Here's a HDD challenge for you guys..

[montanaZA]

TLDR - think HDD is dying, behaving very strangely. Perhaps you can help.

Drive is a Samsung Spinpoint - (HD204UI), OS is Windows 10 Pro.

I noticed it was at 100% activity in Task Manager > Performance > Drive M (this one) but when copying from it, or writing to it, the read and write will be 0 mb/s.

However, if I copy just one file from it rather than multiple simultaneously it reads at max speed.

Chkdsk wants to error check before booting into windows , but it stayed at 0% so I restarted, skipping that and am now copying 700GB off of it in case it is poked (which I believe it is...)

Any ideas as to whether it can be saved? I'm no HDD expert but it is almost like the head which reads is damaged.

PS - HDD Sentinel says the health is 52% - the Short-self test cannot complete. It fails the way Chkdsk does. Summary from HD Sentinel below:

There are 382 weak sectors found on the disk surface. They may be remapped any time in the later use of the disk.
At this point, warranty replacement of the disk is not yet possible, only if the health drops further.
It is recommended to examine the log of the disk regularly. All new problems found will be logged there.

It is recommended to continuously monitor the hard disk status.

 

[glamdringfh]

Hi montanaZA,

It sounds to me like your hunch is correct, you have a failing drive. Once this happens there is very little to do but try and get all the data you can off of it and replace it with a new one. You stated that you are now copying over the 700GB of data off of it, has that transfer been successful?

 

[montanaZA]

Hi montanaZA,

It sounds to me like your hunch is correct, you have a failing drive. Once this happens there is very little to do but try and get all the data you can off of it and replace it with a new one. You stated that you are now copying over the 700GB of data off of it, has that transfer been successful?

Thanks for the quick reply bud.

So far it is working yes. 8 hours or so remaining... hopefully none of that 700gb is damaged, or my copying will hit a brick wall..!

 

[glamdringfh]

No problem, sorry there isn't an easy solution to fixing a failing drive. Glad you're able to copy it though, got my fingers crossed for you!

 

[D_Know_WD]

Hi there montanaZA,

Most probably you will need to replace the drive.
I guess you can try writing zeros on it before that though. Keep in mind that you need to back up your data first. Here's a thread on writing zeros tools: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-1711997/software-wipe-hdds.html
Also, it will not hurt to attach the drive with different SATA and power cables before that. Sometimes, faulty cables could cause such 100% activity issues.

You can disable several Windows Services like: Windows Search, Superfetch and BITS. If the issue persists(100% disk activity), you can turn them back on.

Cheers,
D_Know_WD