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Mechanised Mod
Hello Chris,
Not sure what was going on with your download but thanks for the heads up, the program is readily available from Samsung here but without so much user info, MajorGeeks is always good for clean downloads though.
7yr old grandson Evan, little cherub most of the time but like his father also has his moments 
Member
Hello Phill,
Probably just me being over-cautious! The link led to http://files.hddguru...e/Samsung/HUTIL I wasn't sure which file to go for, but the one I chose said: -
I got a bit concerned when I saw the work 'hacked' - but it was probably fine and just me being silly! 
Regarding the Samsung link, I saw that one before. My HM251JI drive isn't mentioned though. Does that matter?
7yr old grandson Evan, little cherub most of the time but like his father also has his moments
Aw! Sounds very sweet! Enjoy....
Chris.
Edited by Channeal, 28 June 2017 - 03:05 PM.
Mechanised Mod
Hello Chris,
Better to be over cautious than end up being sorry
Stick with your MajorGeek download please.
Member
Hello Phill,
Ran into a few problems with the HUTIL program. First of all, I just could not remember which program I have used in the past to make a bootable CD. I actually tried a few programs (and ruined a few CDs) but could not get the CDs to work. I just got a message every time I tried to boot from the CD
saying: -
Can't open CD driver CD001. SHSUCDX can't install.
your ram drive is loaded at C:
Out of memory error.
Bad command or file name.
SAMSUNG HDD UTILITY
C:\>_
Is this because I did something wrong, or do you think it is because my particular hard drive is not listed at http://support-us.sa...name=&from_osc=
I was wondering........ it is probably around 4 years ago now - while my daughter owned the Sony Vaio and while she was living away from home - that she contacted me one day and said that she was having some big problems with it. Neither of us can remember the details, but she thinks it might have involved BSODs. Whatever the problem, we both thought that the HDD was failing. However, I got her to run scandsk which ran for many hours and finally seemed to have sorted the problem. I also got her to run malware scans, which she had never previously done. She also had far too much stored on there - and eventually deleted a lot of stuff. After that, it was fine for a long time although by the time I took it over, it wasn't running too well again. It seems fine now, apart from getting too hot.
Is it possible that the errors shown in Crystal Disk Info etc relate to the situation 4 years ago and that it is the damage from back then which is showing and that as things are (hopefully) better now that it is not something that is in any great danger of getting worse? Or doesn't it work like that?
Many thanks,
Chris.
Mechanised Mod
Hello Chris,
Apart from your specific drive not being listed I had no idea so used Google and came across the thread here
Probably more trouble than it is worth as your HDD appears ok apart from the high temps when under load.
BSOD are predominantly caused by driver/s or RAM problems and on occasion the HDD, if the drive was failing 4 years ago it is most unlikely that it would still be going today.
I suspect that the higher than normal temps are upsetting the apple cart, could be because of dust but equally just the HDD showing its age.
Member
Hello Phill,
Apart from your specific drive not being listed I had no idea so used Google and came across the thread here
Am confused about whether or not the ISO is bootable. Magic ISO says that it is, but when I tried to make a bootable flash drive with Rufus (instead of a CD), it told me: 'This image is either non-bootable, or uses a boot or compression method that is not supported by Rufus'. (The file does specify that it is for a CD ROM Drive though).
I found another thread here in which somebody says: 'That ISO on the Samsung site is not bootable, you have to make it so yourself - they are just supplying the executable files'.
BSOD are predominantly caused by driver/s or RAM problems and on occasion the HDD, if the drive was failing 4 years ago it is most unlikely that it would still be going today.
Wasn't suggesting that the drive has been failing all this time! 
I just wondered whether it was possible that if some damage had been done 4 years ago - possibly because of the drive being too full - remedying the situation at the time could have meant that the damage never got any worse, but is still showing up in the Crystal Disk results. Just another of my crazy ideas! 
Probably more trouble than it is worth as your HDD appears ok apart from the high temps when under load.
Agreed. Probably isn't worth any more trouble. 
I suspect that the higher than normal temps are upsetting the apple cart, could be because of dust but equally just the HDD showing its age.
Are there other reasons - other than dust or an ageing HDD - which could be causing the high temperatures?
Am definitely going to try and open up the back and see if there is much cleaning that can be done. If there isn't, then I might just go ahead and buy a new HDD straight away.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained!
Cheers,
Chris.
Mechanised Mod
Hello Chris, been missing again I`m afraid (shirking this time though 
)
Wasn't suggesting that the drive has been failing all this time!
