Is my HDD dieing ?

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Right, i built my new C2D rig in the summer and have been having intermitant and now constant problems which im assuming is my latest samsung 160gb sata drive. The rig:

E6300 @ 3.16ghz @ 1.45V (normally at 3.5ghz but wanted no stability issues during uni exams etc), Tuniq tower + liquid metal paste.
Asus P5B + 0507 BIOS, Team Group xtreem PC5300 @ 1:1, HIS X1900xt, modded emu 0404 soundcard.
Samsung sata 160gb, samsung sata 200gb.

The HDD arrangement:

1. (160gb) - Windows partition + drivers = 9gb, Media partition = The rest
2. (200gb) - Applications = 50gb, Stuff partition = The rest

Ever since i installed windows on the 160gb HDD, sometimes jsut after post it freezse on detecting the HDD's. Frantic cable unplugging and switching around, and leaving it powered down for a bit eventually gets it back up booots into windows.
Also, i find i get a boot error after post andide drive detection, which asks me to press ctrl+alt+del to restart and try again. The things is, if i remove the main 160gb windows containing drive and plug in *** other driver everything working fine, even when it's plugged into the same sata port on the mobo.
Finally, in windows i get a lot of lockups, especially when using firefox (also installed on the main windows drive). Firefox locks up, then soon after the start menu, then the mouse locks up (HDD then stays on constantly), and a restart gives the booting problems mentioned above.

Im not sure if it's the latest HDD, or possibly something to do with the P5B, or it might not like x2 hdds ??????

One more thing, my overclock is 24hours orthos stable, but does crash in css which started a short while ago but is probs down to directx driver errors that randomly appeared. Also my memory is about 15hours memtest stable using test 5.

Any ideas, as im tempted to get another HDD to see if the problem goes away, as returning the mobo would bee a pain in the ass ?

thanks

 

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COULD A DON please move this to general discussion, as the problem could be more than HDD related

......
Well i dropped my overclock straight after originally posting and am now BACK AT STOCK, just to check it wasn't that, and darwinia worked fine for about 30mins. Then i powered my pc down.

Turned it on about 20 mins ago and loaded firefox. About 30 seconds into that it staretd to freeze, then the mouse intermitantly froze for about 30 secs, then the PC restarted. After lots of unplugging HDD's, trying different ports with 1 drive then 2 i eventually got it back into windows where i am now.

Also my PC boots an awful lot slower now, and is also a lot slower when doing anything in windows. Most problems occur with firefox open, which is also on the problematic drive.

I had a virus about a week ago found by avast in the winamp pluggin section. It quarantied it straight away, no other viruses or spyware. Would a defrag show anything?

 

[Justintime]

BACKUP while you can then run manufacturers diagnostic tools.

 

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BACKUP while you can then run manufacturers diagnostic tools.

Thanks, id already started backing up 80 gigs worth of music, videos, pictures, uni work, and documents.

ive just run the diagnostic and it says the HDD has errors and i should ERASE HDD and test again.

I did x2 low level formats when i first encountered these problems months ago then reinstalled windows. The problems are now back in full force so i think im going to buy a new HDD next week then get in contact with rexo about getting a new one.

im glad it has intermittant problems and hasn't totally died as none of the data on that HDD was backed up untillast night PHEW