[SOLVED] Drive dying? I'm stumped.

[Dimaaa]

Hiya all!

Yesterday I returned to my computer (which had been left on) and attempted to start a game, which failed to start, apparently due to a memory issue? I couldn't fix it and so restarted my computer. That's where the fun begins.

My PC normally boots in like 30 seconds, but now took upwards of 5 minutes, stuck on a black screen after windows started. Finally getting to the lock screen, pressing any key to log in lags severely bringing up the password box, and lags as I enter the password. It takes ages to get to the desktop, and then all windows functions are extremely slow - clicking on cortana or the windows button is slow to come up and search, file explorer is slow, and google chrome will literally not open, like, at all. Other programs like discord and steam do start, but take their time. Interestingly though, once they do they are seemingly as normal - not slow at all, but everything else remains snail speed. If I attempt to open a specific program (teamspeak) which is on the quick access bar, I get an error about something being unspecified (apparently a drive problem?) I've restarted, shut down, left overnight and I still cannot solve this problem.

I've attempted CHKDSKs, run the memory diagnostic tool, haven't seen anything overtly weird in the BIOS, and for once I really am just stumped. I'm really not sure whether this is a drive issue, a RAM issue, or something else entirely but I really am stuck.

Windows 10
GTX970
Samsung SSD 120 GB
1TB HDD
DDR4 16 GB ram
I7 6700K

(sorry I'm trying to remember these off the top of my head eek)
Thanks for any help in advance!

UPDATE:
So I started digging in my PC and found the cable proving power to the SSD literally had one of the 10 minicables which powers it broken off... so I moved the SSD to the next little hub on the cord and pushed the RAM around a bit and the PC was faster, but still noticeably slow. Chrome still won't start, and teamspeak still has errors every time I try and open it relating to drive issues...

UPDATE2:
So I’ve been experimenting, and it turns out that about half if not more of the program files on the SSD in question return the error of “cyclic redundancy check” including both chrome and TeamSpeak 3, as well as many many other programs... any idea how to fix said problemo?

 

[getochkn]

Since you have 2 drives, are some programs installed on 1 vs the other? But does sound like a dying drive. What is the drive doing in task manager? Dying drive will usually peg the usage at 100%.

 

[Dimaaa]

Since you have 2 drives, are some programs installed on 1 vs the other? But does sound like a dying drive. What is the drive doing in task manager? Dying drive will usually peg the usage at 100%.

Yes, which is why my first thought was drive as the non-SSD programs seem to be working acceptably, but that’s the weird thing, the disk usage isn’t at 100%! It’s sitting at like 0% in task manager until I do something like open origin!

 

[PC Tailor]

return the error of “cyclic redundancy check”

This is not something you can really fix and is often indicative of a failing drive.

 

[Dimaaa]

This is not something you can really fix and is often indicative of a failing drive.

So does that mean this is a “time to replace the SSD” kind of thing?

 

[PC Tailor]

So does that mean this is a “time to replace the SSD” kind of thing?

More than likely. But the only definitive way to know would be to replace the unit and see.

You could run CrystalDiskInfo to see if any obvious SMART issues have been identified.

You could also potentially run SeaTools (LONG test) to see if it pulls out an issue and effectively confirms it. Problem being if it does pass all tests, doesn't mean the drive is good. Just the tests might fail in which case you have your more definitive evidence.

 

[Dimaaa]

More than likely. But the only definitive way to know would be to replace the unit and see.

You could run CrystalDiskInfo to see if any obvious SMART issues have been identified.

You could also potentially run SeaTools (LONG test) to see if it pulls out an issue and effectively confirms it. Problem being if it does pass all tests, doesn't mean the drive is good. Just the tests might fail in which case you have your more definitive evidence.

Right, I’ll have a look at them.
In the event that I do have to replace it, how does the process work? Will I have to start everything from scratch, or just that drive? (As in, will the TB of stuff on the other drive have to go too?) it houses my windows and all that fun stuff...

 

[USAFRet]

Right, I’ll have a look at them.
In the event that I do have to replace it, how does the process work? Will I have to start everything from scratch, or just that drive? (As in, will the TB of stuff on the other drive have to go too?) it houses my windows and all that fun stuff...

