Hard drive sending failure messages, don't know what to do

Thanatos

Thanatos

Active Member
I have a Western Digital Black 1TB HDD (WDC WD1002FAEX-00Z3A0) and Windows 7 is telling me that it's sending the OS failure messages. Im getting extremely worried as nothing is backed up.

1) What's the fastest and most efficient way to back up my music, pictures, documents, downloads, music, and Steam games? I have a 1TB backup drive on USB, and am currently copying my documents, music, and pictures folders over to the G (backup) drive

2) How do I test that the HDD is actually failing?

Sorry I may be leaving out some info but time is of the essence, please help.
 
Just directly copy everything you want on the drive to the external.

Download the Western Digital Data Lifeguard Tools from their support site and burn the ISO to a CD. Boot to it to test the drive.
 
voyagerfan99 said:
Just directly copy everything you want on the drive to the external.

Download the Western Digital Data Lifeguard Tools from their support site and burn the ISO to a CD. Boot to it to test the drive.
Click to expand...

Ok, but assuming the HDD dies and I get a new one, how do I go about restoring the OS? Should i make an 'Image' of the drive or something? I still have the Windows 7 "Upgrade" disk around here somewhere.
 
Unfortunately, WD doesn't have the ISO for bootable CD on their website anymore. You have to use a boot disk in order to use their version now. Or you can download Hirens boot cd and use WD diagnostics on that. I wouldn't be cloning a drive with bad sectors, only asking for issues. Copy the data you need to an external and then install fresh on a new drive.
 
johnb35 said:
Unfortunately, WD doesn't have the ISO for bootable CD on their website anymore. You have to use a boot disk in order to use their version now. Or you can download Hirens boot cd and use WD diagnostics on that. I wouldn't be cloning a drive with bad sectors, only asking for issues. Copy the data you need to an external and then install fresh on a new drive.
Click to expand...

Doesn't windows have problems with installing it multiple times?
 
Thank you. and this drive failing has given me an opportunity to look into putting the new OS and any Steam videogames onto an SSD, do you know anything about how that is accomplished?
 
Well, I think you can redownload any games that is through your steam account directly to your hdd. Don't think you need the actual installation media. Installing the OS to an SSD is just like a regular HDD. Just make sure you enable AHCI mode in bios before installing.
 
And windows will be under the C drive (SSD) but it'll be ok with most programs being installed on a regular hard drive? Sorry I'm asking so many questions about this but I really have NO clue how my computer will act if I do use an SSD for the sake of a quick boot up and games starting quickly. And yes, I've decided that instead of trying to back up videogames I'll just re-download them.
 
Basically I want to map the documents, pictures, music, program files, downloads, and all other data folders over to the HDD. right?
 
Thanatos said:
Basically I want to map the documents, pictures, music, program files, downloads, and all other data folders over to the HDD. right?
Click to expand...

Correct. When you install software, just always do a custom install to the HDD rather than the SSD. When you install Steam, install that to the HDD and it automatically installs games under the Steam directory.
 
Ok. Well I backed everything that I'd need up to the external HDD, just waiting for the C drive to die. I have been downloading and installing a BUNCH of steam games these past few days, maybe that helped cause this. Either way, GTA 4 isnt launching :( damn Windows Live, I know that's the problem. That's what it was for bioshock 2.
 
Hard drives fail - they're mechanical. I don't think downloading and installing a lot of games would have really contributed to its death. It's probably been slowly dying for a while. Have you noticed your system getting slow?
 
The drive is still alive and kicking :P I guess I'm just waiting for the blackout. And I believe I have all data backed up, minus any programs because I have too many and would rather just re-download the essential ones later.
 
So long as you've got everything backed up it's all fine. :)

Is the drive making some weird clicking noises? That's usually a sign of failure.
 
spirit said:
So long as you've got everything backed up it's all fine. :)

Is the drive making some weird clicking noises? That's usually a sign of failure.
Click to expand...
I can't hear any really audible clicking, but it isn't silent. Sounds like something's moving around in there (and no, I'm not talking about the whoosh-ing of the motor and platters spinning) but it's really faint.
 
You can hear the read/write pretty clearly on Caviar Blacks, so that's probably all you hear. A drive can start going bad and you don't know it until you scan it with the diag utility.
 
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