Seagate SATA-1 Hard Disk Repeatedly Crashing

Zaysen · 15-07-2007, 01:57 PM

I assembled a PC for a Client of Mine in Dec-2005 With Celeron D331 CPU 2.66 Ghz 533Mhz FSB Socket 775 with Intel D915GAV Motherboard,Kingston 256mb x 2 Modules=512mb DDR-1 400Mhz Ram & Seagate Sata 1 80gb 7200 RPM Hard Disk Drive With XFX Geforce 6200 TC Graphics Card.

This PC is used only for Internet Access and Instant Messaging Functions.The Following Softwares Are Installed.

WIndows XP Home SP-2 Licensed Edition, Adobe Reader,Yahoo Messenger, Avast Antivirus, Windows Firewall OS Patches and Updates Automatically Installed Via Windows Update, Spy-Bot Search & Destroy, AD-Ware SE. Zone Alarm was Installed once but it was making the Hard Disk to develop some grinding noise hence had to be un-installed after which it was not installed again and Windows Firewall was enabled.

Since Assembly The Hard Disk Develops Bad Sectors very quickly in about three months time. Already Two Hard Disks Crashed in The First 11 Months and the third replacement hard disk got from seagate installed on 22-Nov-2006 has again developed a lot of bad sectors and had to be re-formatted on 13-07-2007.

I Replaced The Power Supply of the Navtech Cabinet with a Antec Smart power 2.0 400 Watts Supply but the same problem continues. The Computer is powered via a Microtek 800 VA UPS so again voltage fluctuation is ruled out. I am unable to understand as to what is causing the hard disk to crash. I have ran all Antispy ware, Antivirus, and Antiadware Tests but nothing has shown up and the PC is Clean. My Customer has now become a sckeptic regarding the usage of PC's . He has now come to the conclusion that they are unreliable gadgets. He says that luckily he did not use the PC for Data Storage otherwise he would have had it.

Can Any one Help? At One Side Hard Disk technology in terms of size and low cost is progressing and in the other side Crash rates are increasing. What is the Solution Now? Regarding Data Storage Should one keep both paper books and computers together?

ANIRUDH, NEW DELHI on 15/7/07 01:57 PM

NucleusKore · 15-07-2007, 02:07 PM

Hmm, looks like a problem with his power supply, not SMPS, but mains power supply. I suggest
1. Get the earthing checked by a qualified electrical contractor. Electricians test it with a light bulb :-S not a good idea. Should be checked with a multimeter
2. See if there's a possibility that the customer is abusing his system - as in repeatedly hard rebooting with the reset switch, or if there is any evidence of him hitting the cabinet (in anger offcourse). Hard disks don't take these shocks lightly
3. When the cabinet is sitting on the floor or table, is it steady on 4 legs or is it wobbling. Pack the legs if required and make sure its steady.
4. Check whether the customer is in a habit of moving the cabinet around for any purpose when the system is in operation.
5. In addition to windows, install a Linux distro, say SuSE, and let him or her use POP mail and P2P services like Limewire or BitTorrent only from there. This will minimise virus entry.

Liggy · 15-07-2007, 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NucleusKore

2. See if there's a possibility that the customer is abusing his system - as in repeatedly hard rebooting with the reset switch, or if there is any evidence of him hitting the cabinet (in anger offcourse). Hard disks don't take these shocks lightly.

that is probably the issue, u could ask the cleint but they will tell you they do everything by the book. someone I knew had that problem as well, went through 2 HDD's. told me he was doing everything normally. until one day I coaught him turning his computer off by flipping the power switch on the powerbar/surgeprotector.!!!

darklord · 15-07-2007, 11:05 PM

from what i have read, i cant stop thinking that the user is removing the HDD and carrying it around for data sharing or for whatever reasons.

sashijoseph · 15-07-2007, 11:57 PM

Are the interior temperatures ok?

monkey · 16-07-2007, 03:27 PM

Hey Zaysen, make sure that the replaced HDDs are indeed new and not the old one repaired (zero-filled). I had the same experience with Seagate HDD I bought from Nehru Place. It had developed bad sectors and I returned it for replacement. I got the replacement after 5 days and this HDD too developed bad sectors after just 2 months. Again I got it replaced and again the new HDD developed bad sectors within few months. It was only then i came to know that the dealer had been zero-filling the disk all the time and never actually sent the HDD for replacement (he even refused to accept that he is following this practice of zero-filling even after I showed him the signatures put on the HDD when bought the very first time). Finally I had to approach Seagate directly for the replacement.

darklord · 16-07-2007, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by monkey

Hey Zaysen, make sure that the replaced HDDs are indeed new and not the old one repaired (zero-filled). I had the same experience with Seagate HDD I bought from Nehru Place. It had developed bad sectors and I returned it for replacement. I got the replacement after 5 days and this HDD too developed bad sectors after just 2 months. Again I got it replaced and again the new HDD developed bad sectors within few months. It was only then i came to know that the dealer had been zero-filling the disk all the time and never actually sent the HDD for replacement (he even refused to accept that he is following this practice of zero-filling even after I showed him the signatures put on the HDD when bought the very first time). Finally I had to approach Seagate directly for the replacement.

Didnt you note down the Serial Nos. before and after the replacements ?

Also if you have purchase proof, you can directly contact Seagate Service for Warranty and no need for your dealer to play any role in RMA process.

Zaysen · 16-07-2007, 05:28 PM

Yes The Cabinet is Sitting Properly on the four legs and is placed in a Sturdy Table hence the question of shaking does not arise. I have Checked the Earth System and Found it to be ok. Regarding the Customer Turning it off from Reset Switch or fiddling with the Hard Disk this question does not arise as the person using the pc is 67 year old man and the only user who has computer usage experience since Windows 1995 came. So No Question of Swapping Hard Disk etc.

Regarding Replacements Obtained I am dealing directly with the Seagate RMA Centre Which is Provided by Accel Frontline In Nehru Place but they have told me that their policy is that they will only give Certified Repaired Hard Disk after the Original One Crashes so i do not have a choice.

If the Present Hard Disk Crashes i will only advise him to buy a new western digital or Hitachi Hard Disk. I feel that PATA Hard Drives Have better fault tolerance than SATA Hard Disk as My Samsung 40 Gb 5400 RPM Hard Disk is still robust after 5 Years Despite Rough Usage and Partitioning and Repartitoning and Changing File Formats Many Times Since July 2002.

Any Way thanks everybody for all you replies and consider this post closed!

Anirudh
New Delhi

phreak0ut · 17-07-2007, 11:34 AM

Its better if he goes for a WD. They offer on-site warranty.

Zaysen · 18-07-2007, 09:56 PM

For all those who took deep interest in answering my queries i have to inform you that the hard disk after reformatting barely lasted for two days and crashed completely on the 15th July with the Read Write Head Hitting the Platters. I will now buy a new Western Digital SATA Hard Disk after i get the green light from the customer. I think the cause of the crash was Some Worm or Trojan Entering the PC Despite all protections installed via the Yahoo Messenger 8.0

Thanks
Anirudh
New Delhi