Given a good backup routine, it is easy.
You simply put in a new drive, and tell your backup software where the Image is that you created before the original drive died, and what new drive to apply it to.

If you wait until it actually dies, then the process is much more difficult.

I use Macrium Reflect.
All my systems, each physical drive individually...backed up every night.
Recovery to a new physical drive is trivially easy.

What is your backup situation at home?

What is your backup situation at home? And if you don't do that, why not? Every single day, I read multiple threads here of "How do I get my stuff back?" or "That drive had 5 years of photos of my kids!!" Be it a dead drive, dropped phone, virus, accidental deletion, formatting the wrong...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[Dimaaa]

Given a good backup routine, it is easy.
You simply put in a new drive, and tell your backup software where the Image is that you created before the original drive died, and what new drive to apply it to.

If you wait until it actually dies, then the process is much more difficult.

I use Macrium Reflect.
All my systems, each physical drive individually...backed up every night.
Recovery to a new physical drive is trivially easy.

What is your backup situation at home?

What is your backup situation at home? And if you don't do that, why not? Every single day, I read multiple threads here of "How do I get my stuff back?" or "That drive had 5 years of photos of my kids!!" Be it a dead drive, dropped phone, virus, accidental deletion, formatting the wrong...

forums.tomshardware.com

I don’t really back up because this computer doesn’t have anything Personal or anything of importance, id just rather not re-install all 120gb of programs if I can avoid it haha.
Is it possible to move the stuff from the dying drive to another drive to put it on to the new one? And does having the SSD as the boot drive affect this?
What can be done to avoid drives dying in the future?
Sorry for all the questions haah, you guys have been amazing!

 

[USAFRet]

I don’t really back up because this computer doesn’t have anything Personal or anything of importance, id just rather not re-install all 120gb of programs if I can avoid it haha.
Is it possible to move the stuff from the dying drive to another drive to put it on to the new one? And does having the SSD as the boot drive affect this?
What can be done to avoid drives dying in the future?
Sorry for all the questions haah, you guys have been amazing!

Depends on what you mean by "stuff".

Avoid dying drives in the future?
You can't. Physical drives die. Sometimes quite suddenly.
The last two drives I've had die game little or no warning.

1 HDD. Went from seemingly perfect, to absolutely dead in 36 hours. It was 5 weeks out of the box.

1 SSD. Went from seemingly perfect to no access whatsoever in the space of - Power off, wait 5 minutes, Power On....hey, where's the SSD?
It was just over 3 years old.

In both cases, a full comprehensive backup situation saved my data. The physical drives are irrelevant.

 

[Dimaaa]

Depends on what you mean by "stuff".

Avoid dying drives in the future?
You can't. Physical drives die. Sometimes quite suddenly.
The last two drives I've had die game little or no warning.

1 HDD. Went from seemingly perfect, to absolutely dead in 36 hours. It was 5 weeks out of the box.

1 SSD. Went from seemingly perfect to no access whatsoever in the space of - Power off, wait 5 minutes, Power On....hey, where's the SSD?
It was just over 3 years old.

In both cases, a full comprehensive backup situation saved my data. The physical drives are irrelevant.

Can’t really think of any exact examples but mostly just programs, games, downloads, and I mean obviously windows 10 but I’m sure that can just get reinstalled.

 

[USAFRet]

Can’t really think of any exact examples but mostly just programs, games, downloads, and I mean obviously windows 10 but I’m sure that can just get reinstalled.

If you need to reinstall the OS, then you'll need to reinstall all your other applications. No matter what drive they live on.
And whatever else is on that drive is gone if it dies.

This is specifically what backups are for.

 

[Dimaaa]

If you need to reinstall the OS, then you'll need to reinstall all your other applications. No matter what drive they live on.
And whatever else is on that drive is gone if it dies.

This is specifically what backups are for.

So I will have to re-install the OS if I replace the drive? Unfortunately this isn’t the first time I’ve had to start all over again with this computer so it’s just the pain of individually redownloading everything like the steam games and whatnot but apart from things like that and individual programs everything else is either in the cloud or on other devices And backed up.

