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Help with a failing hard drive


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#1
Link7z7

Link7z7

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Hi,
I'm 17 but not completely noob to the computer world but i'm a little confused and need some assistance.
About 2-3 months ago my slave drive (secondary HDD) basically failed. I can remember playing Skyrim or something and the game went buggy so I closed and restarted the PC. When it turned back on the whole PC seemed quite slow and unresponsive. The HDD is about 2 years old. My OS is Windows XP.
I ran a chkdsk test at the time and can remember seeing thousands of errors, for example: 34012 error, 34013 error, 34014 error etc.
So because it had so many errors i just cancelled it and disabled the HDD. 2-3 months later (present) i have been getting close to running out of space on both my main HDD and the portable HDD i have been using. I did a bit more research and came across terms like S.M.A.R.T so i installed a program called 'HD Tune 2.55'. I enabled my failed HDD and found it seemed to be faster the browse then previously. the health status said OK. i ran an error scan, first using the quick scan which retrieved no red blocks. The real scan is still running at the moment. It's nearly halfway completed with

Is my HDD doomed?

About an hour ago I pasted a 5gb file into the HDD and it transferred at regular speed (about 5 minutes or so). This made me think that perhaps certain sectors are broken while others are fine, as the HD Tune also showed those 14 red blocks but most being green.
Basically when i tested the HDD out about an hour earlier it seemed back to normal, but now many folders are slow to browse and take a while to load. when i click 'my computer' it takes a while to display the Drives and doesn't respond sometimes. And at one point it told me the HDD wasn't formatted which i know it is, leading to even more confusion. Which made me think that perhaps the format has been 'messed with' and needs reformatting, but i didn't want to test it because i don't want to lose files if it isn't completely necessary.

So the summarise: I'm quite confused about this problem but see it as a good learning opportunity, i need to know if my HDD is fixable or if i need to fish out some $ to buy a new one.

If you need more information to help me just ask.
Thanks for all the troubles, Link
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#2
phillpower2

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:welcome: Link7z7

Has the HDD at any time made any unusual noises such as clicking or clunking?

Please provide information about your computer, this includes is it a custom build or brand name such as Dell or HP, if it is provide the model name or series number (not serial) providing these details will enable us to better assist you, can you also provide the PSU (power supply unit) details, brand and model name or number please.

Next check the integrity of the drive concerned, see below;

Go to Start then to Run/Search
Type in compmgmt.msc and click Enter
On left side click on Disk Management
On right side you will see your hard drive.
Now I need you to take a screenshot and attach it to your next reply. Do the following to take a screenshot while the above is open and showing on your desktop.

To capture and post a screenshot;

Click on the ALT key + PRT SCR key..its on the top row..right hand side..now click on start...all programs...accessories...paint....left click in the white area ...press CTRL + V...click on file...click on save...save it to your desktop...name it something related to the screen your capturing... BE SURE TO SAVE IT AS A .JPG ...otherwise it may be to big to upload... then after typing in any response you have... click on browse...desktop...find the screenshot..select it and click on the upload button...then on the lower left...after it says upload successful...click on add reply like you normally would.
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