[DonnaB]

Hi fellow members,

I am having troubles with my Gateway laptop (4 years old) that I believe is due to the HD getting ready to fail. I am no hardware guru and would greatly appreciate some guidance.

Symptoms are as follows:

Slow to boot
Hangs on the welcome screen ("thinker" orb freezes)
Delayed reactions for everything from opening browsers, programs, email, web sites, opening links on sites, etc.

I'd like to perform a HD test but not sure what would be the best way to do so. I was told that all manufacturers of HD's have a test you can run but I have no idea what who the manufacturer is. How do I find this out and which other HD test would be sufficient?

Not sure if the model # of the laptop would make a difference but on the bottom of the case it states ML6714 yet in System Properties is states MT6706.

My HD:
160 GB 5400 RPM SATA hard drive(which is the same for both models as above.

I'm quite sure there are no infections and I do keep her cleaned and maintained daily/weekly with MBAM, SASW, Ccleaner, disk cleanup, Auslogices defrag, Windows Updates, and software updates.

Thank you,

Donna

PS: I am in the process of making sure that everything that is important to me is backed up for safe keeping.

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Hi DonnaB
If you enter the BIOS you may be able to get the HDD details from there, it may be listed as starting with WD for Western Digital or ST for Seagate for example but if you cannot find the details try Seatools at the link below as it works well with other brands;
Run hard drive diagnostics http://www.tacktech....ay.cfm?ttid=287
Make sure, you select tool, which is appropriate for the brand of your hard drive.
Depending on the program, it'll create bootable floppy, or bootable CD.
If downloaded file is of .iso type, use ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/ to burn .iso file to a CD (select "Write image file to disc" option), and make the CD bootable.
Good luck and let us know how it goes or if we can help further.
NOTE. If your hard drive is made by Toshiba, unfortunately, you're out of luck, because Toshiba doesn't provide any diagnostic tool.

Thanks to Broni for the instructions

[phillpower2]

Hi DonnaB
If you enter the BIOS you may be able to get the HDD details from there, it may be listed as starting with WD for Western Digital or ST for Seagate for example but if you cannot find the details try Seatools at the link below as it works well with other brands;
Run hard drive diagnostics http://www.tacktech....ay.cfm?ttid=287
Make sure, you select tool, which is appropriate for the brand of your hard drive.
Depending on the program, it'll create bootable floppy, or bootable CD.
If downloaded file is of .iso type, use ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/ to burn .iso file to a CD (select "Write image file to disc" option), and make the CD bootable.
Good luck and let us know how it goes or if we can help further.
NOTE. If your hard drive is made by Toshiba, unfortunately, you're out of luck, because Toshiba doesn't provide any diagnostic tool.

Thanks to Broni for the instructions

[Alzeimer]

Options to know the brand of your HD

Open up the back of your laptop where the HD is located and look at the manufacturer

Go into your Bios and under see the model number where it lists the Sata drives

When into windows go to your device manager and under Hard Disk it will show your model number


Some will start like WD???? those are Western Digital but some others just have numbers, type those numbers in google and you will be able to know the exact information for your drive.

Once you know the brand go to there website and download the Bootable ISO Image of the diagnostic program and burn it on a cd then boot from it and run the tests.


Hope this will help

[DonnaB]

Thank you phillpower2 & Alzeimer.

A thought just came to me and I created a Belarc Report. My HD is a WD. The following is what Belarc presented to me: (also ran Speccy)

WDC WD1600BEVS-22RST0 [Hard drive] (160.04 GB) -- drive 0, s/n WD-WXE907195742, rev 04.01G04, SMART Status: Healthy

From the link phillpower2 provided above I found this in the list:

Hard Drive Diagnostics Tools and Utilities

Which should I use? The only type of disk I have at this time is a DVD-R that is only 4.7GB's. Looks like I'll need to buy a different disk. Could you please make a suggestion for the disk I'll need for this purpose?

Um...could I just install HD Tune?

Would this download be a possibility for what I need?

Is there a chkdsk command I could use? (looking for the easy way out here)

I realize that running the test from a disk is less demanding on the HD. Correct?

