Solved Problems after running SeaTools

[koolkat77]

Hi all

This started after I ran SeaTools for Windows, Long generic test..which passed but I'm having few issues ever since:

1. I usually turn off my computer before going to bed, but the morning after I took the test when I powered up my computer it started with this hearable vibration. I could even feel it when I touched the front part of the computer case. The vibration & sound lessened gradually & I thought I was okay until I opened speccy & saw that the Celsius of the hard drive was at 50 within 45 mins of use.
2. This happened once more that day & I consulted with Arc. He suggested me to run disk check on the hard drive by re-seating & cleaning the cables etc which I did with no problems found. I even unscrewed, cleaned the hard drive & switched locations. Made sure I screwed it firm & tight.
3. There were no vibration/sound/celsius problem until yesterday afternoon when I went home for lunch. I booted normally & there it was vibrating again.

So I ran disk check again, ran puran defrag, ran the default windows defrag. Downloaded & installed crystal disk info. Attached some snips but this is of when I just booted up. The numbers changed gradually after use and the celsius went to 50 later.

1. 
2. 

Anyway, the pc booted up normally today morning. But appreciate any advice & opinions on this problem. I have a feeling this stuff is gonna reoccur every few days but have no idea why a sea tools test would do this to a hard disk. Everything was fine before I did the test.

Thanks for reading

 

[F5ing]

Curious, what prompted you to run the Seatools tests to begin with? Were you having any specific issues?

I would not expect that Seatools (or any HDD manufacturer's diagnostics app for that matter) to cause any problems unless there was something going wrong to begin with. Those tests really stress the drive. If the drive's health is marginal to begin with then the testing (making that drive work hard) may reveal issues you hadn't noticed before.

Keep CrystalDisk running. Allow it to autostart at boot. It records SMART attributes over time and you'll be able to use it to see problems before SMART itself ever trips (use the graph functions to see).

50°C is rather high, but is probably the upper limit of "normal" operating temperature, not beyond the limit. However, if the drive typically runs quite a few degrees lower than that (say 40°C), then it could be indicative of motor/bearing/platter balance problems.

Please make sure you've got your backups koolkat.

 

[koolkat77]

Hi F5ing and thanks for the reply.

I actually just wanted to see how this “sea tools” thing works but for one more reason that’s I reinstall windows very often. I read some posts over time on the internet that reinstalling windows very often degrades the life of the hard disk, and arguments that it doesn’t blabla but anyway. I know the tests stress the drive.. :-(

I will do the auto start at boot when I get home today. The hard drive Celsius at boot is around 35 and goes to 39/40 after a while of use and stays at that.

BTW, this is a 2 month old hard disk there’s a thread I created about here.. http://www.sevenforums.com/hardware-devices/247377-new-hdd-temps-too-high.html

Thanks again

 

[Anthony]

Are you sure its the Hard drive Making the Vibration Noise? Whats the PSU on that system? Have you tried different Cables, connectors?
Try disconnecting the DVD ROM drive and test again.

 

[Britton30]

Hi, first I wouldn't reinstall w7 "just because" unless there is a serious file corruption or something like that.

Second F5ing is correct a HDD diagnostic tool does no harm to a drive but does no stress. It scans each sector for errors and can move bad ones to good ones if needed. That keeps it fairly active during the long generic.

Did Seatools report SMART had been tripped or any errors it repaired or can't repair?

That 50C temp is not a good thing though.


Can you tell if the vibration is a rotational one or the read/write heads traveling and start/stopping?

F5ing has a good idea, back it all up now, today.

Oh, as for an OS reinstallation many times, it should not cause any harm to a spinner drive. With a SSD it may cause some degradation though.

 

[F5ing]

I actually just wanted to see how this “sea tools” thing works but for one more reason that’s I reinstall windows very often. I read some posts over time on the internet that reinstalling windows very often degrades the life of the hard disk, and arguments that it doesn’t blabla but anyway. I know the tests stress the drive.. :-(

For what it's worth, I wouldn't worry about wear and tear due to reinstalls. Not really different than any other reads/writes. I'd be more concerned with high heat, physical damage (knocking, bumping, dropping) and clean power.

I will do the auto start at boot when I get home today. The hard drive Celsius at boot is around 35 and goes to 39/40 after a while of use and stays at that.

That's cool. I'd worry about continuously >50°C. CrystalDisk's graph feature will let you know long term temps. Spinning, but at idle, at 50° is not really good either; it'll go above that temp if you start doing a lot of reading/writing with it.

Thanks again

You're very welcome, of course!

But I do wonder where that vibration was coming from...

 

[koolkat77]

Are you sure its the Hard drive Making the Vibration Noise? Whats the PSU on that system? Have you tried different Cables, connectors?
Try disconnecting the DVD ROM drive and test again.

