An odd problem with my new HDD, help needed.

Pythos · 06-18-2008, 08:24 AM

Hey all,

I seem to be having a strange problem with my hard disk drive, or at least I think it is my HDD. I have built many computers over the years and this problem has me quite stumped, which is probably why I am drawing upon all of your sage advice here – so a big thank you for just reading this thread. Now to the problem…

I have just finished building myself a new computer and this is what my HDD does: at random times – I can find no logical pattern as to when it does this – it sounds as if it powers down and then suddenly comes back to life; to use terrible onomatopoeia something like “Gzzz” when it goes down then “Brrrrp” when speeding back up to life. The odd thing however is that my system remains stable throughout and I haven’t experienced a crash at all. I have three HDD’s installed in my system but I presume the affected HDD is my new one as the other two I have used for awhile now and have never given any mote of trouble.

I have tried the following things to fix the problem:
1) Checking windows and my BIOS for any power-saving features that might exist.
2) Running burn-in tests and fault tolerance – all checked out OK. (any program in specific that might help in a diagnosis that I might use?)
3) I thought perhaps it might be fluctuating power (as I live in a mining area and when the mines kick in often power browns out or dips notably), as such I attached a UPS to equalize the flow of electricity; but while I “think” at least now it happens less often it still does occur.

I do run all three HDD’s off one rail from my PSU but past experience has told me HDDs do not use many amps nor watts (am I wrong about this? Should I use multiple rails?). My PSU is a 750W Corsair which I believe should be more than ample for running my rig which consists of a GA-X38-DS4 motherboard, E8400, 3 HDDs, Sound Blaster Audigy expansion card, DVD-RAM drive and a GeForece 8800GT.

The HDD I think that is giving the problem is a new Seagate 250gb 16mb cache SATAII drive – although I only think it is this drive (as it is the most likely explanation) or could something larger, perhaps, be at work causing this problem I am experiencing?

Thank you all for taking the time to read this post and hope to hear from you, as this problem does have me concerned and the sound the HDD makes when it does this is a little unnerving (not that it sounds as if it’s a scraping sound at all, simply the sound a HDD makes when suddenly powering off and then back on). If you need any more information to aid in a diagnosis please feel more than free to ask, as it is greatly welcomed, and I will do my best to answer. So, again, my thanks!

Kind Regards,
Pythos

**tecknomage** · 06-18-2008, 09:22 AM

In Control Panel, Power Options icon, check your settings including hibernate.

WinXP tends to default to laptop settings.

See screenshots in this thread:
Problem regarding system standby

Pythos · 06-18-2008, 11:55 PM

Hey Tecknomage,

Thank you for the suggestion :) if I recall correctly I did disable all stand-by and hibernate features but I will check to make sure when I get back to my desktop (currently on holiday until saturday). My OS however is Vista x64, I've only just started to become accustomed to it so perhaps there is some setting I could be missing somewhere. But I will be storing all the posted suggestions and trying them out first thing when I get back, and will report back. So thank you again Tecknomage.

06-18-2008, 08:24 AM	#1 (permalink)
Pythos Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 3 OS: Vista x64	An odd problem with my new HDD, help needed. Hey all, I seem to be having a strange problem with my hard disk drive, or at least I think it is my HDD. I have built many computers over the years and this problem has me quite stumped, which is probably why I am drawing upon all of your sage advice here – so a big thank you for just reading this thread. Now to the problem… I have just finished building myself a new computer and this is what my HDD does: at random times – I can find no logical pattern as to when it does this – it sounds as if it powers down and then suddenly comes back to life; to use terrible onomatopoeia something like “Gzzz” when it goes down then “Brrrrp” when speeding back up to life. The odd thing however is that my system remains stable throughout and I haven’t experienced a crash at all. I have three HDD’s installed in my system but I presume the affected HDD is my new one as the other two I have used for awhile now and have never given any mote of trouble. I have tried the following things to fix the problem: 1) Checking windows and my BIOS for any power-saving features that might exist. 2) Running burn-in tests and fault tolerance – all checked out OK. (any program in specific that might help in a diagnosis that I might use?) 3) I thought perhaps it might be fluctuating power (as I live in a mining area and when the mines kick in often power browns out or dips notably), as such I attached a UPS to equalize the flow of electricity; but while I “think” at least now it happens less often it still does occur. I do run all three HDD’s off one rail from my PSU but past experience has told me HDDs do not use many amps nor watts (am I wrong about this? Should I use multiple rails?). My PSU is a 750W Corsair which I believe should be more than ample for running my rig which consists of a GA-X38-DS4 motherboard, E8400, 3 HDDs, Sound Blaster Audigy expansion card, DVD-RAM drive and a GeForece 8800GT. The HDD I think that is giving the problem is a new Seagate 250gb 16mb cache SATAII drive – although I only think it is this drive (as it is the most likely explanation) or could something larger, perhaps, be at work causing this problem I am experiencing? Thank you all for taking the time to read this post and hope to hear from you, as this problem does have me concerned and the sound the HDD makes when it does this is a little unnerving (not that it sounds as if it’s a scraping sound at all, simply the sound a HDD makes when suddenly powering off and then back on). If you need any more information to aid in a diagnosis please feel more than free to ask, as it is greatly welcomed, and I will do my best to answer. So, again, my thanks! Kind Regards, Pythos

06-18-2008, 09:22 AM	#2 (permalink)
tecknomage TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 928 OS: WinXP Pro SP3	Re: An odd problem with my new HDD, help needed. In Control Panel, Power Options icon, check your settings including hibernate. WinXP tends to default to laptop settings. See screenshots in this thread: Problem regarding system standby __________________ Tecknomage Computer System Specialist IT Technician Last edited by tecknomage; 06-18-2008 at 09:24 AM.

06-18-2008, 11:55 PM	#3 (permalink)
Pythos Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 3 OS: Vista x64	Re: An odd problem with my new HDD, help needed. Hey Tecknomage, Thank you for the suggestion :) if I recall correctly I did disable all stand-by and hibernate features but I will check to make sure when I get back to my desktop (currently on holiday until saturday). My OS however is Vista x64, I've only just started to become accustomed to it so perhaps there is some setting I could be missing somewhere. But I will be storing all the posted suggestions and trying them out first thing when I get back, and will report back. So thank you again Tecknomage.