[phillpower2]

Yes you can use the Softpedia download, it is better to run the actual HDD manufacturers testing tools before any checkdisk if drive failure is suspected and which can be done afterwards as could HD Tune be used afterwards on a regular basis.
See http://wdc.com/wdpro...2779-701022.pdf and http://www.smarthdd.com/en/ for further info, the latter as to use the S.M.A.R.T facility if your HDD has it.

[DonnaB]

the latter as to use the S.M.A.R.T facility if your HDD has it.

Supposedly, it does have a SMART drive as shown in the Belarc report:

WDC WD1600BEVS-22RST0 [Hard drive] (160.04 GB) -- drive 0, s/n WD-WXE907195742, rev 04.01G04, SMART Status: Healthy

Is that what you are talking about?

I've installed the software to my desktop from here. I assume that all I have to do is close all browsers then click...right?

I'll wait for your response before I do anything.

Ooooo! My 1000th post!

Edited by DonnaB, 18 December 2011 - 11:03 AM.

[DonnaB]

Just checked out the link for Data Lifeguard Diagnostic Utility (PDF File) for Western Digital. Under "chapter 2" page 3 my OS (Vista) is not listed as being supported. Will that make a difference if I choose to go that route?

[phillpower2]

See July 2011 version 1.24 http://support.wdc.c...2&sid=3&lang=en

Supported Operating Systems

•Windows 7 32/64-bit versions
•Windows Vista 32/64 bit versions
•Windows XP 32/64-bit versions

[DonnaB]

Well, it passed the test.

I did install SMARTHDD and the current temp shows as 50 degrees/ highest temp 55 degrees and the State - nonfaulty.

Not sure what to do except keep everything backed up just in case.

I think it's time to take the laptop apart and blow out the dust bunnies. Been quite some time since I have done that.

Opinions please.

Thank you.

[phillpower2]

Hi DonnaB
Happy to hear the HDD passed the testing
If you have never cleaned out the inside of the case then yes it is a good idea, can you confirm it is your laptop @
http://support.gatew...5_Oasis_RPL.pdf

Another suggestion is to tidy up the data on your HDD so please follow the directions provided below starting with Autoruns http://technet.micro...ernals/bb963902

1: Extract the Autoruns Zip file contents to a folder.
2: Double-click the "Autoruns.exe".
3: Click on the "Everything" tab
4: Go to File then to Export As or Save in some versions.
5: Save AutoRuns.txt file to known location like your Desktop.
6: Attach to your next reply.

2nd: Download and run TFC from http://www.geekstogo...ds&showfile=187 your computer should automatically re-boot on completion but if not do it manually.

3rd: Defrag your HDD http://www.auslogics...re/disk-defrag/ do this at least once a week in the future, a tidy drive is a faster drive, please note that I am not suggesting that you use any other product or service here.

[DonnaB]

phillpower. It's been about 2 years since I actually took the bottom of the case off and cleaned it really good.

My regimen for maintenance is as follows:

Ccleaner - never the registry cleaner.

TFC

Windows DiskCleanup

Auslogics Disk Defrag

In that order and at least once to twice a week.

Not too often do I place the laptop on anything but a hard surface, though I do have cats and I know their fur is more susceptible to being sucked into the fan more than anything.

The reason I posted today is that when I booted the laptop up for the first time today (which on my day off I usually keep it running all day then shut down at night) the fan and HD just seemed to be working overtime. Very loud for a much longer time than usual. It's not overheating either. I had been having this issue for some time. Even performed a factory recovery back in September. Didn't help with the issues I posted in my first post. Ran out of ideas as to what the problem could be. Hence.....possible HD failure.

I'll clean the insides out as soon as I can get a can of compressed air. (last time I used the vacuum cleaner ) I know...bad idea. But I was desperate at the time.

I'll let you know the results.

I truly appreciate your time and guidance.

Thank you very much!

Donna

Edited by DonnaB, 18 December 2011 - 03:49 PM.

[phillpower2]

You appear to have everything well under control