Time for a reformat, or new hard drive?

JWhipple

Member
I noticed my system getting rather sluggish over the past several days and giving errors at boot-up.


I ran a disk cleanup and Check Disk with both options selected.


The problem persisted, and CPU utilization was normal, so I started going through the event logs and found a slew of the following errors even after having done everything above :

Log Name: System
Source: disk
Date: 1/6/2009 2:13:54 PM
Event ID: 7
Task Category: None
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: Warroom
Description:
The device, \Device\Harddisk0\DR0, has a bad block.
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="disk" />
<EventID Qualifiers="49156">7</EventID>
<Level>2</Level>
<Task>0</Task>
<Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2009-01-06T19:13:54.956Z" />
<EventRecordID>13066</EventRecordID>
<Channel>System</Channel>
<Computer>Warroom</Computer>
<Security />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data>\Device\Harddisk0\DR0</Data>
<Binary>030068000100000000000000070004C0000100009C0000C00000000000000000003EBF9109000000B019100000000000FFFFFFFF00000000400000840200000099200A1242072000000000003C00000000A0718EC8E20B8400000000E04B0D84000000009FDFC804280004C8DF9F00000800000000000000F00003000000000B00000000000000000000000000000000</Binary>
</EventData>
</Event>


---------------------------------------------------------------------

Log Name: System
Source: nvstor32
Date: 1/6/2009 2:13:54 PM
Event ID: 5
Task Category: None
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: Warroom
Description:
A parity error was detected on \Device\RaidPort0.
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="nvstor32" />
<EventID Qualifiers="49156">5</EventID>
<Level>2</Level>
<Task>0</Task>
<Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2009-01-06T19:13:54.956Z" />
<EventRecordID>13065</EventRecordID>
<Channel>System</Channel>
<Computer>Warroom</Computer>
<Security />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data>\Device\RaidPort0</Data>
<Binary>0F0018000100000000000000050004C0010000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000050004C00000000000000000</Binary>
</EventData>
</Event>

------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, do you think it's time to replace the drive, or would a reformat/reload help this? I've heard bad blocks spread like a virus - just wanted to get other's opinions!

Thanks!
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    AMD Athlon 64x2 3800+ (Socket 939)
    Motherboard
    MSI K8N SLI
    Memory
    2GB Corsair DDR in dual channel mode
    Graphics Card(s)
    2x BFG Geforce 7600GT in SLI mode
    Sound Card
    Soundblaster Audigy 2
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Big ol' 21 inch Gateway LCD monitor
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    160GB SATA1 (Western Digital)
    500GB USB External (Western Digital)
    PSU
    600 Watt BFG
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15
    Mouse
    Logitech G7
Hi JWhipple,

Over time with use, computers can gradually slow down. This is due to programs being installed and uninstalled, files being created and deleted, drivers being updated, together with the associated registry changes. To counteract that, I usually perform a fresh install on my system on a yearly basis. It does wonders, and my computer feels as though it has a fresh lease of life afterwards, quicker and more responsive. When I do this, I use the latest WHQL drivers.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dwarf Dwf/11/2012 r09/2013
    CPU
    Intel Core-i5-3570K 4-core @ 3.4GHz (Ivy Bridge) (OC 4.2GHz)
    Motherboard
    ASRock Z77 Extreme4-M
    Memory
    4 x 4GB DDR3-1600 Corsair Vengeance CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B (16GB)
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI GeForce GTX770 Gaming OC 2GB
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition on board solution (ALC 898)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic VA1912w Widescreen
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    OCZ Agility 3 120GB SATA III x2 (RAID 0)
    Samsung HD501LJ 500GB SATA II x2
    Hitachi HDS721010CLA332 1TB SATA II
    Iomega 1.5TB Ext USB 2.0
    WD 2.0TB Ext USB 3.0
    PSU
    XFX Pro Series 850W Semi-Modular
    Case
    Gigabyte IF233
    Cooling
    1 x 120mm Front Inlet 1 x 120mm Rear Exhaust
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Comfort Curve Keyboard 3000 (USB)
    Mouse
    Microsoft Comfort Mouse 3000 for Business (USB)
    Internet Speed
    NetGear DG834Gv3 ADSL Modem/Router (Ethernet) ~4.0 Mb/s (O2)
    Other Info
    Optical Drive: HL-DT-ST BD-RE BH10LS30 SATA Bluray
    Lexmark S305 Printer/Scanner/Copier (USB)
    WEI Score: 8.1/8.1/8.5/8.5/8.25
    Asus Eee PC 1011PX Netbook (Windows 7 x86 Starter)
If you even suspect that your drive is going bad I'd move the data to another drive or DVD asap if the data is important.

Having said that. I'd download WD diag (since you have wester digital drives) and make the bootable floppy and run the HDD tests to see what the health of your drive actually is. After that, if it passes with no problems and you feel like reformatting and reloading your OS then I'd run the "write zeros to drive" process and then format it and start over. It might be overkill but that will insure that your MBR and everything is written correctly as it wipes everything on the drive corrupt or not.