 

[USAFRet]

So I will have to re-install the OS if I replace the drive? Unfortunately this isn’t the first time I’ve had to start all over again with this computer so it’s just the pain of individually redownloading everything like the steam games and whatnot but apart from things like that and individual programs everything else is either in the cloud or on other devices And backed up.

sigh....

A Full Drive Image of the current physical drive would allow you to recover the whole system, with no reinstallation issues, exactly as it was at the moment you created the backup image.
Seriously.

For instance...
If you were to use Macrium Reflect Free, and create an Image of the entire physical drive, right now...off to some other drive. External or whatever.
If your drive dies tomorrow, then all you need do is put in a new drive, and recover from that Image.
No OS or application reinstall needed.
Everything would exist at exactly the same state as the moment you made that backup image.

I've personally had to do this.

 

[Dimaaa]

sigh....

A Full Drive Image of the current physical drive would allow you to recover the whole system, with no reinstallation issues, exactly as it was at the moment you created the backup image.
Seriously.

For instance...
If you were to use Macrium Reflect Free, and create an Image of the entire physical drive, right now...off to some other drive. External or whatever.
If your drive dies tomorrow, then all you need do is put in a new drive, and recover from that Image.
No OS or application reinstall needed.
Everything would exist at exactly the same state as the moment you made that backup image.

I've personally had to do this.

I assume it’s too late to do that now? I think you’ve made the case for backing up haha

 

[USAFRet]

I assume it’s too late to do that now? I think you’ve made the case for backing up haha

If the system boots up, it is not too late. Assuming of course, you have some other drive to save the Image to.
If it fails to boot up....🙁

 

[Dimaaa]

If the system boots up, it is not too late. Assuming of course, you have some other drive to save the Image to.
If it fails to boot up....🙁

Hah, well I’ve got it on right now luckily, now the next mission is finding a drive big enough... would it have to save all 1.12 TB on the pc, or just the 120 on the SSD?

thanks again for helping yet another brainless non-backerup-erer you guys truly are heroes hahaha

 

[USAFRet]

Hah, well I’ve got it on right now luckily, now the next mission is finding a drive big enough... would it have to save all 1.12 TB on the pc, or just the 120 on the SSD?

thanks again for helping yet another brainless non-backerup-erer you guys truly are heroes hahaha

Just the size of the consumed data on whatever drive is dying.

 

[Dimaaa]

Just the size of the consumed data on whatever drive is dying.

Alright so an attempt was made with Macrium Reflect, in which I got the same error as with other stuff "Backup aborted! - unable to read from disk - Error Code 23 - Data error (cyclic redundancy check).

Is this a "I'm screwed" moment?

 

[USAFRet]

Alright so an attempt was made with Macrium Reflect, in which I got the same error as with other stuff "Backup aborted! - unable to read from disk - Error Code 23 - Data error (cyclic redundancy check).

Is this a "I'm screwed" moment?

Yep.
You waited too long, the drive is no longer fully readable.

Clean install on a new drive. Along with everything that entails.

 

[Dimaaa]

Yi

Yep.
You waited too long, the drive is no longer fully readable.

Clean install on a new drive. Along with everything that entails.

yikes oh well. Is it possible to save everything from the second drive (HDD) or will that have to go as well?

 

[USAFRet]

Yi

yikes oh well. Is it possible to save everything from the second drive (HDD) or will that have to go as well?

As with any clean install...have ONLY the one drive connected.
Reconnect others (your other HDD) later. Whatever data, apart from applications, is on that is OK. Applications will need to be reinstalled.

How To - Windows 10 clean install tutorial

If you are looking for the Windows 11 Clean install tutorial, you can find that here: Windows 11 Clean install tutorial (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[Dimaaa]

As with any clean install...have ONLY the one drive connected.
Reconnect others (your other HDD) later. Whatever data, apart from applications, is on that is OK. Applications will need to be reinstalled.

How To - Windows 10 clean install tutorial

If you are looking for the Windows 11 Clean install tutorial, you can find that here: Windows 11 Clean install tutorial (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows...

forums.tomshardware.com

beautiful, thank you all for the help, I'll get started on the process