Neither was I, what I was intimating at was is that since the initial problem some four years ago if the HDD had mechanical or electrical problems they would have repeatedly been reported by Windows or the integrity of the drive itself would have deteriorated and at some point the drive expired.
I just wondered whether it was possible that if some damage had been done 4 years ago - possibly because of the drive being too full
In extreme cases a HDD can physically fail due to continuous overwriting but Windows and other programs will normally become corrupt first resulting in Windows failing to boot etc.
Are there other reasons - other than dust or an ageing HDD - which could be causing the high temperatures?
There are but generally there will be telltale signs such as the computer locking up or shutting down unexpectedly, a faulty or below spec power supply is one of the most common other causes.
While on the subject of overheating I should mention the following, monitoring programs such as HWMonitor, MSI Afterburner and Speedfan rely on sensors on a computers MB for voltage and temperature readings, with AIO (all in ones) notebooks and OEM (brand name) desktop computers they generally use budget components to keep manufacturing costs down and the MBs concerned will often only have such sensors as to report the CPU temps and some MBs have their own monitoring program and this will often conflict with third party programs such as those mentioned and the readings therefore unreliable.
Am definitely going to try and open up the back and see if there is much cleaning that can be done. If there isn't, then I might just go ahead and buy a new HDD straight away.
I am sure that you will be fine but before opening up the notebook please consider the following, a computer used in a pet, smoke free environment and in the case of a notebook on a flat, firm and even surface is less likely to overheat due to dust clogging the fan/s and heatsink meaning that any spring cleaning may not make any significant difference.
Member
Hello Phill,
Oops..... your message arrived just as I was finishing writing the following: -
######################
As I said I would in my previous message a couple of days ago, I tried to open up the notebook. I requested that my daughter go upstairs for the time it took to do it, so I would remain undisturbed - but before she did so she said "You won't be able to do it!". I tried previously in 2014, but there was one screw then that neither me, my daughter or my husband managed to remove. Today though - with the aid of the better screwdriver set that I bought a while ago now - I had no problem at all! 
Inside, I was surprised to see that there does not actually seem to be too much dust around - and what was there was mostly clinging to the inside of the cover. I think there was some dust on the inside of the fan, the bits that go around (cannot for the life of me think of the word I am looking for!) I cleaned them very gently as best as I could, using a little soft brush.
Am in a dilemma now whether or not to leave the cover loose and order a new hard drive, or not.
######################
So....... what you said just now about the notebook probably not being in too bad a state inside did indeed prove to be true.
Even more confused about what to do now, especially after what you said about the readings not necessarily being reliable. My instinct is probably still to try replacing the hard drive, partly because it is a job I have never done before! What really makes me think it is getting too hot is because sometimes when I put my hand by the side vent the air coming out seems very hot. Not normally a problem as I don't tend to use the notebook for very long periods - but when I was away recently staying in the Cotswolds for a couple of days and used it to load some photos, it seemed to get really pretty hot. Don't realy know if that is normal or not though.
As far as shutting down because it is too hot is concerned - it doesn't seem to do it now, but when I first acquired the notebook from my daughter it used to do it fairly frequently.
So, what would you recommend I do now? What would you do, if you were me?
been missing again I`m afraid (shirking this time though
What? We can't have you shirking! Shame on you! (I hope it was a very enjoyable kind of shirking though! )
Chris.
Mechanised Mod
Hello Chris,
As I said I would in my previous message a couple of days ago, I tried to open up the notebook. I requested that my daughter go upstairs for the time it took to do it, so I would remain undisturbed - but before she did so she said "You won't be able to do it!"
O ye of little faith 
What really makes me think it is getting too hot is because sometimes when I put my hand by the side vent the air coming out seems very hot.
Hard to judge what we each consider to be hot but fwiw it suggests that your cooling fan is doing its job by expelling the hot air, you could try Real Temp to see what it says your CPU is reaching, see here
Even more confused about what to do now, especially after what you said about the readings not necessarily being reliable. My instinct is probably still to try replacing the hard drive, partly because it is a job I have never done before!
So, what would you recommend I do now? What would you do, if you were me?
Honest answer is that I personally would not swap the drive atm but would keep a regular check on the readings, if the Reallocated Sectors Count or Spin Retry Count drop then I would suggest that the drive be changed.
