what program is the best for Monitoring your Computer activity. Check Temperature of Processor first. DO all the test that can be done to HDD, Ram, Video and watch the Temperature of Processor and Graphic Card, then do the rest etc.

5. If your computer is working in good standard, then the only issue here, is the **Filtered** up Windows. Time for your new clean version of Windows 7 to be Installed.

_______________________________________________________________

Now Pay me for Advice.

Anyway, if you have problems with any step that I've put it up, man, then you have a problem.
Don't break your head why it's restarting if you don't check all of is. After All, Windows it's all about fouling the Mass, not a **Filtered** stable OS. Remember.

[Clarkey]

Unfortunately I haven't had much time of late to look at this problem but i will be trying some of your suggestions.

But lets see if anyone can work this out that just happened....

1) I was using my PC browsing the GW forums. My entire PC froze (with the exception of my mouse which i could move around but not click anything). It was frozen for about 2 minutes.
2) It unfroze and was working again.
3) I then went downstairs where I was for approximately 5-10 minutes.
4) I returned to my room to find my PC at the "starting windows" screen. Obviously my PC had restarted (not due to AVG or Windows Updates). It was stuck on that screen.
5) After a couple of minutes being stuck I clicked the reset button. It restarted but got stuck on the very first screen (even before the "starting windows" screen).
6) I clicked reset again and it got stuck in the same place again.
7) I switched the PC off, switched it back on, got stuck at same point again.
Did the same as 7, got the same result.
9) I switched the PC off, pulled out the power cable, opened the PC, removed the SATA cable from the back of the HDD then replaced it. Switched the PC on and it booted up normally.