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Is there any unitary transformation that satisfies: ? 185.32.179.137 ( talk) 05:25, 18 October 2015 (UTC)
If a laptop hard drive (Hitachi, in this case) passes CHKDSK without a hitch, as well as all tests in the SeaTools program (S.M.A.R.T check, short drive self check, short generic) except for long generic, does this still mean that the hard drive is close to failure? Also, if a hard drive occasionally makes a low-volume but still noticeable "grinding" noise, is it close to failure? For reference, the laptop in question once hanged and showed a Windows 8 BSOD saying that a "Kernel Data Inpage Error" occurred, then after restarting showed an "operating system not found" error, although it worked fine again after another restart. Narutolovehinata5 t c csd new 06:43, 18 October 2015 (UTC)
An update: I downloaded a program called SpeedFan to check the actual SMART data. The "Uncorrectable Sector Count" attribute shows up as "000000000000" or 0, "Current Pending Sector Count" (which shows up as a warning) gives a value of "000000000008" or 8, and "Reallocated Event Count" gives "00000000000D" or 13. Is this bad? Narutolovehinata5 t c csd new 19:04, 18 October 2015 (UTC)
At the very least, you should run a fix all long [1], to ensure all pending sectors are reallocated. Any data in these sectors is basically unrecoverable anyway except perhaps if you're willing to spend thousands of dollars. There's a slight chance fix all long may kill the hard disk for good, then again so could chkdsk or a long generic. Once you've run fix all long, try rerunning a long generic again, I think it will probably pass then. If it doesn't you can try running fix all long again. However I would take that as another sign the hard disk is really dying. If fix all long fixes everything and a long generic passes, at a minimum you'd still want to keep an eye on the reallocated sectors, and probably rerun a long generic after a few weeks.
I presume you already have a backup of all important data (as you should even if the hard disk wasn't showing signs of having problems). So the main issues would be whether you want to keep running with the risk the hard disk may fail and you'd need to replace it at a less opportune time (i.e. you really need the computer and don't have time to replace the hard disk). And also the greater difficulties replacing the hard disk if it does fail (currently you could likely simply clone the disk on to another, and the system should work, if it fails, you can't). Plus the loss of any replaceable data you felt wasn't worth backing up (downloads for example).
Nil Einne ( talk) 02:27, 19 October 2015 (UTC)
As to the hard disk, 3 years isn't very long, but it also isn't that short. A hard disk dying within 3 years definitely isn't that abnormal although probably more die in the first year than the 3rd year. About the noise, while it's somewhat understandable you may have never paid much attention before and while it's possible the recent problems have made you more sensitive to noises, the fact you notice it now does suggest it could be new.
As to the crash, none of what you've said leading up to the crash or the crash itself would be unexpected if there was a hard disk problem but nor does it intrisicly suggest one. (I'm presuming you didn't hear funny noises at the time since you would have said.) However, even without the other weirdness with the hard disk, while there are other reasons the operating system won't be found, I would suspect the most likely reason would be that the hard disk was temporarily missing due to problems.
As for "fix all" not appearing, it's mostly irrelevant whether or not you have an external drive. The most likely reason why it's not appearing is because you're using the wrong tool. Are you sure your hard disk is Seagate (including any made by those they purchased, like Samsung)? If your hard disk is Western Digital or Toshiba (or any of the brands they own), you should be using a tool from that manufacturer. (A search of the drives model number should tell you who made it.) Some tools won't even start if you don't have a drive from that manufacturer (this is when the prescense of a external drive may matter), but others may start but not offer all features (this will often also be the case if it starts because you have an external drive of theirs). I don't think Western Digital has a "fix all" in their tool (at least I don't remember one), but it's possible their extended test works in a different way. (I was under the impression these were generic SMART tests, but I've also seen some stuff suggesting WD's tool may reallocate sectors during the extended test.) I've never used Toshiba's tool so I don't know what it's like. At the very least, I would run all non write tests from the tool provided by your manufacturer. The best way to ensure reallocation of all sectors is normally to write zeroes for the whole disk but that will also erase everything. If the bad sectors don't have any data assigned, you could always use some tool which will erase all blank space.