Replacement HDD info, WD Black and HGST ( also a WD company) are the brands of HDD that I would suggest folk consider, some example specs and prices here
Member
Hello Phill,
The notebook is reassembled and working again. Had a major panic last night when the keyboard wasn't working and after a google search I was convinced that me opening it up had somehow damaged the cord connecting it. This afternoon though, I discovered it was simply down to the Number Lock having somehow been activated. I honestly think I am really way too stupid to be let near anything at all to do with computers.
The temps don't seem any better. Here is a screenshot from RealTemp which I downloaded as you suggested.
Chris.
Mechanised Mod
Hello Chris,
The idea behind running Real Temp was so that you could see how hot the air being expelled should be, did you also check the HDD temp with CrystalDisk.
Something that I did notice is the load that your CPU is shown to be under, being under such load will raise your temps, compare my screenshot to yours.
Member
Hello Phill,
The idea behind running Real Temp was so that you could see how hot the air being expelled should be
Really sorry....... but am a bit confused by this. Haven't managed to find a good explanation of what RealTemp is supposed to do. How does it show me how hot the air being expelled should be? I thought it was testing to see how close it gets to the point where it is so hot that things start to go really awry. But maybe not......
Something that I did notice is the load that your CPU is shown to be under, being under such load will raise your temps, compare my screenshot to yours.
Interesting one this. I noticed it too. I always assumed that a computer started off at its coolest and then gradually got hotter, but I am now learning that this is not the case.
With the notebook - and while running Task Manager alongside RealTemp - I can see that the load (and temperature) go up quite high at first and then go down somewhat. Something called DRScanner seems to be the main cause of the high load, hogging around 50% for pretty much exactly 10 minutes - after which time it suddenly goes right down the table to virtually nothing. Do you have any idea what DRScanner might be, or why it stays around for exactly 10 minutes?
EDIT. I eventually managed to find out what the DRScanner related to. It was a Trend Micro online virus scan I once did, but which was apparently still present and still scanning! I have deleted it now.
did you also check the HDD temp with CrystalDisk.
Am including some screenshots taken today. The CrystalDisk one confuses me even more than I was already confused! It was taken earlier - and you will see that the temperature shows at 32 degrees. I just checked it again as I thought it might have gone down, as the computer is just idling with the load showing as low. However, the latest reading is showing as actually higher at 39 degrees!
I really give up! 
Chris.
PS As far as the HDTune graph is concerned - when I first turned the notebook back on after reassembling it, the first thing I did was run HDTune. The graph then was looking really bad, with a lot of it being right down virtually on the bottom. As you can see though, it is actually looking a lot better today
Edited by Channeal, 03 July 2017 - 05:56 AM.
Mechanised Mod
Hello Chris,
Really sorry....... but am a bit confused by this. Haven't managed to find a good explanation of what RealTemp is supposed to do
What really makes me think it is getting too hot is because sometimes when I put my hand by the side vent the air coming out seems very hot.
No need to be sorry, perhaps what I said was a bit vague;
The idea behind running Real Temp was so that you could see how hot the air being expelled should be,
Meaning that you should expect the hot air being expelled to be around the same temp as what Real Temp says your CPU is running at, your RT screeny above reports 42C so if the air being expelled felt a lot hotter it would suggest something could be amiss.
Attached is a CrystalDisk info screenshot of my Vaio notebook with the original Fujutsu HDD still present, note the temps are hotter than yours.
Good catch with spotting and dealing with the Trend Micro scanner
Member
Hello Phill,
Thank you very much for your message.
Meaning that you should expect the hot air being expelled to be around the same temp as what Real Temp says your CPU is running at, your RT screeny above reports 42C so if the air being expelled felt a lot hotter it would suggest something could be amiss.
Ah thank you! I think I understand now. I was looking for something in the RealTemp readings which specified how hot the air being expelled was. Silly me! 
Mind you, don't think I would have any idea whether or not the air being expelled is hotter than 42C or not. All I know is that occasionally it feels much hotter than usual - but then, I guess it would do!
Was feeling quite despondent at the weekend, as I felt that all my efforts in opening up the notebook etc had been pretty futile. But at least I know now that I can do it fairly easily, in case I ever do need to replace the hard drive.
It was very interesting to compare your Crystal Disk readings with mine btw, so thanks for that. And thanks very much for all your help with this. I will keep checking the readings regularly and will report back if anything changes drastically.
Chris
Edited by Channeal, 04 July 2017 - 11:51 AM.
Mechanised Mod
You are welcome Chris, glad that you found the info helpful and to see that you have perked up
I will keep checking the readings regularly and will report back if anything changes drastically.
Sounds like a plan
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