Hard drive issues, not sure if dead

N

nj473

Member
Hi guys, its been a year and a bit since I built my first PC and it's served me well.
However, the hard drive seems to have packed in over the last few days... I think...
I realize I have written a really long post, I just wanted to detail the issues as much as possible!

So starting up my PC, I get past mobo messages etc and just when it SHOULD load up Windows (7 - 64bit), I get a "Insert disk and press any button" message indicating the HDD isn't being recognized. Might be worth noting that my HDD is making a clicking sound twice per second whilst this message is showing.

However, after many restart attempts, occasionally this message does not show up, I hear no clicking and my PC proceeds to load up Windows, but at a snails pace. Despite the fact that it is incredibly slow it manages to boot up and work for a very short while, before freezing up; can't click on things because it cannot load etc.

So I run Seagate HDD checker (boot disc). Half the time it wont recognize the HDD is plugged in, and when it does, by the time I try to test it, the HDD has already done it's "worked for the first 5 mins now I'm frozen" thing, so Seatools tells me the HDD has failed the test almost immediately.

OK, so now I'm convinced its just broken...

BUT, I try to connect it to another PC via a "SATA to USB" kit and it seems to be working!? OK, again half the time it clicks when I plug it in and doesn't do anything, so I try re plugging it in until it works, but when its on it's on and seems to be OK. I can access everything without too much trouble.

I try a "check disk" and it wont get through a quarter of that it seems, but other than that it works fine and I'm not having any issues.

So here's my question: Is this drive truly dead or can something be done to save it?

And how come it's half working?

Thanks for reading this far!

(Note: Losing my data is not a problem if I have to, everything is backed up to an external HDD)
 
What you have is called the click of death. Yes, the drive is shot and there is nothing you can do but replace it.
 
Run Seatools on the drive from another computer and see if it fails or passes. If it passes, then you may have a motherboard/SATA port issue.
 
Ah ok cheers for that.

I did try running it on a different computer and still same results unfortunately. Looks like its a new hard drive then!

I seem to be having bad luck with them, I've had 2 HDDs on this build, the first one broke when I received it in the post, and now this one. It can't be anything I'm doing wrong could it?

I havnt had any other HDD fail on me when it's been pre built by a manufacturer like HP...

I do a decent amount of gaming on it these days...
 
Yeah, I must just be unlucky with them.

The one in question is: Seagate 1TB 3.5" Barracuda SATA-III 6Gb/s Hard Drive - 7200RPM 32MB Cache


So now I am looking for a replacement...

I am thinking of going up to 2TB, does larger memory have any sort of effect on how long they tend to last?

I noticed the first 2TB drive i used (the one that broke when I received it: WD 2TB Caviar Black) was considerably louder than this one so just wondering if size has an effect?

And in anyone's experience, is SeaGate a brand worth trusting? I can find a similar drive to this one except its 2TB and not 1TB for about £80...

Thanks
 
The higher the cache, the little bit faster you can access files and boot up faster. Usually with Seagate or Western Digital you can't go wrong but like I said drives are mechanical and can go at any time. I tend to stay with Western Digital right now as I've had no issues. I started with WD and started having issues with drives and moved to Seagate for awhile. Then started having issues with Seagates and moved back to WD, with no issues since.
 
Ok then thanks for that.

I think I will be getting another seagate because before it had failed it was a pretty good HDD and had no other problems.

This one seems to have 64mb cache as opposed to my previous 32mb drive so hopefully it will be even better.

Anyway thanks for everyone's feedback :)
 
I use alot of seagate drives. Dont use 2TB drives myself, out of the last 3 seagates 2TB I used in build 2 of them went out. The one I have had alot of luck with is the 1TB ST1000VX000 model, OEM
 
StrangleHold said:
I use alot of seagate drives. Dont use 2TB drives myself, out of the last 3 seagates 2TB I used in build 2 of them went out. The one I have had alot of luck with is the 1TB ST1000VX000 model, OEM
Click to expand...

See this is the type of thing I am concerned about. I've only had one 2TB before and it broke shortly after arriving so I sent it back for a refund. Since then I had the thought that 2TB drives seem unstable, but then I thought... nah it's just in my head.

Do you notice anything different about different size drives? Like are they noisier? Working harder and therefore maybe straining more?

I just don't want to invest in a bigger HDD if it is more likely to break on me
 
No, not any noise difference. Really they didnt go out, they just started the click of death as it is known and got worse over the next few days. One was was RMAed and the one they sent back was just about as bad. The other was trash canned and replaced with one of my drives. So at this point I only install 1TB drives max. Turned me off on 2TB and above drives.
 
Yeah, I've done a bit of reading and a few people have said similar things about their 2TB drives which has made me a little skeptical. I'm thinking of just going ahead with another 1TB as I would rather not risk it, and sorting something out if (when) I need more space.

Might treat myself with a SSD for Windows files, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it :D
 
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