Hard Drive Problem????

toxic

toxic

toxic

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Got this strange problem. When you turn most desktop computers on (well mine anyway) you hear a whirring from what I think is the hard drive spinning up…then a grinding which I am thinking is the hard drive seeking and reading files.
Well…since I got a 500Gb WD AAKS drive and installed Vista 64 on it…I am getting this happening all the time in windows when I try to do things. I don’t mind the nose…it just that my PC seems to freeze for a few seconds everytime this happens. Its especially noticable when loading games etc. Or opening a file…especially after playing a game.
The general sound is like….open file…its clicks…whirs up…seeks…clicks again…then all goes fine.
I cant say that Ive ever experienced this before…and originally I thought it was the PSU or something. Is this normal (I don’t think it is)….or any ideas whats causing this.
 
It sounds like it may fail. Ive had a few drives do that on me. Run the repair tools for the drive from a disk when u boot up.
 
So no error messages being displayed then?

Vista will thrash the disk more than XP due to Superfetch caching stuff into RAM but it shouldn't be doing it to the extent that you're describing.

Have you benchmarked the disk using HDTach or HDTune?

What board is the drive connected to? Have you loaded all the correct drivers for the SATA controller etc?
 
No I dont get any error messages...just short freezes of everything on the screen for 2-3 seconds whe it happens.

Im using a Gigabyte P35 DS3P...and installed the SATA RAID driver immediately after the install of XP with the chipset driver.

I will run a benchmark and see how it does and post back.

Ive tried to get Data Lifegaurd from WD...but it doesnt seem ist available for Vista.
 
Have ran a test on the hard drive...results below. I have two 500Gb AAKS drives...and was getting same results for them both. Any way I can check see if the SATA drivers are working properly???
 
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sory..this is beter


hdinfotq1.jpg
 
toxic said:
No I dont get any error messages...just short freezes of everything on the screen for 2-3 seconds whe it happens.

Im using a Gigabyte P35 DS3P...and installed the SATA RAID driver immediately after the install of XP with the chipset driver.

I will run a benchmark and see how it does and post back.

Ive tried to get Data Lifegaurd from WD...but it doesnt seem ist available for Vista.
Click to expand...

You can run it in XP compatibility mode.
 
could I be having the same problem as posted here...

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17778016

I do have a raptor installed as well as the two WD 500 AAKs's. I have my XP system installed on the Raptor...but vista installed on one of the 500's. I dare say the drive is still accessable...and its pausing and clicking in Vista 64. Also using an 8800GTX. What u think?
 
The benchmark speeds are what I would expect so there's nothing wrong with the drive itself. That then points to a software issue. You say that you installed all the SATA and chipset drivers under XP, have you done the same on the Vista install?
 
Yes...when I installed Vista The first thing I did was install the chipset and sata/raid drivers off the Gigabyte disk for the mobo. I can install them again just to make sure.
Also...when I am in XP and accessing the drive I dont think I get problems. Its just a Vista thing I think...but in saying that the Op system is isnatlled on that drive.....that probaby make the differnce.
Looking at that other thread about raptors and Vista...its sounds awfully similar to the issues I am having. I am going to disconnect my Raptor drive tonight and run Vista for a good while to see if that stops any issues. Allthough...the Raptor drive is only used for the XP installation...it shouldnt be really accessed much when in Vista.
 
Glad Im not just going nuts.

Have you taken the Raptor out to test for the sound when under Vista yet?

I found its the Raptor only thats doing this.

I have had XP, XP64 and Vista on mine and only Vista does it, but I used the Raptor for Windows, so taking the drive out wasnt an option for me at the time.

If its anything to go by, this Raptor here is a brand new one. It wasa replacement for my other one, which... I sent back to WD because of the clicking ( It was worse however ). And WD told me clearly that Vista had killed the drive off.

Is Vista going to do the same to this one too?

Not worth the risk.

Im back on XP64 and I no longer get the clicks, the slowdowns, the pauses, and stuff just runs as its supposed to.

I might buy another HD soon just to see, but not in a rush cos Vista isnt really worth it.
 
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I will do it tonite....my whole PC is frezzing for a few seconds at a time...but I thought it was the 500Gb WD drive that was doing it...as thats where I have my vista installation.
Did you get the same as me....randon pauses/freezing for 3-4 seconds....with whiring noise and clciking from the hard drive?
I have XP isntalled on my Raptor...and only get the problem when in Vista.
 
Exactly that.

I have the following :-

C: = Raptor 36
D: = Seagate 250 ( But 60GB of that is T: )
E: = Seagate 250
F: = Hitachi 80GB
M: = Hitachi 80GB

No raid setups at this time, although they were originally bought for that purpose.

XP64 is my current OS on the Raptor, and previous to that, I had Vista64 Ultimate.

Random pauses / Freezing = YES
3-4 Seconds = Well, I have had, but most of the time its really only about 1 second.
Whiring and clicking = YES

Same as you mate.
 
Weird if it's happing only on one drive, but it sounds a lot to me like a power-saving mode. If your drive is spinning down it will take a few secs to spin back up and seek before being accessible. Check power options under Control Panel, although what policy applies to one drive should apply to all in the same machine?
 
I currently dont have Vista on that machine.

Its got XP64 and its doing a perfect job as usual, so I cannotcheck the power settings, but when I did have a good look around the system, I saw nothing that could possibly point to the HDs spinning down, and as you say, if that was the case, then all drives, should power down, not just the one, and it did not affect any of the other 4 drives, only the one Raptor, so its a RAPTOR + VISTA issue rather than anything elkse it seems?
 
One question to bring this back up...

Does Vista 32 have this issue or just Vista64?

I dont want to wipe over my disk onyl to find out it does...
 
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