WD HD operating in PIO mode - Windows 7

MrMacca

MrMacca

MrMacca

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Earlier today my Hard drive started going crazy and it would click a lot.

I use a program called Hard Disk sentinel and normally it has the performance of the drive as 100%, however when i heard the clicking, I checked this program and it is now sitting at 50%

The program also says the following:
The hard disk is operating in PIO mode which reduces performance. It is recommended to check and replace data cable or modify the configuration.
The hard disk status is PERFECT. Problematic or weak sectors were not found and there are no spin up or data transfer errors.
Click to expand...

I switched off my PC, messed with the cables a bit and restarted and it returned to 100% performance. However after 5 minutes it reverts back to this POI Mode and 50% and the clicking resumes.

Does anyone have any methods I can try to hopefully force it to stay at it's original settings? Or is the Hard drive on its way out?

Thanks in advance.
 
Go grab a copy of WD's Lifeguard diagnostics from their site and run the tests against the drive. If it's clicking it's not usually a good sign :(
 
well, if memory serves - drives set to UDMA drops to PIO after windows detects too many errors in a set amount of time. i remember one of my drives doing this eons ago.

if it works in UDMA then drops to PIO then there's a fault somewhere. whether it's a cable issue (which i think mine was) or bad sectors on the drive or something.
 
I did all the tests using the Lifeguard Diagnostics tool and it found zero errors. It has since just returned back to UDMA mode and the clicking has stopped, so I'm going to have to buy a new cable and try that to see if the problems goes away completely.

Cheers for the information so far.
 
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