signs of a dying HD?

[hxllywxxd]

Repeated attempts have either crashed on the WinXP splash page, or if I am lucky, have opened the desktop, but then slowly crashed after I have opened and run a single app, like semantec, or ad-aware. For instance, when running semantec, it will run fast at first, and then slower, and slower, and then finally crash.

I finally booted in safe mode and surprisingly the system hasn't crashed yet and has been defraging for about the past hour, but very slowly.

Oh yeah, I also got the kernel_data_inpage_error, which points directly towards a hardware issue, such as a bad HD, bad sectors, loose connections, bad memory, or a motherboard. I haven't run chkdsk yet, as I'm waiting for the defraging to complete.

My hope is to just conclude what the problem is, so I don't have to spend more time verifying it. I want to say it's the HD, but I'm surprised it's lasted this long on the defraging process. Any input?

 

[Cheetah8799]

Have you downloaded the diagnostic software from the manufacturer?

 

[TechnoPro]

Might I suggest backing up your data if you haven't already done so...

You mentioned that the defrag was going slow. Is it always that slow when run in safe mode?

 

[hxllywxxd]

 

[hxllywxxd]

I haven't backed up yet- just ordered an external HD so I can complete that task. I've never run the defraging in safe mode before, but when I have run it in normal mode it does not run this slow. I've got the disk diagnostic software but haven't run it yet. I'm still hoping to find the precise cause before spending time with more testing, but I guess I must move on from here.

 

[Cheetah8799]

The diagnostic software may help you find the precise cause. That's why I suggested it.

You could also try testing the ram with memtest: http://www.memtest.org/

 

[hxllywxxd]

I ran chkdsk r first, which located a bad sector and fixed it. After that I ran the diagnostic tests, which took a long, long time, but ultimately came up clean. The HD seems to be running fine now, so it looks like it was the bad sector. With the initial problems that it gave me, I could have sworn it was dying.

 

[Jeff7]

Download and install AIDA32's near-clone, Everest.
Once installed, run the program. In the Storage section, click on SMART. Look for anything failing there.
If your drive doesn't appear, you might need to enable SMART in the motherboard's BIOS.

 

[bluemax]

One bad sector is enough to signify impending doom!

Back it up and replace it ASAP!! Those bad sectors will only continue to multiply, 9 times out of 10.
You may get lucky and wipe it out, but more than likely it'll soon be back - and in greater numbers! (Obi-Wan)

 

[zigCorsair]

Originally posted by: bluemax
One bad sector is enough to signify impending doom!

I've read that before (so maybe it's more valid than my personal XP), but my personal experience so far has been otherwise - I have a laptop that lost a bunch of bad sectors when I traveled with it, and it lost a bunch of sectors then. Since then, though, it's been stable.

I will whooooollle heartedly agree with BACKUP NOW! I lost 8 months of digi pictures and a bunch of other work to a hard disk failure. I'm glad it's working ok now, but I'd definitely back it up .