HD woes

[dudex77]

My 40 gig Maxtor hard disk is now failing on me. I got it from a friend about 7 months ago and all he ever used it for was Final Fantasy 11 for about 3 months. It had been working perfectly for the whole time and I left my computer with my mom for a day and now it doesn't work well (takes 30 seconds after clicking start for the menu to come up, I type words and it takes awhile to appear, I get an error when I start up my PC saying a failure is imminent, and a lot of other problems) Anyone know what she might have done that would screw it up so bad? Any suggestions for a new HD? how about SSDs anyone know of a good somewhat cheap one?

[tom61]

Questions in order:
Your mom likely did nothing too the harddisk, just an odd coincidence, or possibly malware (did you check for malware?). Seagate or Maxtor drives have been pretty good in my experience, but the newest drive I have is only 160GB, so that may have changed. SSDs are expensive, CF cards are a bit cheaper, but you're talking single-digit GBs in CF for the prices of hundreds of GB in HD.

[Jongamer]

Maxtors just like to die randomly, my 20 GB Maxtor, or it might have been 40 GB. But this thing just decided to up and die one day when I had no friggin' clue and had no chance to back it up, and now my Wester Digital built in June 1998 just burned up literally a couple days ago. (Smelled like burnt rubber after I pulled it out of the computer, plus the whole Hard drive shell was pretty hot.)

[dudex77]

Questions in order:
Your mom likely did nothing too the harddisk, just an odd coincidence, or possibly malware (did you check for malware?).

how could I check for malware?

Yeah I figured an SSD would cost way to much but oh well. Jongamer, how long did your maxtor last you? I figure I'll get a Seagate or WD for my next HD is their anything better? Also would excessive piracy through bittorrent cause my HD to die quicker?

[tom61]

Questions in order:
Your mom likely did nothing too the harddisk, just an odd coincidence, or possibly malware (did you check for malware?).

how could I check for malware?

By malware I meant both virus and spyware, get AVG anti-virus and Spy Bot Search and Destroy from download.com and update and run them, if you don't have them.

Yeah I figured an SSD would cost way to much but oh well. Jongamer, how long did your maxtor last you? I figure I'll get a Seagate or WD for my next HD is their anything better? Also would excessive piracy through bittorrent cause my HD to die quicker?

Although you were asking Jongamer, both my Maxtor 60GBs are functional (one with the nice fluid bearing, and the other a not as nice standard cheapy Maxtor). Don't go by old reports, quality of drives vary by production lines, and make sure to get one with a decent garrantee. Yes, anything that causes excessive read/writes (I.E. piracy) will cause an HD fail quicker than normal use.

[dudex77]

A total of 10 months of use before death isn't normal no matter how much use though right? I'll take your advice and get those programs later tonight I guess thanks.

[timmeh87]

and now my Wester Digital built in June 1998 just burned up literally a couple days ago.

Hard drives are only supposed to last like 3-6 years. Also that drive must have been like 1gb or something.

[tom61]

A total of 10 months of use before death isn't normal no matter how much use though right? I'll take your advice and get those programs later tonight I guess thanks.

10 months is a bit short, but not the worst I've encountered.

Where the heck did your friend find a new 40GB a year ago?

[bacteria]

When you say it slows down when you type words and click on Start and takes a while to function - this won't be hard disk as this is internal memory. You will have some programs running taking 100% of your computer processing time. The strongest likelyhood is that you have a virus running, or a trojan, which is doing this. I have never had a message from a failing hard disk to say it was going (I have had Seagate, Maxtor, WD, etc), they just stop working; I guess the message you are getting is from the virus directly or from damage the virus has done to the hard disk.

This I think is the problem. You ask how to check for malware - which means you don't know and aren't using any; further indication of your problems.

I use for protection:

XP Antispy - uninstalls Messenger, makes internet invisible so programs like Shields-Up say my computer is invisible, all ports closed and secure, stops messages being sent to MS (closes route). Benefit of being invisible is that malware doesn't know you are there so can't infect your system easily. (freeware)
Disabled remote support (closes route)
Firewall - some use Zonealarm, some McAfee; many free ones about (freeware)
commercial antivirus - virus and heuroustic detecter and fixer (you can use AVG, NOD32, McAfee, Panda, whatever)
Arovax Shield - stops anything trying to change any of your programs, registry keys or anything else; and alerts you (freeware)
3 antispyware programs (freeware)
Firefox and Thunderbird. (freeware)

I also only use an old computer for internet; my main computer is not connected to the internet on purpose, files copies across are checked first. This is maximum security on my main computer, as nothing can get to it or from it remotely.

I suggest you do the same.

In the meantime, I suggest you copy any files you need from the hard disk if it lets you, then reformat and reinstall from scratch on this disk drive; then when you have the operating system on, go to Start > Control Panel > Admin tools > Computer Management > Storage > Disk Management - you can see here if your hard disk is healthy or not. If it is it will because either the virus you appear to have at the moment is dead and all is fine again, or Windows has fixed the problem. Nothing to lose, all to gain.

[tom61]

When you say it slows down when you type words and click on Start and takes a while to function - this won't be hard disk as this is internal memory.

You're assuming that he actually has enough memory to run Windows + background crap. You'd be surprised how many low memory systems actually have to hit swap to bring up even the start menu.

I have never had a message from a failing hard disk to say it was going (I have had Seagate, Maxtor, WD, etc), they just stop working; I guess the message you are getting is from the virus directly or from damage the virus has done to the hard disk.

You've had bad luck in the warning department, S.M.A.R.T. has saved me twice by warning of drive failure, though this was in the startup screens, not in Windows. It is odd that it'd come up in Windows as he implies, but it could be a program that came with the motherboard.

I also only use an old computer for internet; my main computer is not connected to the internet on purpose, files copies across are checked first. This is maximum security on my main computer, as nothing can get to it or from it remotely.

I suggest you do the same.

A rather paranoid way to go about it. dudex77 is actively pirating software, the #1 way to get virus and trojans on your computer. A dedicated box separate from his main system for additional protection seems an incompatible ideology.

In the meantime, I suggest you copy any files you need from the hard disk if it lets you, then reformat and reinstall from scratch on this disk drive; then when you have the operating system on, go to Start > Control Panel > Admin tools > Computer Management > Storage > Disk Management - you can see here if your hard disk is healthy or not. If it is it will because either the virus you appear to have at the moment is dead and all is fine again, or Windows has fixed the problem. Nothing to lose, all to gain.

Yeah, a complete wipe and reinstall is probably a good idea.

[Jongamer]

and now my Wester Digital built in June 1998 just burned up literally a couple days ago.

Hard drives are only supposed to last like 3-6 years. Also that drive must have been like 1gb or something.

It was at least 6GB mabye 8GB, the little guy chugged along for around 9 years and now is finally at peace

[bicostp]

It was at least 6GB mabye 8GB, the little guy chugged along for around 9 years and now is finally at peace

What kind of sissy hard drive is that? The 80 MB SCSI drive in my SE/30 came with the computer 19 years ago and still runs like new!