computer help

[beanSoldier]

hi,

over the past week my computer has been acting strange.

you know that little click sound and then the reving sound that follows...i think it's the hard drive because my external does the same thing.

well when i turn my comp up it does the little click sound and the rev sound about five to seven times before windows can load up. it 'used' to load up instantly. what's this all about? should i be worried?

thanks

[SlowRoasted]

try scandisc or error check

[beanSoldier]

but what is it?

[prstudio]

it is your hard drive going bad - sounds like the drive mechanics are going bad - you have anywhere from a week to a month left before it dies (if that long)

that sound is not a good one :(

time to backup and get a new one

[maxticket]

Mine does the same thing sometimes. I discovered it's actually my power cable. I got really cheap cables in this setup. My first paycheck paycheck will hopefully be big enough to afford a little trip to Fry's, so I should have it fixed soon.

So make sure all the power cables are working too. Don't wanna have to buy a new HD if it's just a little connection problem.

[CagedApe]

That is usually the sound of your HD going out the window. It can however be caused if theres not enough power being delivered. Try a more powerful PSU, or at the very least, unplug everything unneccesary(LED lights, fans, cd drives, etc.) and see if that solves it. If it does, then you just have to get another PSU.

[andr.in]

heh yeah I have a hdd that does this continously. All processes are locked up during it so booting to win takes about 30 times longer when it's plugged in... ain't much to do with it anymore... other than to get some sandpaper and hook it up with it http://www.hot.ee/temp5/hdd.jpg :P

[lunatic]

try scandisc or error check

I actually read recently that you should NOT run any kind of utility software on a drive that is making noises like this. Read this, written by a data recovery company (particularly #2):

http://datasavers.com/recovery_tips/index.html

[beanSoldier]

what's a good life time for a 200GB western d?

mines 2 years 1 month.

[teet]

what's a good life time for a 200GB western d?

mines 2 years 1 month.

ummm...more than 2 years 1 month! :)

I guess theoretically, your hard drive should last as long as your computer does. From personal experience (I work in a computer shop) the larger drives have a higher failure rate.

-teet

[prstudio]

5 years = lucky :)

2.5-3 years they start going bad - depends on how much action they see too

[λ]

heh yeah I have a hdd that does this continously. All processes are locked up during it so booting to win takes about 30 times longer when it's plugged in... ain't much to do with it anymore... other than to get some sandpaper and hook it up with it http://www.hot.ee/temp5/hdd.jpg :P

Haha! That looks like so much fun :D

[B3NKobe]

Whilst on this topic, my small 20gig harddrive I have had for about 4-5 years, its been used a HELL of alot, re-formatted about 100 times, does that mean I should be prepaired incase it dies sometime soon in the next year or so?

It still runs perfect, no probs at all.

[CagedApe]

Whilst on this topic, my small 20gig harddrive I have had for about 4-5 years, its been used a HELL of alot, re-formatted about 100 times, does that mean I should be prepaired incase it dies sometime soon in the next year or so?

It still runs perfect, no probs at all.

Always be prepared for problems with hardware. I backup all my files to CDs every week or every time I do something important that I can't lose. You may think its a waste of time now, but when your HD just stops working and all of your files are lost you'll never be happier that you still have them ;).

[Maxtr0sity]

A long time ago, there was this company that used your idle bandwith to upload everything to their servers for backup (for a fee)...I think they went out of buisness or ran out of space. Sounds like a good idea though.