Has my hard disk crashed ? Helppppp

[Rely]

I 've had this Sony Vaio desktop (PC-TV, large monitor with everything integrated in the back of the monitor, in a central place) for 2 years now and it worked beautifully with just small problems I could sort every time.

Last week when I was trying to log on in the week end, to my surprise I only got a black screen and in the middle of it rows and rows of vertical lines or dotted lines appearing horizontally and vertically ! I've never seen anyhting like this in my life. Made me panic to be honest, I thought it was completely gone. Tried to re-boot several times, unplugged my router, turned everything off and then plugged them back in, turned everything back on (several times in my desperation) and, finally, I got a black screen with some options allowing me to choose and one of the options was system restore to an earlier point in time, which I did and, thankfully I could log back into Windows and I was happy again.

But, I know all these must happen for a reason and although I am mostly self taught in all computer matters, I've sort of learned this in time...so I knew that something must be wrong and that one day it will all happen again and I'll loose everything. I backed up most important stuff since last week.

To cut the story shorter (really sorry but I need to put you in the picture)..this morning I tried to log in and I got the same black screen and instead of the PC going smoothly through the motions to my login screen, it lingered forever on a black screen (you could tell the hard drive was trying to work as the yellow light was flashing on and off) and then I got the dreaded vertical and horizontal lines and dotted lines again and it wouldn't go further from there....

Right, so I re-booted after having turned things and unplugged them, a couple of times and then I got a black screen telling me to choose from several options again (no system restore this time) one of which was to login witht the last known good configurations, which I've selected and I am now up and running again.

I am not happy though and I need to get to the bottom of this, I can't be without a computer, it is like my best friend (as sad as that might sound... ), please help...

Some technical details:
It is a Sony Vaio VGC - V2S
OS- Windows XP Home (all updates in place as required)

It has 2 hard drives: one of about 30 GB where I keep all the system stuff (about 10% space left free, but I never save anything here only the updates which Windows automatically downloads and installs for me)and main programmes
and the other drive, which is about 200 GB which I have everything else on (about 30% free space left)
Reading about hard disk issues and all that (not that I understand everything..but I am trying !!

) I was wondering if I am experiencing hard disk problems ?

I was originally thinking that my graphics card was playing up but while in safe mode I had a look in Device manager and there was no indication that anything was wrong anywhere...

I have run and re-run my Norton Internet Security software (which I do anyway all the time) and there was no virus atack on the system I am aware of..so I can sort of rule that out..what is the problem with my system ??

It has plenty of RAM as I've upgraded its memory from 1GB to 2 GB but I've done that almost a year ago, so it shouldn't have a problem running out of memory, I don't think..
Can you help me, please ? Give me some ideas, some advice...
Thanks very much,

Rely

 

[muckshifter]

ouch, an overly expensive "PC" ...


As you are "up-n-runnin" I suggest you do a check-disk (CHKDSK) using these switches ... chkdsk /f /r

Click Start, select Run
In the box, type cmd
Click Ok
Run the chkdsk utility by typing in the following command

chkdsk c: /f /r

The /f command automatically fixes any errors encountered, the /r command locates bad sectors and recovers readable information. If it can.

I am also assuming the drive you wish to check is the C: drive.

A reboot is normally required for the chkdsk program to lock the disk and run correctly (this is typical on machines that have only one volume), so simply restart the computer and chkdsk will run automatically. When it's finished, and all is good, it will boot back to Windows.

On Rebooting the PC you will see the disk being checked ... do not press any keys at boot time

Be aware this may take some time.


I also strongly suggest you "back-up" any data to a CD/DVD.

 

[Rely]

ouch, an overly expensive "PC" ...


As you are "up-n-runnin" I suggest you do a check-disk (CHKDSK) using these switches ... chkdsk /f /r

Click Start, select Run
In the box, type cmd
Click Ok
Run the chkdsk utility by typing in the following command

chkdsk c: /f /r

The /f command automatically fixes any errors encountered, the /r command locates bad sectors and recovers readable information. If it can.

I am also assuming the drive you wish to check is the C: drive.

