Solved Potential hard drive issue?

[Teekz]

Hello, all.

I've just run HD Tune 2.55 on my C drive, because it can be quite noisy at times, and I wanted to see if I can find anything wrong with the drive. (Hopefully not, it's fairly new! )

I have attached the results, as I would like to know what the sudden dip from around 35% to 50% is. The hard drive made almost no noise throughout the test, apart from in that area, where it was really quite loud.

I'm hoping it's not bad news. Can anyone shed some light on what these results show?

Cheers,
Tom.

PS - I am now running an "Error Scan" test on HD Tune, but it looks like it may take some time. (I ran a "Quick Scan", which ended up saying 0.0% Damaged blocks, and I am now running a.. non-quick scan? slow scan? ).

 

[Phone Man]

Go to Hatachi and download this tool.

Downloads

Read all the information to create a test disk and then run the test.

Also on HDD Tune check the Health tab and post a picture.

Jim

 

[Teekz]

I'll download and run the tool now, thanks. I'll report back when I have the results.

I've attached a screenshot of the Health tab in HD Tune. The HD Tune scan was taking a while, so I plan to do that later instead.

 

[Teekz]

I've booted into the tool, and ran a basic scan. This turned up no errors. I am now running an advanced scan, which tests the entire media. Because the drive is 2000gb, I imagine this will take some time.

Depending on how long it takes, I might cancel it later, and run it over overnight tonight. EDIT - I have now decided to do this. I'll report back here tomorrow with the results of the advanced scan.

Thanks for the help.

 

[mjf]

CrystalDiskInfo will give the disk SMART data and a good indication of it's health.

 

[Teekz]

I have just set an Advanced Scan running on the Hitatchi tool, which will hopefully gove me some (positive? ) results by tomorrow morning.

I had a thought earlier. The computer the hard drive is in is a tower PC, which is stood on the bottom shelf-type part of my old computer table. I think that the flat surface that the PC stands on has bent over the years, which would mean that the tower is slightly leaning to one side. Could a hard drive at an angle have negative effects? Could it be the cause of the dip in my HD Tune results? Just a thought. Could be nothing.

 

[Teekz]

Right, the Advanced test completed successfully, with disposition code 0x00, which I assume means that there were no errors. What should I do now?

Also, could anyone actually explain what the dip in the HD Tune results actually means?

Cheers, Tom.

EDIT - Sorry mjf, I didn't see your post, as I updated this from my iPod before. Must have scrolled past it. I've attached a screenshot from CrystalDiskInfo, and all seems well there.

 

[Windows Sniper]

Hi Teekz,

Regarding your question about the slope causing a Negative effect, I have found that it does. An old machine that i was asked to rebuild was on a sloped surface so it clicked every 3-5 seconds and had a disk error pop up in XP.

NOw when i rebuilt it i Had it on the Workbench which is a Flat surface which removed the clicking and i didnt get the errors. I replaced it anyway however after some research and tests i found that if the Hared drive is on a slight angle then that can cause it to R/w wrong or even not work at all.

This can also Cause S.M.A.R.T to report a HDD Failure.

Try putting your Harddrive on a Flat surface if you can or make sure that the way it is mounted is flat.

And yes i know that some PC's are Mounted Vertically and some horizontally, but it cannot be mounted at say a 45* angle as the disk cannot read properly in some cases.

 

[Teekz]

Thanks for the info, Windows Sniper. I'll try moving my PC onto the floor or something, and then redoing the HD Tune test. See if it makes a difference.

 

[Windows Sniper]

No problems Teekz, Let Me know if it makes a Difference, Then i can add that to my research also xD

 

[Teekz]

Wow! I just did a HD Tune test on the floor, and there are only occasional small spikes (Which I presume are normal-ish). I might run one more test with it back on the cabinet, just to make sure, but I think it's safe to say we've isolated the cause of the noise/dip in previous results!

 

[Teekz]

Hm. I just did another test with the tower back on the shelf, and the results are fine. I may have been mistaken in thinking it was slanted, maybe my perception was off or something.

Taking this into consideration, I think those initial results were anomalous, and since the Drive Fitness Test returned no errors, I think it's nothing to worry about, so I'm going to mark this as solved.

Looking back, I should have repeated my initial scan, to see if the same thing happened again, and that would have avoided wasting everyone's time. My apologies.

At least I know my drive is working OK!

Thanks a lot for all the help, guys.
Tom.

 

[sreedhav]

Dear Teekz,
The Hitachi advanced test turned out good for the HD! That is the acid test and should settle the issue! HD Tune, Acronics Disk Monitor and Crystal disk info are good harbingers of any trouble ahead and i'll bet you are not going to replace the "relatively new"TwoTB internal HD based on those tests!

If i were you(which i am not), i will IMMEDIATELY (sorry for the bold type) place the cpu casing cabinet on an even and firm surface! Except for SSDs ( I do not know about the Hybrid ones), the regular ones are platters and read/write heads and anything could have happened to ruin the whole show!The Gods were smiling on you, lucky you!

You should repeat the HD Tune test once the Cabinet is set evenly and see if that huge dip has gone or not!Please look if the loud noice has gone or not! Kindly comeback to tell us the unfinished story

Regards,
Sreedhav

 

[Teekz]

I have placed a DVD spike underneath the cabinet, in between it's legs to prop it up, and ensure that it remains level. I just did two more tests, and the results seem fine. I have attached them.

 

[Windows Sniper]

Yeah that all looks normal Now Teekz, Looks Like another Case solved

Well Done

 

[sreedhav]

Dear Teekz,
Once the Hitachi advanced test came out thumbs up, i never doubted the integrity of the HD. I was imagining about any noisy fans! Once the noise goes, you can enjoy the pure lifting music of Bach, Bethoven and Mozart on your "Creative" sound card
regards,
Sreedhav

 

[Phone Man]

Glad it was OK. Just got back online. Our time zones are 6hrs off. I see you have an external drive so I assume you do backups. I use
Macrium Reflect FREE Edition - Information and download which is free and does a great job.

Jim