Solved Hard Drive Maintainence

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caleb97

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Hi,

A few years ago I had to have the laptop in my Toshiba laptop replaced and Windows Vista re-installed because the hard drive had failed. In the end the bill came to around £100.

Obviously I don't want to have to replace the hard drive again and so I would like to know what you guys do to keep your hard drives in top condition.

Thanks in advance
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Home Premium 32bit SP1AMD Athlon 64 X2 TK-572GB (1GBx2) DDR2 PC2-5300 SO-DIMMATI Radeon X1200
Computer type
Laptop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Toshiba Equium A210-1C4 Laptop
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium 32bit SP1
CPU
AMD Athlon 64 X2 TK-57
Motherboard
AMD SB600
Memory
2GB (1GBx2) DDR2 PC2-5300 SO-DIMM
Graphics Card(s)
ATI Radeon X1200
Sound Card
Realtek HD Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
15.4" Toshiba TruBrite Laptop LCD Display
Screen Resolution
1280 x 800
Hard Drives
80GB Hitachi TravelStar 5K250/
1TB Western Digital Elements USB
Case
Toshiba A200 Series
Mouse
Microsoft Comfort 500 Optical Mouse
Internet Speed
3.5 Mbps Download/0.6 Mbps Upload
Other Info
Avast! Free Antivirus
Microsoft Office 2010
caleb97 said:
Hi,

A few years ago I had to have the laptop in my Toshiba laptop replaced and Windows Vista re-installed because the hard drive had failed. In the end the bill came to around £100.

Obviously I don't want to have to replace the hard drive again and so I would like to know what you guys do to keep your hard drives in top condition.

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...

Besides the usual maintenance there really isnt nuch you can do.

Disk defrag, disk cleanup, etc.
 

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Win 8 Release candidate 8400[email protected]4 gigsNvidia 9600M
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP Pavillion dv-7 1005 Tx
OS
Win 8 Release candidate 8400
CPU
[email protected]
Memory
4 gigs
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia 9600M
Sound Card
HD built-in
Monitor(s) Displays
17" Wxga
Screen Resolution
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Thanks for the help zigzag3143. I use:
  • Disk Defragmenter
  • CCleaner
  • CHKDSK

Is there anything else you would suggest?
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Home Premium 32bit SP1AMD Athlon 64 X2 TK-572GB (1GBx2) DDR2 PC2-5300 SO-DIMMATI Radeon X1200
Computer type
Laptop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Toshiba Equium A210-1C4 Laptop
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium 32bit SP1
CPU
AMD Athlon 64 X2 TK-57
Motherboard
AMD SB600
Memory
2GB (1GBx2) DDR2 PC2-5300 SO-DIMM
Graphics Card(s)
ATI Radeon X1200
Sound Card
Realtek HD Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
15.4" Toshiba TruBrite Laptop LCD Display
Screen Resolution
1280 x 800
Hard Drives
80GB Hitachi TravelStar 5K250/
1TB Western Digital Elements USB
Case
Toshiba A200 Series
Mouse
Microsoft Comfort 500 Optical Mouse
Internet Speed
3.5 Mbps Download/0.6 Mbps Upload
Other Info
Avast! Free Antivirus
Microsoft Office 2010
The trouble is with hard drives, they can, like any piece of hardware, fail at any time.

If your computer came with extra software in the way of a diagnostic utility, you could run that from time to time.

In addition, most hard drive manufacurers have their own diagnostic tools. Hitachi have something called a "Drive Fitness Test".

Downloads
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-BitIntel Core i7 870 @ 2.93GHz8Gb Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 664MHznVidia GeForce GTX 460 1024MB dedicated RAM
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP Pavilion Elite 495UK
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-Bit
CPU
Intel Core i7 870 @ 2.93GHz
Motherboard
MSI 2A9C (CPU1)
Memory
8Gb Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 664MHz
Graphics Card(s)
nVidia GeForce GTX 460 1024MB dedicated RAM
Sound Card
Realtek HD Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
HP2310i
Screen Resolution
1920 x 1080
Hard Drives
1x1954GB Hitachi HDS22020ALA 330 (RAID), 1x1954GB Hitachi External for backup and storage
PSU
460W
Case
HP Elite
Cooling
Air cooled
Keyboard
Logitech K750 solar-powered keyboard
Mouse
Logitech Wireless M180 mouse
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Pure Avanti Flow Internet Radio with iPod Dock, 64Gb iPod, HP USB Speakers, Sony MDR-V500 Headphones, Sony Vaio F-Series Laptop
Thanks for replying seavixen32,

