HD Failure

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jeannine
  • Start date Start date
J

Jeannine

After upgrading from ME to XP Pro, I can no longer run a defrag. When I
complained to Microsoft, a tech said my hard drive was likely failing.
(Funny that I ran a defrag right before I installed XP and it worked fine.)
Anyway . . . . If I run chkdsk, and it detects nothing, can I be reasonably
confident my hard drive isn't failing? Thanks, Jeannine
 
Hard drive manufacturers post diagnostic software on their web sites. Go to
the appropriate site and start downlaoding.
 
Jeannine

You can be reasonably confident that you hard drive is full to the point
where it is unable to defrag.. that's any free space less than 15%.. not the
fault of XP, I hasten to add..

You really need to get a larger drive..
 
I have a 40G HD. In Properties it says I'm using about 18G. That's more
than 50% free. Does that make sense?
 
Jeannine

I worked on the basis that an ME PC may not have a drive much larger than
10Gb.. ok, so yours has a 40gb.. did you install XP over a perfect working
example of ME, or did you upgrade in an attempt to overcome problems?..
 
I installed over a perfectly good working ME. (because there was certain
software I wanted to install that required XP).
 
Jeannine said:
I have a 40G HD. In Properties it says I'm using about 18G. That's more
than 50% free. Does that make sense?
Click to expand...


Jeannine:
First of all, please don't treat this newsgroup or similar ones as some sort
of "chatline" between yourself and the person(s) who have responded to your
query. For example, I realize that your post above is a direct response to
Mike Hall who commented that your inability to defragment your HD might be
due to the fact that your drive may be nearly filled with data to capacity.

In order for others to help you, you *must* give sufficient background
information about your problem and detail whatever actions you've taken to
solve the problem WHENEVER you post your comments/responses. ALWAYS include
sufficient info along these lines whenever you post your comments. As I
mentioned, don't think of this, or any other newsgroup, as some "chatline"
between two or three persons who follow the thread in some orderly &
systematic fashion so that you need not provide pertinent background info
concerning your problem. It's fine to summarize the situation; you need not
include every word of your previous postings or those of others who have
responded. But provide sufficient information so that ANYONE perusing this
thread at ANY point has enough background on the problem so that he or she
might assist you.

Forgive me for this "lecture" but I think you (and others) will profit from
this advice.

Anyway, here's your original query...
Jeannine said:
After upgrading from ME to XP Pro, I can no longer run a defrag. When I
complained to Microsoft, a tech said my hard drive was likely failing.
(Funny that I ran a defrag right before I installed XP and it worked
fine.) Anyway . . . . If I run chkdsk, and it detects nothing, can I be
reasonably confident my hard drive isn't failing? Thanks, Jeannine"
Click to expand...

1. When you say can "no longer run a defrag", could you provide additional
details about this, e.g., provide specific details as to how you invoke the
defragmenting process. Do you receive any error message(s)? What exactly
happens?

2. When you updated from your previous OS did the XP install go smoothly
without any untoward events?

3. Aside from this defragmenting problem, is the system functioning
properly? Does it boot without incident and do you encounter any problems
accessing programs, reading & writing to the drive or run into any other
problems which might signal a failing HD?

4. Did you run chkdsk? Any problems detected?

If you're still uncomfortable about the possibility of a failing HD, take
Jerry's advice and download the diagnostic utility from the manufacturer of
your HD. They're quite easy to use and it should put your mind at ease
assuming it finds no problems with your drive.
Anna
 
I guess I don't know how to use newsgroups. If I have a problem and someone
answers but has a question or needs clarification, I need to restate the
question, response and his question before I can respond? I had no idea
that this would be so complex. I have been using newsgroups for a very long
time. No one has mentioned this before.
 
Anna, how shall I respond to your questions? Can I just answer them or do I
need to restate the entire problem and your question. Can't you and others
see the question posed and the responses given along the way? Jeannine
 
Hi Jeannine,

Sorry I don't have an answer for you about your original posting, but I
can help with what Anna is suggesting.

A lot of people read just the last few posting in these threads to see
if a problem has been resolved. If there isn't a hint about the initial
problem there's not much chance of someone jumping in late with a
suggestion.

Notice I'm not one of those that doesn't quote the original message
either, but like you, I'm writing to a single person and not expecting
others to know what's going on.

---==X={}=X==---


Jim Self
AVIATION ANIMATION, the internet's largest depository.
http://avanimation.avsupport.com

Your only internet source for spiral staircase plans.
http://jself.com/stair/Stair.htm

Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA)
Technical Counselor
 
Jeannine

XP is far less tolerant of hardware faults than ever Win 9x/ME ever was..
the fact that the drive makes it through chkdsk is not indicative of the
drive being perfectly healthy..

On the basis that it is definitely not full or even close, there could well
be a problem with the drive.. try this little utility.. download and run
it.. http://www.almico.com/sfdownload.php.. it is useful on two counts.. it
gives an indication of case, cpu and hard drive temperatures.. it also has a
facility to check the S.M.A.R.T status of your drive..

So, run the program and then click on SMART.. select the drive and then look
at the lower left scale.. is it full of dots, or do they only make it part
way across?.. the more the better..

Do you have other problems too, like freezing or programs crashing out?..
does 'Help and Support' work ok?

You might also want to try running SFC.. to do this, place your XP CD in the
CD drive (press shift after closing the drawer, and hold it until the CD
light quits flashing)

Now go to START - RUN and type <sfc /scannow> without the parentheses.. this
will check and replace system files if they are missing or corrupted..

