[Channeal]

Hello there,

 

I have three hard drives in my care - two in my desktop computer and one on my notebook.

 

I have known that the drive on my Sony Vaio notebook has not been in a good state since even before I converted it to Windows 10 around last September.

 

Last July I was also told by somebody here that the second drive on my Dell Dimension 9150 was not in too good a state either.

 

Please could somebody here take a look at the following logs for me and tell me if my drives have reached the state when I should be panicking!

 

I am a little concerned about my C drive which though it doesn't look too bad to me (not that I know much) the HD Tune logs are showing that things might not be perfect (I think!)

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Edited by Channeal, 21 June 2017 - 10:49 AM.

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Hello Chris,

 

The 250GB Samsung that has Windows on it is the one with cause for concern, there is an Acronis kb here that explains what is going on and the suggested course of action you should take.

 

Once you start getting bad sectors more will follow and how often the particular drive is used could determine how much longer the drive will last.

[phillpower2]

Hello Chris,

 

The 250GB Samsung that has Windows on it is the one with cause for concern, there is an Acronis kb here that explains what is going on and the suggested course of action you should take.

 

Once you start getting bad sectors more will follow and how often the particular drive is used could determine how much longer the drive will last.

[Channeal]

Hello Phill,

 

First of all, sorry about the mix-up with posting my previous post twice! First of all, I accidentally clicked the 'Post' button before I had finished the post. Then in trying to remedy the situation, it somehow (no idea how!) posted it as a complety new post. Not only that, but then it seemed to me that the screenshots appeared in the wrong post, i.e. the one I thought they were absent from!

 

I think this extreme heat must me addling my brain!

 

 

 

Okay..... getting back to my ageing hard drives and the Sony Vaio (model vgn - ns20e) in particular............

 

 

Once you start getting bad sectors more will follow and how often the particular drive is used could determine how much longer the drive will last.

 

Interesting about the bad sectors.......

 

If you look at the Crystal Disk screenshot I posted here on the 23rd September last year, you will see that the 'Reallocated Sectors Count' (which I assume is what you are talking about) was exactly the same as it is now. (The yellow warning which showed by the 'Current Pending Sector Count' on the same date disappeared after running Dban and changing from Vista to Windows 10).

 

Does that mean that things haven't deteriorated significently since then? <says she hopefully!>

 

Just out of interest, before the upgrade I was initially hoping to replace the hard drive - but you told me it was too difficult to do it myself. Please can I ask for your opinion on whether the notebook is too old to make it worth paying to have a shop replace it and also whether you have any idea at all how much a shop would be likely to charge to do it? (Not sure, but think that my daughter bought the notebook in 2008 or 2009).

 

Many thanks for your help.

 

Hope you are keeping cool in the heat.

 

Chris.

[phillpower2]

Hello Chris,

 

No problem, done similar more than once myself   and being half baked with the heat myself I seem to have answered you in reverse order 

 

Can`t recall commenting on replacing the HDD being honest so had to use good old Google for some info, from the description in the thread here it appears to be straight forward and having previously replaced the DVD drive you are already clued up with some of the procedure.

 

Interesting about the bad sectors.......

 

 

Handy you including the link to the previous thread, I can use copy/paste 

 

anything to do with bad or reallocated sectors on a HDD do raise cause for concern but these can sometimes be resolved by wiping the drive with zeroes (0s) using a program such as DBan, doesn`t always work but it is worth trying before attempting any clean install.

 

 

The Reallocated Sectors Count may or may not get any worse for the lifetime of the notebook and this is borne out by what was mentioned on Sept 30th last year;

 

Regarding the HDD cautionary message, keep a minimum of a weekly check to see if it drops below the current count of 85

 

 

If you do decide to replace the HDD;

 

I would copy the drivers folder to a separate thumb drive from the ISO, install Windows 10, install the chipset drivers from the thumb drive and then test the system, most modern hardware gets along fine with Windows generic drivers with the chipset drivers being the only ones that can cause problems if not installed.