Hi Ant,

Yes I'm sure it's the hard drive making the vibration noise. I'm not sure of the PSU brand etc but I got a new one maybe 2.5 months back when a short circuit failed the older one. I think it's a 450 or 500W one though (my brother says so as he purchased it). I also got a new DVD/CD drive few months back, it does not make any sound. The older DVD ROM one did and I had to push a pin in the small hole to open the tray. LOL

But I'll try disconnecting the DVD ROM too.

 

[koolkat77]

Hi, first I wouldn't reinstall w7 "just because" unless there is a serious file corruption or something like that.

Second F5ing is correct a HDD diagnostic tool does no harm to a drive but does no stress. It scans each sector for errors and can move bad ones to good ones if needed. That keeps it fairly active during the long generic.

Did Seatools report SMART had been tripped or any errors it repaired or can't repair?

That 50C temp is not a good thing though.


Can you tell if the vibration is a rotational one or the read/write heads traveling and start/stopping?

F5ing has a good idea, back it all up now, today.

Oh, as for an OS reinstallation many times, it should not cause any harm to a spinner drive. With a SSD it may cause some degradation though.

Nice reply Gary, I will keep my mouth shut about the reinstallation part :banghead: I did not check the smart thing, I’m not sure how to but will try it when I’m home and post back.

To me the vibration “sound” sounds like its rotational. It does not start/stop. It’s continuous, if that I get you right. It goes like GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR and I can feel it when I touch the case or go near. The sound fades away in next 15/20 minutes and I see the celsius going towards 50C.

 

[F5ing]

Wow. I missed a few posts there.

 

[F5ing]

Could it be a fan making the noise?

When you ran Seatools you should see something like "SMART is NOT tripped". CrystalDisk shows you SMART status as well. The pics in your first post indicate SMART is not tripped, the drive is healthy. That's where CrystalDisk's graphs come in handy; it'll show potential issues before SMART gets tripped.

 

[koolkat77]

For what it's worth, I wouldn't worry about wear and tear due to reinstalls. Not really different than any other reads/writes. I'd be more concerned with high heat, physical damage (knocking, bumping, dropping) and clean power.

No knocking, bumping, dropping done. I never do that to my computer...I treat it like I would treat my baby. lol

That's cool. I'd worry about continuously >50°C. CrystalDisk's graph feature will let you know long term temps. Spinning, but at idle, at 50° is not really good either; it'll go above that temp if you start doing a lot of reading/writing with it.

I will go home and check the temps at idle again. It stays at 35/36C as far as I can recall

 

[Britton30]

Yussi If yo have Speccy (I bet you do), under Hard Drives it has the SMART info at the bottom of the long list of data, Good/Bad.

 

[koolkat77]

Could it be a fan making the noise?

When you ran Seatools you should see something like "SMART is NOT tripped". CrystalDisk shows you SMART status as well. The pics in your first post indicate SMART is not tripped, the drive is healthy. That's where CrystalDisk's graphs come in handy; it'll show potential issues before SMART gets tripped.

No I didn't. My aim was to see if the hard drive passes the long generic or not . Do I have to run the test again or something?

Yussi If yo have Speccy (I bet you do), under Hard Drives it has the SMART info at the bottom of the long list of data, Good/Bad.

Will check and post the snips when I'm home

 

[Dave76]

Open the case with the computer off, start it with your hand on the HDD.
Then you will know for sure what is vibrating, it could be something else like a fan as F5ing said.

If it's the HDD, then backup anything you want to keep as it won't last for long.

 

[koolkat77]

Open the case with the computer off, start it with your hand on the HDD.
Then you will know for sure what is vibrating, it could be something else like a fan as F5ing said.

If it's the HDD, then backup anything you want to keep as it won't last for long.

Thank you Dave, I was planning on keeping the case open with the HDD out the entire week after I heard the sound again. Will do it this way when I go home in the evening and post the stuff that F5ing, Ant and Gary have asked for.

 

[Arc]

No knocking, bumping, dropping done. I never do that to my computer...I treat it like I would treat my baby. lol

Random experiments on the baby?

 

[koolkat77]

Random experiments on the baby?

Ei, chup

 

[Arc]

OK meri amma

 

[centaur78]

koolkat

It would be nice if you can take video of this sound and vibration and post it here (probably using ur phone camera)... it would give us a much better picture

 

[koolkat77]

koolkat

It would be nice if you can take video of this sound and vibration and post it here (probably using ur phone camera)... it would give us a much better picture

Good idea, thanks.
Will do this as well today. Just not sure vibration sound will come again or not but I'll keep this thread will be kept open till I hear it again.