Return here and update us on your progress..
 
Jeannine said:
Anna, how shall I respond to your questions? Can I just answer them or do
I need to restate the entire problem and your question. Can't you and
others see the question posed and the responses given along the way?
Jeannine
Click to expand...

Jeannine:
I don't want to make this a major issue for you in any way that would thwart
your response. If you simply respond to my posting by right-clicking on the
"Reply to Group" menu item, my post will be displayed and you can respond as
you see fit. Since I incorporated your original query in my response to you,
all the pertinent information will be reflected in whatever message you
send.
Anna
 
I was always taught to read from the left working across the top of the
page, gradually working down.. is this something else that teachers do not
have time to teach?..
 
Jeanine,

Don't be deterred by what you have read so far. It is part and parcel
of a learning process and keeep pressing your point until you get a
reply you are happy with.

To defrag your HD try this:

1) Start, Run
2) Type cmd in the run box
3) you get a non-white screen (some say black screen)
4) type defrag c: -f
5) wait until it is finished

I don't think your HD is faulty. It is just cluttered with lots of
temporary and unnecessary files. We'll come to it later on.

Hope this helps for the time being.

Best regards,
 
I have a 40G HD. In Properties it says I'm using about 18G. That's more
than 50% free. Does that make sense?
Click to expand...


Look in event viewer/system and see if there are any red flag error
messages.

Try the eval version of Raxco perfect disk
http://www.raxco.com/

It will probably work and if it doesn't it'll
have a better error message and documentation.

You might have to do a reboot defrag which I *think* the eval version
can do.
 
Please forgive my ignorance, but I simply don't know how to respond. I had
always thought that any thread I started or I was in displayed the entire
thread and therefore it was unnecessary to restate everything. Do I
understand, that some people only see part of a thread? I don't get it.
So, since I don't know what you mean, I will just have to go on from here
and I apologize to everyone for not knowing how to deal with newsgroups.
Jeannine
 
Jeannine Gaskell said:
Please forgive my ignorance, but I simply don't know how to respond. I
had always thought that any thread I started or I was in displayed the
entire thread and therefore it was unnecessary to restate everything. Do
I understand, that some people only see part of a thread? I don't get it.
So, since I don't know what you mean, I will just have to go on from here
and I apologize to everyone for not knowing how to deal with newsgroups.
Jeannine
Click to expand...

Jeannine, just forget the anal retentives.
Carry on asking and responding in whichever way works best for you.
 
Jeannine said:
After upgrading from ME to XP Pro, I can no longer run a defrag. When I
complained to Microsoft, a tech said my hard drive was likely failing.
(Funny that I ran a defrag right before I installed XP and it worked fine.)
Anyway . . . . If I run chkdsk, and it detects nothing, can I be reasonably
confident my hard drive isn't failing? Thanks, Jeannine
Click to expand...

Hi Jeannine.

You say you no longer run a defrag. But I can't find anywhere where
you have described exactly what happens when you attempt to do so.

If you can do this, including the content of any error messages that
come up when you try to run defrag, then that may help to identify the
underlying cause of your problems.

One further point. If the machine just appears to be doing nothing,
but the Windows XP defrag window is open on your screen, it may just
be that things are extremely slow for some reason, and that defrag is
actually working. If this is what is actually happening then leaving
defrag running overnight may produce some results.

Note that if you have less than 256 mb of RAM in your computer then
many things in Windows XP may be very slow, including defrag.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
 
Anna

You have already done enough.. the OP was responding to me, an action for
which your initial response was out of order.. now the OP does not know what
to do.. way to go..
 
Mike Hall (MS-MVP) said:
Anna

You have already done enough.. the OP was responding to me, an action for
which your initial response was out of order.. now the OP does not know
what to do.. way to go..
Click to expand...


Mike:
I do regret if somehow I've inhibited the OP from pursuing her query. I was
only trying to guide her in providing sufficient background information re
her problem whenever she posts. If I did so in some awkward & clumsy manner,
then I apologize to her (and others who might be offended) for doing so.

But when all is said & done, I strongly believe, as I have previously
stated, that it is inappropriate for this newsgroup and similar ones to be
treated as some sort of "chatline" between two (or possibly more) posters.
In my view, *every* post - virtually without exception except in the most
trivial of cases - should contain sufficient background information re the
issue and/or problem being discussed during the thread, including pertinent
prior responses that the current poster deems necessary. So that ANY viewer
coming upon the thread can understand the issue/problem and solutions
offered. It is insufficient, in my view, for a poster to respond to a query
and merely offer his or her response *without* including the OP's query
and/or whatever background information is needed for an understanding of the
problem by someone reading the current post. Furthermore, as the thread
develops in complexity, it's important (and even crucial) - in my view -
that sufficient background information be incorporated in any response so
that the thread can be followed in an intelligent & meaningful way.
Obviously, this does not mean that ever prior posting dealing with the issue
be included verbatim, but at least the pertinent portions of prior postings
bearing on the issue or perhaps a brief summary of the problem/issue should
be offered.

It seems to me that we can all profit from the problems/issues raised in
this newsgroup and the solutions offered. It's more than a one-on-one
enterprise. But if there is to be this "educational component", as it were,
it's important, again, in my view, that our posts be reasonably
comprehensive in that each posting contains sufficient information
delineating the issue/problem and includes whatever pertinent information
has transpired during the thread that bears upon the subject at hand.
Anna
 
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