 

 

You already know how to do a clean install and the above is mainly for anyone else that may read your thread.

 

500GB SATA HDD for your notebook here

 

Edit to add, not suggesting that you go for an SSD but Crucial guarantee here compatibility and they state that your storage device is the SATA type.

[Channeal]

Hello Phill,

 

Thanks for your reply and for all the links. Will think it over about whether or not to attempt to replace the drive. It is about time I had another computer project to keep me occupied though!

 

Btw, not absolutely sure whether or not we directly discussed upgrading the HDD, although I thought we had. I did however definitely gain the impression it was not an option for me  - as on the 30th July you said the following to me, when I was wanting to open up the notebook to clean it: -

 

 

In addition to the above, the reason that notebook repairs and upgrades are normally expensive is because they can be time consuming and tricky, an incorrectly placed screw on reassembly can short out and ruin the MB and that is one good reason that the task should only be undertaken by a suitably trained/competent person who will be obliged to put things right should they make a mistake, with this in mind I would suggest the following;

 

Being a right coward, that frightened me...... and the notebook never did get a really good clean. The temperatures did improve a bit after blowing some air in, but I never did get to give it a proper clean inside!   

 

Anyway, am taking the notebook away for a couple of days vacation tomorrow, so maybe that will do it (and me!) a bit of good!

 

Thanks again,

 

Chris.

[phillpower2]

Hello Chris,

 

That is standard info regarding opening up a notebook and not necessarily restricted to swapping out a HDD, some notebooks for example have a service hatch to access the HDD and some notebooks you have to partially dismantle to upgrade the RAM, this includes removing the screen, base and the keyboard so you can imagine the amount and varying types of screws that can be involved.

 

The information was never intended to frighten you only make sure that you were aware that notebook upgrades/cleaning are not always an easy task.

 

Enjoy your break and you are welcome 

[Channeal]

Hello Phill,

 

 

The information was never intended to frighten you only make sure that you were aware that notebook upgrades/cleaning are not always an easy task.

 

It doesn't matter anyway; I am happy because I have learned everything gradually - and feel a bit more confident now. So it's all good!

 

I might have a trial run some time, just to see if I can remove all the screws and locate where the hard drive is situated.

 

 

Enjoy your break and you are welcome 

 

Thanks very much. The weather is supposed to be cooling down a bit tomorrow, so hopefully I won't roast! Just hoping not to have to travel in torrential rain - or even worse, a thunderstorm!

 

Chris.

Edited by Channeal, 21 June 2017 - 02:57 PM.

[phillpower2]

Safe journey 

[Channeal]

Hello Phill,

 

I think I probably will end up attempting to replace the drive on the notebook. It always disappointed me a bit that I had not been able to do it before - and now that you have given me more hope that it might be possible, I will most likely give it a go. (You have probably realised by now that I cannot resist a challenge when it comes to computer stuff! ) I will check out the screws first, as in 2014 when my daughter still owned the notebook we failed to remove all of them (although I have some far better screwdrivers now which will hopefully make it very much easier!).

 

Not sure when exactly I will get around to actually trying to replace the drive; it depends when I get some more time! I have other jobs I really should be giving my attention to. It is always a temptation for me to abandon all other tasks when there is something to be done on the computer - but there comes a time when you really cannot leave the more mundane (and far less interesting!) jobs very much longer!

 

Out of interest, please can I ask a question about the HD Tune screenshots I posted before? I read elsewhere that RKinner said that the maximum MB/sec readings should ideally be around 500, but that if they are under 100 that is really bad! My worse reading of 56.1 is for the Sony Vaio - which is what you would expect. The second worse reading of 81.0 was from my Western Digital C drive on the Dell desktop. My second drive (Seagate) is showing a slightly better reading of 143.4 - although last July I was told that this was the drive which was showing signs of failing (I think this was from the SMART info on Speccy). Do the HD Tune readings mean that the C drive is now in a far worse state that the Seagate is?

 

Just curious really.....