A reboot is normally required for the chkdsk program to lock the disk and run correctly (this is typical on machines that have only one volume), so simply restart the computer and chkdsk will run automatically. When it's finished, and all is good, it will boot back to Windows.

On Rebooting the PC you will see the disk being checked ... do not press any keys at boot time

Be aware this may take some time.


I also strongly suggest you "back-up" any data to a CD/DVD.

Many thanks for that, "Captain" , I'll give it a go this afternoon...

Rely

 

[Rely]

Hello again,

I've done what you suggested and it all finished in a couple of minutes or less and it said that "the volume is clean", after which I just closed the command window (or whatever it's called...sorry...me=novice but learning every minute... )

It probably means that all is well with my hard disk, does it ? What next ?

Thanks again

Rely

 

[muckshifter]

To be honest, my first reaction was ... your graphics card, possibly drivers, are nuked.


As you were able to use "safe mode" this tends to rule out the card itself, but not always. As "corrupted drivers" will not, by nature, cure themselves, maybe a card problem after all ?

Now, as a failing HD can cause similar problems, and is easier to diagnose, I went that route first.

Could be just a simple thing such as it needs a good clean-out of, what the Yanks call, Dust Bunnies ... which can cause overheating if not checked.

Back to you I'm afraid.


Did I welcome you to the Forums ?

 

[Rely]

To be honest, my first reaction was ... your graphics card, possibly drivers, are nuked.


As you were able to use "safe mode" this tends to rule out the card itself, but not always. As "corrupted drivers" will not, by nature, cure themselves, maybe a card problem after all ?

Now, as a failing HD can cause similar problems, and is easier to diagnose, I went that route first.

Could be just a simple thing such as it needs a good clean-out of, what the Yanks call, Dust Bunnies ... which can cause overheating if not checked.

Back to you I'm afraid.


Did I welcome you to the Forums ?

Hello there..

Well thank you anyway. It's good to have someone else's opinion as well, helps with confidence...in my case ...
I'll keep looking around and reading and thinking about it, maybe something will crop up...I don't give up...
Re: whether you welcomed me to the forum or not, well...you have now....thanks a lot, it feels good to speak to someone who knows what they are talking about ...

Rely

 

[Rely]

One more thought...how about I buy myself an external hard drive and do a back up on that regularly and then, in case this hard drive fails, I wouldn't have lost much ? Any suggestions as to which are the best makes and sizes in your opinion and where I could get a reliable hard drive from ?
Also, as I've never actually seen how an external hard drive connects to the main PC, are they connected via a USB port or not ?
I've been reading about hard disk failure and some guy on an american forum was describing the symptoms it might present...and I can sort of identify with all those...so, in my "innocence" I concluded that perhaps my hard disk (although it appears "clean" now)...it might be failing soon and I will tell you why:
- remember when I said I've been re-booting several times and it finally worked ?
- also weird noises are coming from the hard disk and the yellow light is flashing without any reason sometimes when I am just viewing a mere Word doc, which makes no sense as perhaps I haven't got anything else working in the background (apart from the system itself...)
- also there is sometimes a weird spinning noise while the above is happening, but irregular spinning noise, with stops and starts..it's only faint, but I can hear it...
-sometimes simple files or folders (containing small Word docs etc not images or videos or such) take ages to open which, again, it makes very little sense as this is supposed to be quite a "performant" computer..
-last but not least, the longer the PC is on, the slower any manipulation gets.

So... ..is my reasoning and diagnosis complete rubbish do you think ?

I am worried that although I've done a backup of the most important files, I've got loads of stuff I'd like to keep and I don't want to loose any of that, hence thinking about buying a large external hard disk and backing everything up there...
This PC is 2 years old, which for a real techie is not a problem as they can adapt and adapt and change stuff until their motherboard or whatever else allows them, but I am not a real techie as I previously said so; for me, this is becoming a very used PC which, due to its practicality (a large, beautiful monitor and everyting in it, probably it's downfall due to so much stuff cramped in one confined space... ) I'd like to keep for as long as I possibly can...
I'll stop rambling now...sorry. What do you think about what I said ?

Rely

 

[muckshifter]

Everything on a PC has/will fail ... how important is your Data ?


To keep data reasonably safe for a number of years, 5-20 years, you need a re-writer and "burn" a copy ... cheap as chips.

