Hard disk read error after a month. OK after a few hours

[shimy182]

Thanks for reading in advance...

I have this annoying issue with my PC, and google fu is failing me to identify the cause....

The failure
PC freezes, no BSOD, no error code, no warning, not triggered by loading/temperature

As soon as it happens, no new application loads.
I can change between chrome tabs a few times until it completely stops, then the whole screen eventually stops. Its as if the Hard drive stops communicating all together and works only off whats on the RAM until errors build up.

I have SSDs, i changed this 2 times with fresh windows install. On top of this I've changed the SATA ports, SATA cables, freshly installed windows.

Once this happens, immediately restarting shows a DOS prompt to say "hard disk not found, ctrl+alt+del to restart"

With the mains off, waiting a few hours (sometimes overnight) cures the issue. until it happens again in 2 to 3 weeks time.

The spec is as follows:-
CPU: i5 6600K (no clocks atm)
MB: Asus Z170I ITX Pro gaming (Latest and previous chipset drivers tried)
RAM: 2x 4gb DDR4 Vengeance LPX 3000MHz
PSU: Corsair RM650
GFX: GTX970

I really would like this resolved as it takes precious quality PC time away from me unexpectedly
Many thanks,

To add: It's really strange because I can do high load activities like gaming for ages without it happening at all. Yet after some period it just goes again..?
I dont want to RMA anything as I'm sure the item will be returned with no issues found..

 

[mattyfez]

without doing some logging analysis it will be hard to pin down if the freezes are not easily related to a specific activity.
malware?

Do a fresh install of windows, might be a sledgehammer approach but an hour or two vs random crashes... at least rule out a windows/ malware issue.

Might be worth running a ram and HDD health check of some kind.

EDIT.. if you've had disk errors, then I'd be looking as disks, cables and sata ports

 

[shimy182]

Hi Matty,
Is is possible to do logging analysis?

I've reinstalled windows a few times, but this issue comes back after that 2 week to month period. this leads me to think that its a hardware issue :/

As for HDD, ive changed this from one to another, along with SATA cables, but again the same happens with a time delay.

For now, I will do the health check and Ramtest so that i can circle those out

Thank you for your reply Mattyfez