Failing hard drive/failed hard drive

jeffk

Ok I have a self-built pc and I had one failing hard drive (gone back to Komplett under warranty) and today I’m told my C drive (operating system drive) is now failing.


I have tried chkdsk /r and it gets stuck and doesn’t move for ages.
I have rewired etc and have had two people to look at the wiring etc

Had it in with a I.T shop today, he told me
Get a SSD
Don’t put the pc into sleep/hibernate, turn it off and turn the power switch off at the back
I shouldn’t leave the pc on for long periods as this runs down the life of the drive

Thanks for any help or advice

Torqay

He's right re the SSD. If you have another drive for storage anyway, 128 GB should suffice, they sell from around 100 Euro these days.

Hibernating as desktop doesn't make much sense, certainly not with a solid state drive.

As for "leaving the PC on for a long time will run down the lifetime of a drive", I wouldn't necessarily agree on this. Default power settings turn off the drive(s) when idle.

jeffk

Thanks for the reply


I was looking at my windows 7 install and it’s like less than 30Gb so I have seen this SSD


http://www.komplett.ie/Komplett/product/ssd/80007982/a_data_sp900_64gb_2_5_sata600/details.aspx


If/when I go with a SSD and if the hype of speeds etc is right, then I will shut down instead of hibernate etc



I thought so myself, all the drives power down after twenty minutes, maybe set this sooner?

Procrastastudy

Two drives going in close succession (unless they are ancient) may be pointing to more serious issues with the PC.

BTW 64GB or 128GB go for the Samsung 830

Torqay

jeffk wrote: »

I was looking at my windows 7 install and it’s like less than 30Gb so I have seen this SSD


http://www.komplett.ie/Komplett/product/ssd/80007982/a_data_sp900_64gb_2_5_sata600/details.aspx

64 GB might a bit too small, depending on the software you want to install. Some games do benefit hugely from a solid state disk and they can be fairly big.

At the moment I'd say, the 120/128 GB drives are the best value per GB.

jeffk

I have had three other people look at the pc and been told its wired etc ok, so I don’t know after that



I found out today I didn’t have the front fan wired properly and now plan to get another fan for the back of the case. I was suggested this by an IT repair place, put it backwards so there’s a flow through the case.


http://www.komplett.ie/Komplett/product/fans/10014614/cooler_master_casefan_dual_ball_%2880mm%29/details.aspx


As far as I can remember it’s a 420w or so PSU, so I’m told that should be enough as both graphic and sound are on-board


Is that SSD worth 135? Also is it going to be the same as the sata drives, installation and connection wise?

Procrastastudy

It could easily be a faulty PSU spiking power though the SATA power connectors. It could also be you're just very unlucky.

Either of the Samsung 830 drives are your best bet - the ones we always recommend in the Building and Upgrading forum. If you're not a game or heavy app user 64Gb should be okay but bear in mind you get ~60GB formatted and need to leave around 10% free for the best performance so you are really working with 50-55GB.

Hmm just saw Komplett don't do the 64GB and the 128GB is quite expensive. Shop around try Dabs.ie and Scan.co.uk - factor in delivery.

Procrastastudy

Yep all SATA drives hook up the same way. If you get an 'upgrade kit' you can clone your current set up (assuming it will fit on a 128GB SSD) with the included Norton ghost. Will save you doing a clean install. It also comes with a mounting plate so it will fit in a 3.5" drive bay.

I have the 128GB myself the thing goes like stink.

jeffk

If a PSU was cheap enough I would replace it, but looking there and around a hundred on a maybe is too much, wish I could pinpoint the problem.


So the Samsung 830 is THE SSD to go for? The 64GB is on Dabs including postage for €75, I’d rather keep it irish if anything goes wrong. I’m guessing that’s the best thing to do?


I don’t do gaming and even if I install the software I have as portable versions , ill still have plenty of space.

Procrastastudy

jeffk wrote: »

If a PSU was cheap enough I would replace it, but looking there and around a hundred on a maybe is too much, wish I could pinpoint the problem.


So the Samsung 830 is THE SSD to go for? The 64GB is on Dabs including postage for €75, I’d rather keep it irish if anything goes wrong. I’m guessing that’s the best thing to do?


I don’t do gaming and even if I install the software I have as portable versions , ill still have plenty of space.

The only Irish supplier is Elara.ie the rest are eith UK, Netherlands or German based. TBH - most people would just contact samsung if there was an issue.

jeffk

Well at the minute im waiting on word back on the earlier drive from Komplett , easier and cheaper to return in Dublin than internationally.

Procrastastudy

Well dabs is uk based so I guess you'd buy from Komplett.

sink

What motherboard do you have and when did you buy it? There was a recall on the B2 stepping Sandy bridge chipsets due to the SATA controller degrading overtime and causing drive failures.

Procrastastudy

sink wrote: »

What motherboard do you have and when did you buy it? There was a recall on the B2 stepping Sandy bridge chipsets due to the SATA controller degrading overtime and causing drive failures.

+1 well remembered!

jeffk

Procrastastudy wrote: »

Well dabs is uk based so I guess you'd buy from Komplett.

But Komplett only have the larger drive @ 130 odd

Now I see there's a basic kit and one with Norton Ghost and the bracket etc

https://www2.hardwareversand.de/Solid-State-Disk/52243/Samsung+SSD+830+64GB+SATA+6GB%27s+PC+Upgrade+Kit.article

jeffk

sink wrote: »

What motherboard do you have and when did you buy it? There was a recall on the B2 stepping Sandy bridge chipsets due to the SATA controller degrading overtime and causing drive failures.

Manufacturer ASRock
Model 880G Extreme3 (CPUSocket)

sink

You're safe, that's not one of them.

jeffk

Thanks for all the replies and help

Ordered the Samsung SSD 64GB from Dabs, cheapest for the size I wanted , no bracket or ghost ,but going to reinstall 7 and have read different ways of installing a SSD without a bracket.

Now onto start a thread about a fan for the back of the case and then look to power down the pc more often.

Then finally keep my fingers crossed