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Computer Crash...

Keebler Elf

The Original Elf
Aug 31, 2001
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The Keebler Factory
So I come home from work and my computer (which is normally on) is dark. At first I think it's the monitor, but it's only 6 months old and it turns out to be working just fine.

So I reboot. Windows stalls on the splash screen and freezes. Reboot again, this time nothing. Black screen of death. Wait about 15 minutes then reboot again. This time I get the black screen with type that states Windows had a problem so I rebooted in safe mode. Everything proceeded to load up fine. I can access files from both my hard drives.

I may just be imagining things but I think I may be hearing the occasional unusal sound coming from either my hard drives or my CPU (probably the drives). I'm scanning for viruses right now but are there any other diagnostic checks I can do? For example, to see if Windows is in fact okay?

I figure since my computer is presently working I should troubleshoot now in case things crash again...
 

basketcase

Well-known member
Dec 29, 2005
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It's just god is mad at you for using your computer to do bad things like look at naked women.
 

Mack Bolan

Active member
Sep 24, 2001
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Keeble

If your using XP pro, you can take a look at the system history in
System Tools/Event Viewer/System.

You might see some information that would shed some light on your problems.
If you had Notron's system works, you can as the system to do a checkup / clean up.

I hope this helps.

Mack
 

Keebler Elf

The Original Elf
Aug 31, 2001
14,572
203
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The Keebler Factory
Some additional info...

After about 30-40 minutes, the primary hard drive (running Windows) "pulsed" and then powered down. The screen froze as the drive stopped spinning. After about a second or two, the drive powered back up and started spinning again. The screen unfroze and I could continue as normal. Over the next 5 minutes, these power-down/ups continued and grew increasingly frequent. I safely shut down my system.

I think it might be that the drive is overheating then shutting down. I have an intake and outtake fan but the drive is old (Western Digital 120 GB, probably at least 5 years old).

I'm going to buy a new hard drive to serve as my primary as I no longer trust this one. However, what do you think my chances are of copying over my data from the dysfunctional drive? I'm thinking if I copy quickly and shut down frequently (to keep it from overheating), I may be able to get everything off before the drive conks out completely.

Has anyone had problems like this before? And what's the lifespan on a hard drive?
 

xdog

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Feb 28, 2006
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I read that you should only expect 3-4 years of service for a HD, depending upon use. Anyone know about this?

x
 

tboy

resident smartass
Aug 18, 2001
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Yup, i've had 3 drives fail on me since I owned a PC....it does happen. Next time you boot up, copy everything you want STAT else you may lose it.

If you are planning on buying a new drive anyways it might be prudent to install it right away and copy your entire c:\ to the new one, re-install your os, and then delete the old OS and anything you don't want from the new drive.

Not sure how others do it but I typically save everything not associated with an application in one folder called 'storage'. Anything not related to running an app goes there. This includes documents, invoices, photos, mp3 files etc so when it is time to back up, or save, I only have one place to look.
 

Keebler Elf

The Original Elf
Aug 31, 2001
14,572
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The Keebler Factory
tboy said:
If you are planning on buying a new drive anyways it might be prudent to install it right away and copy your entire c:\ to the new one, re-install your os, and then delete the old OS and anything you don't want from the new drive.
That's the plan. I just hope I can copy everything over before the drive crashes. Anyone know if a secondary drive uses less power than the primary? It might help a little if the OS is on the new drive...
 

Coke

Boss
Jun 29, 2003
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suggestion...

Keebler Elf said:
After about 30-40 minutes, the primary hard drive (running Windows) "pulsed" and then powered down. .....these power-down/ups continued and grew increasingly frequent. I safely shut down my system.

I may be able to get everything off before the drive conks out completely.
1/. Have someone copy/burn all of your data files for you.
2/. Have your 'C' drive "cloned/ghosted".

Someone needs to determine if you have a software or a hardware problem. Your can have someone remove the installed programs one by one and reboot the p.c. to see if that is the problem. Your windows could be corrupted. Then again you may have a power supply or motherboard problem, not a hard drive problem.

Have someone look at it. They will do a step by step analysis. Once the files are removed and copied, you will have many safe options available to you.

What is the manufacturer and model of your P.C.?
 

Sasha Jones

Smart Ass ;-)
Aug 17, 2001
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Really Retired.....REALLY!
If your drive is powering up and down it is on it's way to HD heaven, get a new one ASAP. It is not likely a software problem so don't bother wasting your time.

Unplug the drive and install the OS to the new one and plug the old drive in only when you are ready to copy your old files.

In some cases if it dies completely and it is a physical problem such as a siezed bearing you can put the drive in the freezer overnight and power it up again quickly to remove data. Be warned though this usually only works once, if at all, so if it does power up don't dick around and get those files off there quickly.

To answer your other question about poser consumption, assuming that you have two of the same physical drives, same make, model. etc, they will generally both consume the same amount of power whether or not they are a pimary or secondary drive.
 

vex

New member
Feb 11, 2006
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Download the trial version of Active SMART to check the S.M.A.R.T attributes of your hard disk. This will tell you if your hard disk has a problem.

http://www.ariolic.com/activesmart/index.html

However, even if all attributes are normal, it's still possible that your hard disk has a mechanical problem so you should probably back up your data right away.
 

dondada

the don of dons
Aug 20, 2001
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I'm almost into year 8 for my computer...I'm thinking this is the last year but as long as it works...

my drive is only 4gb and I clear it up every couple of weeks...I however had a crash this weekend as well... finally with about a thousand reboots and attempts...I'm pretty much back to normal...with the addition of a new virus scanner proggy... :)
 

Keebler Elf

The Original Elf
Aug 31, 2001
14,572
203
63
The Keebler Factory
I did some surfing on the web at work today :)p ) and I'm pretty sure the problem is an overheating hard drive. I've removed my case covers and am going to buy a new drive. Fingers crossed, the old one will hold out long enough.
 

tboy

resident smartass
Aug 18, 2001
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Well Keeb, you could always go to Canada Computer and get a couple of case fans for $4.00 each and see if that helps. Most newer cases have openings for them in front of your drive bays. You may also want to make sure they aren't all clumped together in the bays. Spread em out a little, you should have plenty of room.

removing the case covers helps but unless you have air movement across the item you won't get really efficent cooling as you are relying on convection to draw the heat off (which means it has to get hotter than the surround air before any air movement will occur). Try the cheapie fans from CC...they may do the trick. Least long enuf so you can salvage what you can from the drive.

Reminder: If you're buying a large drive (120 gb +) you will need the drive install utility in order for your pc to recognize the entire drive volume. If you buy a western digital, the disc comes with the drive, if not, download one off the net before installing the new drive.
 

Keebler Elf

The Original Elf
Aug 31, 2001
14,572
203
63
The Keebler Factory
Thanks for the tips. I bought a new case fan a while back but my case doesn't have an opening in the front so I had to mount it in the back, where it probably isn't doing the most good. I'll have to try and fix that.
 
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