If you want to go the route of an external HD, go ahead ... they are as reliable as any other PC peripheral. Connection to the PC will be via USB and XP, in essence, will just treat it as another HD

While CHKDSK is a good "stop gap" to initially test the HD, the HD manufacturer will have their own diagnostic tools, free to download, that will go into a more in-depth diagnostic of the HD.

I believe your HD is a Maxtor ... Try This

Be advised, if the HD is on its way out then something like this could throw it over the edge as it will "test" the drive to the Max (no pun intended)

A flashing HD LED, when you ain't doing anything is nothing to worry over, it is normal, it is merely XP doing something for itself.

 

[Rely]

Everything on a PC has/will fail ... how important is your Data ?


To keep data reasonably safe for a number of years, 5-20 years, you need a re-writer and "burn" a copy ... cheap as chips.

If you want to go the route of an external HD, go ahead ... they are as reliable as any other PC peripheral. Connection to the PC will be via USB and XP, in essence, will just treat it as another HD

While CHKDSK is a good "stop gap" to initially test the HD, the HD manufacturer will have their own diagnostic tools, free to download, that will go into a more in-depth diagnostic of the HD.

I believe your HD is a Maxtor ... Try This

Be advised, if the HD is on its way out then something like this could throw it over the edge as it will "test" the drive to the Max (no pun intended)

A flashing HD LED, when you ain't doing anything is nothing to worry over, it is normal, it is merely XP doing something for itself.

Hmm...yes...never thought about the strain an extra HD might put on the system...but I suppose that would only be until I am backing up all my data (if it can take that; it seems to behave "normally" now...maybe I overreacted...)..but then again, you're right, I am taking a risk..

On the other hand, I already have a re-writer and burning would be no problem but do you know what I hate...all those cd/dvd-s all over the place...that is why I thought I'd better have a HDD to back everything else up on and then unplug it and if the HDD goes, I'd just have to buy a new one, re-install it but I would still have all my backed up data on another HDD- or does my logic sound too simplistic ??

Thanks for that link, I'm going to download it and run it.

One last question before I bore you to death...

..I went to Device Manager and tried to look up the make of my HDD but ti is not as easy as that and I couldn't see anything I recognised...I know this sounds stupid and I apologize... ...all I found, and I think that's the make of my hard drive (not sure though), is a load of letters and numbers..no name...is that possible or am I looking at the wrong hardware ?
What I found is this: WDC WD2500BB-98GUA0, would that be it or ... ?
Thanks about the flashing HD LED... ..I didn't know that...something else I learned today....
Thank you...

 

[muckshifter]

Yep, that is a Western Digital HD, 250Gb 100 2Mb cache Caviar 7200 ...


Although the Maxtor diagnostic tools should work, I would download the right tools for the job, just in case ...

Try here

 

[Rely]

Yep, that is a Western Digital HD, 250Gb 100 2Mb cache Caviar 7200 ...


Although the Maxtor diagnostic tools should work, I would download the right tools for the job, just in case ...

Try here

Ok, thanks, found it...I went for Data Lifeguards Diagnostic for Windows..out of all those other option this seemed the sensible one to choose.
Gosh I spent all day here...where is it all gone ? Thanks for everything.
Don't forget to change that clock..
Have a good night.

Rely

 

[Rely]

Ok, thanks, found it...I went for Data Lifeguards Diagnostic for Windows..out of all those other option this seemed the sensible one to choose.
Gosh I spent all day here...where is it all gone ? Thanks for everything.
Don't forget to change that clock..
Have a good night.

Rely

Good morning....

Guess what ? I've done the quick SMART test last night and my HDD passed and then I just couldn't wait to know and I've done the Extended Test as well (took abt. an hour and a quarter for my 30GB HDD) and my HDD passed again ! So...am I safe to conclude, do you think, that my HDD is fine and whatever happended was ...who knows what else ? How reliable are these diagnostic tools ?
Well, I am pleased for now..but I was wondering how could I test my graphics card as well ? Although, as you said, had that failed I wouldn't have been able to "see" anything since then..i'll do some "research", I think...
Have a pleasant Sunday !

Rely