Hard disk error- repair or replace help please!

robmar0se

*manda* wrote: »

Just for future reference- if the PC freezes- which is occasionally would do, how can you safely turn it off? I have had to turn it off at source before and I know this isn't the right way to do it but I didn't know if there was a "safe" way. Hoping it won't be an issue but obviously want to protect this one as much as I can?

As Closed said if Ctl-Alt-Del doesn't work, there maybe another option, but to be honest can't remember if it works specifically on Dell Inspirons, try a gentle push on the on/off switch which may cause the PC to restart.

Kernel_Sanders

*manda* wrote: »

I need some ben & jerrys to console myself with before making another big purchase.

You are obviously female; you can't make a major purchase without buying something else to go with it

*manda*

I know this is an old thread- but I have been re-reading it through as it was so helpful last time, and it appears my hard drive may be stuffed (again). Unfortunately the Dell self check thing flashed up last week telling me there was a hard drive failure, it is still working however, and I had an external HDD that should have backed everything up as it's set to do so weekly. (following everyone's advice from last time!)

I have run the CHdisk thing- and let it do it's thing but I can't find the "results"? Where would I go to access this?

-TangleFoot-

*manda* wrote: »

Where would I go to access this?

Event Viewer or PowerShell, perhaps?

*manda*

Thanks- could someone just look at the results and tell me whether this looks to be fixed or whether I need a new hard drive?


System

- Provider

[ Name] Microsoft-Windows-Wininit
[ Guid] {206f6dea-d3c5-4d10-bc72-989f03c8b84b}
[ EventSourceName] Wininit

- EventID 1001

[ Qualifiers] 16384

Version 0

Level 4

Task 0

Opcode 0

Keywords 0x80000000000000

- TimeCreated

[ SystemTime] 2014-02-03T18:01:08.000000000Z

EventRecordID 67205

Correlation

- Execution

[ ProcessID] 0
[ ThreadID] 0

Channel Application

Computer AmandaStudy-PC

Security


- EventData

Checking file system on C: The type of the file system is NTFS. Volume label is OS. A disk check has been scheduled. Windows will now check the disk. CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 5)... 247552 file records processed. File verification completed. 2126 large file records processed. 0 bad file records processed. 0 EA records processed. 60 reparse records processed. CHKDSK is verifying indexes (stage 2 of 5)... 311164 index entries processed. Index verification completed. 0 unindexed files scanned. 0 unindexed files recovered. CHKDSK is verifying security descriptors (stage 3 of 5)... 247552 file SDs/SIDs processed. Cleaning up 429 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9. Cleaning up 429 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9. Cleaning up 429 unused security descriptors. Security descriptor verification completed. 31807 data files processed. CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal... 34108352 USN bytes processed. Usn Journal verification completed. CHKDSK is verifying file data (stage 4 of 5)... 247536 files processed. File data verification completed. CHKDSK is verifying free space (stage 5 of 5)... 154297230 free clusters processed. Free space verification is complete. Adding 192 bad clusters to the Bad Clusters File. Correcting errors in the Volume Bitmap. Windows has made corrections to the file system. 721287167 KB total disk space. 103619064 KB in 163706 files. 107796 KB in 31808 indexes. 772 KB in bad sectors. 371379 KB in use by the system. 65536 KB occupied by the log file. 617188156 KB available on disk. 4096 bytes in each allocation unit. 180321791 total allocation units on disk. 154297039 allocation units available on disk. Internal Info: 00 c7 03 00 c6 fb 02 00 16 43 05 00 00 00 00 00 .........C...... 27 46 00 00 3c 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 'F..<........... 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ Windows has finished checking your disk. Please wait while your computer restarts.

patman99

If you want to save time, use CrystalDiskInfo. This program reads the info from the HDD's 'SMART' chip and as this automatically logs all sectors marked as 'bad' it will give you an instant diagnosis.
If the program shows the drive is ok then it will not be in danger of imminent failure. However, if it shows 'Caution' or 'Danger' then you need to take action.

What I did when I hard a HDD partial fail on an HP laptop was to order a new HDD of the same interface type and size (you can go for a bigger size if you wish) and then put the new HDD in an old USB caddy before using 'HDClone' to clone the old drive onto the new one. I did this as it cloned the whole drive including the recovery and diagnostics partitions.

It is then a simple task to remove the old failed HDD and drop in the newly cloned replacement.
Turn on the power & let Windows boot-up. If there are any errors, Windows will fix them on the way in.

This is a much easier option than doing a backup & restore when swapping HDDs.

poppellerant

*manda* wrote: »

Thanks- could someone just look at the results and tell me whether this looks to be fixed or whether I need a new hard drive?

...snip...

CHKDSK is verifying free space (stage 5 of 5)...
154297230 free clusters processed.
Free space verification is complete.
Adding 192 bad clusters to the Bad Clusters File.
Correcting errors in the Volume Bitmap.
Windows has made corrections to the file system.
721287167 KB total disk space.
103619064 KB in 163706 files.
107796 KB in 31808 indexes.
772 KB in bad sectors.
371379 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
617188156 KB available on disk.
4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
180321791 total allocation units on disk.
154297039 allocation units available on disk.

...snip...

I'm afraid you've got bad sectors and Windows just found even more during that last check.

Backup ASAP.

*manda*

Ah ok thanks. I have it automatically backing up to external had weekly, so presumably just a case of ordering new hard drive and replacing? Do I need to ensure it's backed up a system image? I think it does it weekly anyway.

wealdroam

*manda* wrote: »

Ah ok thanks. I have it automatically backing up to external had weekly, so presumably just a case of ordering new hard drive and replacing? Do I need to ensure it's backed up a system image? I think it does it weekly anyway.

Hasn't the failing drive got a three year warranty?

You've only had it about twenty months.

*manda*

I think it only had 1 year.