 

Many thanks,

 

Chris.

[phillpower2]

Hello Chris,

 

 read elsewhere that RKinner said that the maximum MB/sec readings should ideally be around 500, but that if they are under 100 that is really bad! 

 

 

Crossed wires perhaps, the screenshots show the HD benchmark tool in use, these readings will vary according to the HDD and other hardware specs, a faster CPU, faster RAM and a 7200rpm HDD would be expected to have faster transfer speeds than slower hardware of the same age and use.

 

Click on the HD Tune Health and Error checking options and grab screenshots of all results for us please.

[Channeal]

Hello Phill,

 

Thanks for your reply.

 

Yes, probably crossed wires (often seems to me that my wires are almost permanently crossed, actually! )

 

I am still a bit confused though, as Rkinner said: -

 

 

 If the hard drive is healthy you should get a fairly smooth curve that stays up at the top of the graph most of the time.  If it oscillates wildly or the maximum is very low (under 100 - we would actually like to see something like 500 on a healthy drive) then the drive is dying and needs to be replaced. 

 

That's where I got the idea about the maximum speed shown alongside the graph being significent. I guess what you are implying is that it it would be different for mega ancient drives like mine!

 

 

Anyway, I ran the tests you suggested and the results are as follows: -

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Things seem not to be looking too bad there to me (though what do I know?). Even the Samsung isn't throwing up any nasty error messages!

 

Bye for now,

 

Chris.

 

PS I notice that the Samsung is showing as somewhat hot at 49 degrees. I really need to open it up for a clean!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[phillpower2]

Hello Chris,

 

Apologies for the delay getting back to you.

 

Not sure what the unknown attribute entries are for the Seagate HDD, the Samsung is shown to be hot as the safe operating temps according to the specs here say 5 - 55°C, high temps can cause all sorts of problems including erratic behavior, that could be what is happening as other than the high temps of the Samsung the drives look ok.

[Channeal]

Hello Phill,

 

 

Apologies for the delay getting back to you.

 

No problem whatsoever.

 

 

 

 

Not sure what the unknown attribute entries are for the Seagate HDD

 

I think I can answer that! If you compare the HD Tune results with the Crystal Disk Info screenshot I posted in my first message, you will see that: -

 

B7 relates to Vendor Specific

B8 relates to End to End Error

BB relates to Reported Uncorrectable Errors

BC relates to Command Timeout

BD relates to High Fly Writes

F1 relates to Total Host Writes

F2 relates to Total Host Reads

 

The results reported for the above items are exactly the same for both programs. No idea why HD Tune was unable to specify what they related to though. Very Strange!

 

 

 

the Samsung is shown to be hot as the safe operating temps according to the specs here say 5 - 55°C, high temps can cause all sorts of problems including erratic behavior, that could be what is happening as other than the high temps of the Samsung the drives look ok.

 

I suppose this takes me back to having to attempt to open the notebook up and see whether a good spring clean lowers the temperatures at all!

 

 

I am guessing you are probably having a mega-busy week, so I hope things quieten down for you.

 

Caio,

 

Chris.

[phillpower2]

Hello Chris,

 

Good catch on spotting those readings 

 

 

I am guessing you are probably having a mega-busy week, so I hope things quieten down for you.

 

 

Aye doing a bit of babysitting before and after work 

 

There is a diagnostic tool that you can try that is specific to Samsung HDDs, both CD and USB versions of Samsung HUTIL and user info here

[Channeal]

Hello Phill,

 

Thanks very much for the info.

 

Wasn't too happy about using that link - especially as when I downloaded one of the files it said something about it being a hacked copy! I am sure it is probably okay, but I found another version at http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/samsung_drive_diagnostic_utility_(hutil).html  It says to be careful though as it can erase the drive!

 

Enjoy your babysitting! Is it your grandchildren? I don't have any myself, but most of the people I know who do are very enthusiastic about how much pleasure theirs bring them.

 

Chris.

Edited by Channeal, 28 June 2017 - 02:04 PM.