FL1Pmode

I have an old pc that I gave to my dad after I started university. Today he called to tell me that for the last few days, one of the 2 pc's HDs has been making making crunching noises and reading information much slower than before. He also mentioned that sometimes, Firefox and applications upon opening would abruptly freeze and would require ctrl-alt-del to close.

The hard drive that seems to be the problem is a 500GB Seagate that has been purchased in 2007. My initial diagnosis is that the HD itself is dying and would soon need to be replaced.

However it is also the hard drive that has the operating system (WinXP Pro SP3) installed. So before I tell my dad to purchase a new HD, am I right in thinking that it is a failing HD that needs to be replaced?

Thank you in advance.

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Reaperassault

more than likely, but I bet the seagate website has a HD checking utility so you might look for that to check for sure, if not the WD tool might work

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FL1Pmode

My dad tried the checking utility and the HD passed all tests, however, the system crashed on him several times during the installation and once after all the tests had shown that nothing was wrong...strange.

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Acreo Aeneas

I'd inspect the desktop first-hand yourself before jumping to a conclusion.

Try and go through the problem yourself before you go off and get a new HDD. It could simply be some viruses, spyware, and/or too many background apps running at the same time.

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Buckets

A long time ago I had a trojan that caused similar symptoms. It taxed my computer like crazy until I was running a 2GB page file (this was in the days of Windows 98 when I was rocking 256MB of RAM) and it put a lot of strain on my HDD.

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The artist formerly known as "pecker"

shoopdewhoop

Is the drive physically making a *crunching* noise? Or is it just extremely dense read/write activity? Crunching noises, like metal on metal indicate a disaster about to happen, while intensive read/write activity could go either way. For safety's sake, I'd back up the data on that drive now, just in case.

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FL1Pmode

@ Acreo Aeneas:
I live more than 500 miles away from my parents, so inspecting the desktop itself is not really an option.

@ Buckets:
My dad is paranoid about catching any kind of viruses/trojans (he has more safety programs installed than me), so I doubt that there is a trojan.

@shoopdewhoop:
The crunching noises are happening even during opening single applications and starting firefox...not sure if that is classified as dense read/write activity

But thanks for the help anyways so far

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snooggums

No remote desktop access option?

If he truly is good at keeping his system clean and can accurately describe a grinding sound vs a working sound then it is probably mechanical and the hard drive should be replaced. Don't forget that seagate drives most likely have at least a 3+ year warranty

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=DdogG=

sign up for a free log me in account (logmein.com) and have him go there using your UN/PW - once everything is installed, you have a very easy and clean remote desktop...

the best way to tell if the drive is failing is by copying the files off it to another disc (you know... the backup you need to do asap) if you get crc errors (like more than 3 or 4) do not trust the drive again.

It could be an EXTREMELY fragmented drive, and just needs to run defrag, it could be an OS issue and need to be wiped and reinstalled, or it could be the drive dying.

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The two most common elements in the universe are Hydrogen and stupidity. -Harlan Ellison

If all else fails: "rm -rf /"

Acreo Aeneas

No matter how many "security/safety programs" he has installed doesn't guarentee he's safe from an infection. Also having multiple programs that essentially does the same thing also is counterproductive (even hazardous).

For example: a firewall that has a active virus program and a separate virus program also active. The two will cause problems and let even more bugs slip through than just running one.

It's it's a older Seagate (2006 and before usually), they carry a 5 year limited warranty. All of the current ones only carry a limited 3 year warranty.

Yep, I'd try a remote login first even if you are 5,000 miles apart.

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snooggums

From the OP
It isn't 2010 yet so a 3 year warranty would still be valid, and if it had a five year warranty for a disc from 2005 or 2006 it would also still be under warranty. I'd still get a new one then send the other back under warranty for a new backup hard drive

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Acreo Aeneas

Ah whoops, didn't bother looking back was in a hurry to type it all out and post.

I'd RMA the HDD with Seagate. Saves you from having to buy a new one.

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Vercety

Does the BIOS POST say anything about the Drive. I know that the last drive that went on me showed up as bad in the POST.