Dodgy HDD?

Makaveli

First off apologies if this is in the wrong forum, wasn't sure if I should stick it here or in the general Comp/Tech forum.

I am constantly suffering crashes and BSOD's with my rig. The STOP errors have been pointing to a problem with the HDD. I have run diagnostics on the drive which say it is error free, I've also run CHDSK on it which say it is error free but the problem continues.

Generally after a crash when the pc reboots it can't detect the master drive. I may have to leave it for a few hours for it to boot again.

The crashes are fairly random but consistent.

What I'm wondering is would it be a hardware problem causing it or could Windows cause the BSODs? I bought a new drive and plan on replacing the dodgy one so could I just backup the current one and copy that to the new drive or should I just fresh install it all?

Unfortunately the information is a bit vague because I haven't taken down all of the STOP errors, one was STOP: 0x000000F4.

Specs
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4GHz Socket LGA775, 4MB
Asus P5W DH Deluxe
OCZ Gold PC6400 DDR2 2048MB 2x1GB dimms
Western Digital Raptor 36GB SATA 16MB 10000RPM (the dodgy drive)
Geforce 7600GT

Will it cause any complications changing the master drive? I have two other hdds installed too with data on them. Is it ok to just change the master or do I need to backup the other drives first?

Kimbot

First tihng I would try is a program called memtest, that will rule out the RAM. Bluescreen are generally RAM or HDD.

Makaveli

Will do once I stick the floppy drive back in.

Assuming it is the HDD that is the problem will I face any major issues swapping it for a new drive and just reinstalling Windows and the drivers on it?

RoyalMarine

what about temps? is there good airflow in the pc?

Makaveli

Ran memtest and it passed.

Never thought about airflow, I'll leave the side off the case for a while and see if it makes a difference.

The PC was working fine for a long time, I think the problems started after Firefox hung and I had to force a reboot. Ever since then it has been problematic. The thing is this happened ages ago, I just couldn't be bothered trying to fix it properly until now.

layke

Is the HDD clicking? I don't mean the clickly clicky noises it makes when reading/writing data, more like a single loud click every second or so? If so get all the data off it fast.

I've seen problems like this come from as RoyalMarine said overheating (most likely), if it's an IDE drive check jumper settings sometimes using cable select is a bit iffy rather then a master/slave setup. Bios problems have caused this once or twice unlikely but still possible. Don't suppose you have a 2nd hdd you can put in load windows onto and use your primary as a slave?

Makaveli

No clicks. It's an S-ATA drive. Left the side of the case off and let it run overnight, hasn't crashed yet so might be in luck.

RoyalMarine

+1 for me so :P

download a few programs for checking temperatures of the graphics card and cpu.
you can check the cpu in the bios. not 100% accurate but it will give you a decent idea of how hot it is running.

you might need to re-organise/re-seat some of the components to check they are installed correctly.

Makaveli

Yeah good shout RMC. Thanks for the help guys.

I'll have to tidy the cables inside the case they're pretty much all over the place at the moment.