Before testing back your data up though as the tests are pretty exhaustive and could break something if it's on it's way to dead.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel E8400 3.0ghz
    Motherboard
    eVGA nForce 780i SLI FTW
    Memory
    4x XMS2 2GB PC-6400 DDR2 800
    Graphics Card(s)
    BFG Tech GeForce GTX 260 OC
    Sound Card
    On board HD audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x Acer AL2416W
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1200 x 2
    Hard Drives
    1x WD VelociRaptor WD1500HLFS 150GB 10000 RPM
    3x SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD103UJ 1TB (RAID 5)
    PSU
    Antec Signature SG850
    Case
    Antec P182
    Cooling
    1x Tuniq Tower 120 and 4x antec tricool blue LED 120mm fans
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Ergonomic
    Mouse
    Logitech MX510
    Internet Speed
    3mb/sec down 1mb/sec up
    Other Info
    Windows Vista Experience: 5.8
    3dmark Vantage Score: 12,000
Dwarf,

No insult intended but, I already knew that :-) LOL In fact I just reloaded about a month ago. I don't use images - I prefer to hand-load and go from there.

My concern is that the drive is going south, especially since there are bad blocks being reported.

Is this a valid concern?
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    AMD Athlon 64x2 3800+ (Socket 939)
    Motherboard
    MSI K8N SLI
    Memory
    2GB Corsair DDR in dual channel mode
    Graphics Card(s)
    2x BFG Geforce 7600GT in SLI mode
    Sound Card
    Soundblaster Audigy 2
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Big ol' 21 inch Gateway LCD monitor
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    160GB SATA1 (Western Digital)
    500GB USB External (Western Digital)
    PSU
    600 Watt BFG
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15
    Mouse
    Logitech G7
Again supporting what Dwarf has said.... its always good to do a fresh format when you feel it needs one... generally within a years time of use
I have been on the same install for almost 2 and half years and i really have noticed several time that my computer is getting really slow and i know i need to do a format...
I'm just a little to lazy right now to do one :p
To be honest unless you know your hard drive is failing i.e unhealthy sounds and continual random data loss then there is no real reason to replace you hard drive as a full format will generally recondition your drive back to the time it was new
If yet you still want to replace your drive then make sure you know what you are getting so as you don't end up replacing your drive for one that may be bigger in capacity but transfers data really slow
The best hard drive on the market to date so im lead to believe is the Samsung Spinpoint F1 but don't quote me on that

take a moment to view the link below

Benchmark Results - Review Tom's Hardware : WD's 750 GB Hard Disk Sets New Records
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Me :P
    CPU
    Core 2 Quad Q6600
    Motherboard
    Abit IN9 32X MAX
    Memory
    8 GB OCZ PC2-6400 nVIDIA SLI-Ready Edition (4X2GB)
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMP! GeForce GTX 260² 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 (650MHz/2100MHz
    Sound Card
    Realtek 7.1 CH HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17" Fujitsu siemens TFT + 32" LG HD LCD TV
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 + 1360x768
    Hard Drives
    150GB Raptor HDD
    500GB Caviar HDD
    PSU
    Thermaltake W0133RB 1200W PSU
    Case
    Antec 900
    Cooling
    Stock + Antec 900 case fans
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15 (full layout)
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Revolution
If you are getting bad block errors. Get a new hard drive and use Acronis to image the old one to it.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    pair of Intel E5430 quad core 2.66 GHz Xeons
    Motherboard
    Supermicro X7DWA-N server board
    Memory
    16GB DDR667
    Graphics Card(s)
    eVGA 8800 GTS 640 MB video card
    Hard Drives
    SAS RAID
Welp - fate came knockin... By the time I got up this morning I couldn't get windows to boot. I used a few utils that I have on a bootable DVD to test the drive - a huge chunk of it was showing as bad... so... glad I backed up anything important last night!

I replaced the drive and all is well now.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    AMD Athlon 64x2 3800+ (Socket 939)
    Motherboard
    MSI K8N SLI
    Memory
    2GB Corsair DDR in dual channel mode
    Graphics Card(s)
    2x BFG Geforce 7600GT in SLI mode
    Sound Card
    Soundblaster Audigy 2
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Big ol' 21 inch Gateway LCD monitor
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    160GB SATA1 (Western Digital)
    500GB USB External (Western Digital)
    PSU
    600 Watt BFG
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15
    Mouse
    Logitech G7
oh that was lucky.... what drive did you go for in the end?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Me :P
    CPU
    Core 2 Quad Q6600
    Motherboard
    Abit IN9 32X MAX
    Memory
    8 GB OCZ PC2-6400 nVIDIA SLI-Ready Edition (4X2GB)
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMP! GeForce GTX 260² 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 (650MHz/2100MHz
    Sound Card
    Realtek 7.1 CH HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17" Fujitsu siemens TFT + 32" LG HD LCD TV
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 + 1360x768
    Hard Drives
    150GB Raptor HDD
    500GB Caviar HDD
    PSU
    Thermaltake W0133RB 1200W PSU
    Case
    Antec 900
    Cooling
    Stock + Antec 900 case fans
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15 (full layout)
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Revolution
Picked up a 1 TB Seagate over at Best Buy that was on sale. The old drive was a 160GB Samsung.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    AMD Athlon 64x2 3800+ (Socket 939)
    Motherboard
    MSI K8N SLI
    Memory
    2GB Corsair DDR in dual channel mode
    Graphics Card(s)
    2x BFG Geforce 7600GT in SLI mode
    Sound Card
    Soundblaster Audigy 2
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Big ol' 21 inch Gateway LCD monitor
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    160GB SATA1 (Western Digital)
    500GB USB External (Western Digital)
    PSU
    600 Watt BFG
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15
    Mouse
    Logitech G7
Back
Top