I have a Hitachi Hard Drive and already have the Drive Fitness Test program which I will start using occasionally.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Home Premium 32bit SP1AMD Athlon 64 X2 TK-572GB (1GBx2) DDR2 PC2-5300 SO-DIMMATI Radeon X1200
Computer type
Laptop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Toshiba Equium A210-1C4 Laptop
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium 32bit SP1
CPU
AMD Athlon 64 X2 TK-57
Motherboard
AMD SB600
Memory
2GB (1GBx2) DDR2 PC2-5300 SO-DIMM
Graphics Card(s)
ATI Radeon X1200
Sound Card
Realtek HD Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
15.4" Toshiba TruBrite Laptop LCD Display
Screen Resolution
1280 x 800
Hard Drives
80GB Hitachi TravelStar 5K250/
1TB Western Digital Elements USB
Case
Toshiba A200 Series
Mouse
Microsoft Comfort 500 Optical Mouse
Internet Speed
3.5 Mbps Download/0.6 Mbps Upload
Other Info
Avast! Free Antivirus
Microsoft Office 2010
caleb97 said:
Thanks for the help zigzag3143. I use:
  • Disk Defragmenter
  • CCleaner
  • CHKDSK
Is there anything else you would suggest?
Click to expand...

This is only about 60% facetious:

Replace it one last time, with an SSD.

Aside reliability, it will make the laptop feel much more responsive, at least as far as launching applications.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Pro X64 SP1Intel Core I7-3930k16 GB Gskill DDR3-2133eVGA GTX680
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
homegrown
OS
Windows 7 Pro X64 SP1
CPU
Intel Core I7-3930k
Motherboard
Asus P9X79 Pro
Memory
16 GB Gskill DDR3-2133
Graphics Card(s)
eVGA GTX680
Sound Card
Creative X-Fi Titanium
Monitor(s) Displays
As PA246Q
Screen Resolution
1920 X 1200
Hard Drives
Corsair Force GT, 120 GB
WDC 1.5TB Caviar Black
PSU
PCP&C Silencer 750 Crossfire
Case
Silverstone FT02
Cooling
Noctua NH-D14
Keyboard
cheap Logitech USB
Mouse
Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer (old optical) USB
Internet Speed
6Mb cable
Other Info
Pioneer BDR-205
Samsung SH-203B
Monsoon 5.1 speakers
caleb97 said:
Thanks for replying seavixen32,

I have a Hitachi Hard Drive and already have the Drive Fitness Test program which I will start using occasionally.
Click to expand...

You're very welcome.

Obviously, the program won't stop a drive failing, but it may give you enough warning to at least retrieve any data you want off it.

As already stated, a solid state drive will give your laptop a performance boost, but remember they can fail as well.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-BitIntel Core i7 870 @ 2.93GHz8Gb Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 664MHznVidia GeForce GTX 460 1024MB dedicated RAM
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP Pavilion Elite 495UK
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-Bit
CPU
Intel Core i7 870 @ 2.93GHz
Motherboard
MSI 2A9C (CPU1)
Memory
8Gb Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 664MHz
Graphics Card(s)
nVidia GeForce GTX 460 1024MB dedicated RAM
Sound Card
Realtek HD Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
HP2310i
Screen Resolution
1920 x 1080
Hard Drives
1x1954GB Hitachi HDS22020ALA 330 (RAID), 1x1954GB Hitachi External for backup and storage
PSU
460W
Case
HP Elite
Cooling
Air cooled
Keyboard
Logitech K750 solar-powered keyboard
Mouse
Logitech Wireless M180 mouse
Internet Speed
2Mb
Other Info
Pure Avanti Flow Internet Radio with iPod Dock, 64Gb iPod, HP USB Speakers, Sony MDR-V500 Headphones, Sony Vaio F-Series Laptop
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