PC Pals Forum

Technical Help & Discussion => Self Building, Upgrading & General Hardware Help => Topic started by: Simonp on January 13, 2004, 09:58

Title: Bust Hard drive?
Post by: Simonp on January 13, 2004, 09:58

Hi,
 My hard drive has started making noises constantly and has slowed the computer down to snails pace. There is plenty of free space  but when I try to defrg or scandisk, it is unable to..I just get a message telling me the hard drive is busy-another program is writing to it, although no other programs are running. Is it time to bin it?

                               Thanks.

Title: Re:Bust Hard drive?
Post by: Clive on January 13, 2004, 10:10

Hi Simon and  :welcome:  There are no techies around at the moment but there will be plenty later on.  Have you checked for viruses using an up-to-date antivirus software?  Also have you downloaded Ad-Aware to find out if any trojans have managed to sneak in?  This is what I would try first anyway until a techie turns up.

Title: Re:Bust Hard drive?
Post by: Sandra on January 13, 2004, 12:36

Hi Simon, noisy drives can be indicative that they are on their way out but have you tried starting up in safe mode and seeing if it is as noisy in there when doing anything ?
That way you shouldnt be runing any hidden programs that you are unaware of  :)

Title: Re:Bust Hard drive?
Post by: Simon on January 13, 2004, 19:06

Hi Simon (oh no, not another one!),   ;D

What make is your hard drive?  Many of the manufacturers have diagnostic facilities available to download on their websites, which, if you can manage to run them, may tell you if your hard drive is terminally ill, or worth saving.

Title: Re:Bust Hard drive?
Post by: joudi on January 13, 2004, 20:59

Hi Simon,
Have you tried to inactivate temporarily the "Antivirus"?
On the other hand, if you don't have important things on your HDD, you might find it useful to wipe it completely and reformat it, then try to reinstall windows on it. Or maybe, you can use the "Restoration CD". It'll be worthy to try that before deciding to put your HDD in the bin.

Title: Re:Bust Hard drive?
Post by: Simonp on January 15, 2004, 09:28

 Thanks Guys,
             Afraid my P.C.s ground to a halt, I think the diagnostics were the final straw for it. No viruses detected either so its off to HD Heaven. Maybe I'll get a medium to make contact and find out what happened. Thanks for the advice. :D