Computing desk | ||
---|---|---|
< October 17 | << Sep | October | Nov >> | October 19 > |
Welcome to the Wikipedia Computing Reference Desk Archives |
---|
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages. |
Is there any unitary transformation that satisfies: ? 185.32.179.137 ( talk) 05:25, 18 October 2015 (UTC)
If a laptop hard drive (Hitachi, in this case) passes CHKDSK without a hitch, as well as all tests in the SeaTools program (S.M.A.R.T check, short drive self check, short generic) except for long generic, does this still mean that the hard drive is close to failure? Also, if a hard drive occasionally makes a low-volume but still noticeable "grinding" noise, is it close to failure? For reference, the laptop in question once hanged and showed a Windows 8 BSOD saying that a "Kernel Data Inpage Error" occurred, then after restarting showed an "operating system not found" error, although it worked fine again after another restart. Narutolovehinata5 t c csd new 06:43, 18 October 2015 (UTC)
An update: I downloaded a program called SpeedFan to check the actual SMART data. The "Uncorrectable Sector Count" attribute shows up as "000000000000" or 0, "Current Pending Sector Count" (which shows up as a warning) gives a value of "000000000008" or 8, and "Reallocated Event Count" gives "00000000000D" or 13. Is this bad? Narutolovehinata5 t c csd new 19:04, 18 October 2015 (UTC)
At the very least, you should run a fix all long [1], to ensure all pending sectors are reallocated. Any data in these sectors is basically unrecoverable anyway except perhaps if you're willing to spend thousands of dollars. There's a slight chance fix all long may kill the hard disk for good, then again so could chkdsk or a long generic. Once you've run fix all long, try rerunning a long generic again, I think it will probably pass then. If it doesn't you can try running fix all long again. However I would take that as another sign the hard disk is really dying. If fix all long fixes everything and a long generic passes, at a minimum you'd still want to keep an eye on the reallocated sectors, and probably rerun a long generic after a few weeks.
I presume you already have a backup of all important data (as you should even if the hard disk wasn't showing signs of having problems). So the main issues would be whether you want to keep running with the risk the hard disk may fail and you'd need to replace it at a less opportune time (i.e. you really need the computer and don't have time to replace the hard disk). And also the greater difficulties replacing the hard disk if it does fail (currently you could likely simply clone the disk on to another, and the system should work, if it fails, you can't). Plus the loss of any replaceable data you felt wasn't worth backing up (downloads for example).
Nil Einne ( talk) 02:27, 19 October 2015 (UTC)
As to the hard disk, 3 years isn't very long, but it also isn't that short. A hard disk dying within 3 years definitely isn't that abnormal although probably more die in the first year than the 3rd year. About the noise, while it's somewhat understandable you may have never paid much attention before and while it's possible the recent problems have made you more sensitive to noises, the fact you notice it now does suggest it could be new.
As to the crash, none of what you've said leading up to the crash or the crash itself would be unexpected if there was a hard disk problem but nor does it intrisicly suggest one. (I'm presuming you didn't hear funny noises at the time since you would have said.) However, even without the other weirdness with the hard disk, while there are other reasons the operating system won't be found, I would suspect the most likely reason would be that the hard disk was temporarily missing due to problems.
As for "fix all" not appearing, it's mostly irrelevant whether or not you have an external drive. The most likely reason why it's not appearing is because you're using the wrong tool. Are you sure your hard disk is Seagate (including any made by those they purchased, like Samsung)? If your hard disk is Western Digital or Toshiba (or any of the brands they own), you should be using a tool from that manufacturer. (A search of the drives model number should tell you who made it.) Some tools won't even start if you don't have a drive from that manufacturer (this is when the prescense of a external drive may matter), but others may start but not offer all features (this will often also be the case if it starts because you have an external drive of theirs). I don't think Western Digital has a "fix all" in their tool (at least I don't remember one), but it's possible their extended test works in a different way. (I was under the impression these were generic SMART tests, but I've also seen some stuff suggesting WD's tool may reallocate sectors during the extended test.) I've never used Toshiba's tool so I don't know what it's like. At the very least, I would run all non write tests from the tool provided by your manufacturer. The best way to ensure reallocation of all sectors is normally to write zeroes for the whole disk but that will also erase everything. If the bad sectors don't have any data assigned, you could always use some tool which will erase all blank space.