The life of a hard drive?

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

How long are hard drives supposed to last anyway (in your
experience)? I know some probably have an MTBF of about 30 years, but I
had a WD 6.x GB HD that just became as good as dead a few weeks ago (too
many bad sectors; scandisk ran forever).

So tell me about the bad ones in your life?

--
"All men make mistakes, but married men find out about them sooner."
-- Red Skelton

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

Ablang wrote:
>
> How long are hard drives supposed to last anyway (in your
> experience)? I know some probably have an MTBF of about 30 years, but I
> had a WD 6.x GB HD that just became as good as dead a few weeks ago (too
> many bad sectors; scandisk ran forever).
>
> So tell me about the bad ones in your life?

The last 6 dead drives I replaced just happen to all be WD. Two this
week. Coincidence?

They don't seem to go more than 3-4 years, at best.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

"Ablang" <HilaryDuff133@ablang-duff.com> wrote in message
news:Xns94CABAF0655004132004@195.131.52.135...
> How long are hard drives supposed to last anyway (in your
> experience)? I know some probably have an MTBF of about 30 years, but I
> had a WD 6.x GB HD that just became as good as dead a few weeks ago (too
> many bad sectors; scandisk ran forever).
>
> So tell me about the bad ones in your life?


As for many products the failure rate is 'bath' shaped, high at the start
(like yours
then very low for a long time untill ageing starts to take effect.
If it lasts a year it is lilkely last a lifetime these days, a lifetime
being so long that
effectively it would be obsolete by the time it failed, an example would be
a
20 megabyte (not giga) drive, many of which may still work today but no one
would every use one today.
>
> --
> "All men make mistakes, but married men find out about them sooner."
> -- Red Skelton

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

In article <c5i4sh$21foc$1@ID-204080.news.uni-berlin.de>,
half_pint <esboella.nospam@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>"Ablang" <HilaryDuff133@ablang-duff.com> wrote in message
>news:Xns94CABAF0655004132004@195.131.52.135...
>> How long are hard drives supposed to last anyway (in your
>> experience)? I know some probably have an MTBF of about 30 years, but I
>> had a WD 6.x GB HD that just became as good as dead a few weeks ago (too
>> many bad sectors; scandisk ran forever).
>>
>> So tell me about the bad ones in your life?
>
>
>As for many products the failure rate is 'bath' shaped, high at the start
>(like yours
>then very low for a long time untill ageing starts to take effect.
>If it lasts a year it is lilkely last a lifetime these days, a lifetime
>being so long that
>effectively it would be obsolete by the time it failed, an example would be
>a
>20 megabyte (not giga) drive, many of which may still work today but no one
>would every use one today.

The formal definition of the the MTBF rating is the # of hours over
which 50% of the drives would fail, BUT, only applies within the
stated lifetime of the product. So, given a 30 year MTBF and a 5year
life specification one twelveth of the drives will fail. I think I've
got that right. After 5 years all bets are off.

You can pull the spec sheet for any drive model from the manufatcurers
web site. Look for lifetime, MTBF, and recommended max operating
temperature. Keep yoiu rdrive cool.





--
Al Dykes
-----------
adykes at p a n i x . c o m

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

On Wed, 14 Apr 2004 02:42:14 +0100, "half_pint"
<esboella.nospam@yahoo.com> wrote:

>
>"Ablang" <HilaryDuff133@ablang-duff.com> wrote in message
>news:Xns94CABAF0655004132004@195.131.52.135...
>> How long are hard drives supposed to last anyway (in your
>> experience)? I know some probably have an MTBF of about 30 years, but I
>> had a WD 6.x GB HD that just became as good as dead a few weeks ago (too
>> many bad sectors; scandisk ran forever).
>>
>> So tell me about the bad ones in your life?
>
>
>As for many products the failure rate is 'bath' shaped, high at the start
>(like yours
>then very low for a long time untill ageing starts to take effect.
>If it lasts a year it is lilkely last a lifetime these days, a lifetime
>being so long that
>effectively it would be obsolete by the time it failed, an example would be
>a
>20 megabyte (not giga) drive, many of which may still work today but no one
>would every use one today.

I don't know about that "lasts a year it'll last a lifetime" part... to
me it seems more accurate that if it lasts 3 months it'll likely last 5
years but after that all bets are off, it becomes too much of a liability
to continue using it, and even shorter replacement interval is warranted
with more valuable data, not even considering the performance or capacity
benefits.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

Ablang wrote:
> How long are hard drives supposed to last anyway (in your
> experience)? I know some probably have an MTBF of about 30 years, but I
> had a WD 6.x GB HD that just became as good as dead a few weeks ago (too
> many bad sectors; scandisk ran forever).
>
> So tell me about the bad ones in your life?
>
IDE drives are NOT intended to run over 50% service (on for 12 hours,
OFF for 12 hours!)

My best drives are SCSI, and the 10,000rpm Cheetah by Seagate last 7
years in 100% service, on servers! (my records). Zero failurs in 7 years.

Western Digital, Maxtor, Fujitsu, Hitachi, Seagate, and IBM IDE drives
seem to do OK on my 100% systems, but, I see from my records, that they
get to be RMA under warranty about 30%. So, about one out of three IDE
drives fails every two years!

The failed drives start doing a slow click, click click...
That lets me know that it is time to backup, R&R...
I run SCSI on these systems, also, so I jsut move the stuff over to a
SCSI drive!

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

On Wed, 14 Apr 2004 13:26:11 GMT, Patrick <pberry26@yahoo.com> wrote:

>IDE drives are NOT intended to run over 50% service (on for 12 hours,
>OFF for 12 hours!)

Sources please? I've never heard this.

>Western Digital, Maxtor, Fujitsu, Hitachi, Seagate, and IBM IDE drives
>seem to do OK on my 100% systems, but, I see from my records, that they
>get to be RMA under warranty about 30%. So, about one out of three IDE
>drives fails every two years!

I've got a lab full of IDE systems running 24/7 and haven't had to
replace a drive in well over 3 years. Your 30% failure rate is
ridiculously high.

MT

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

kony wrote:
> On Wed, 14 Apr 2004 02:42:14 +0100, "half_pint"
> <esboella.nospam@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>>
>> "Ablang" <HilaryDuff133@ablang-duff.com> wrote in message
>> news:Xns94CABAF0655004132004@195.131.52.135...
>>> How long are hard drives supposed to last anyway (in your
>>> experience)? I know some probably have an MTBF of about 30 years,
>>> but I had a WD 6.x GB HD that just became as good as dead a few
>>> weeks ago (too many bad sectors; scandisk ran forever).
>>>
>>> So tell me about the bad ones in your life?
>>
>>
>> As for many products the failure rate is 'bath' shaped, high at the
>> start (like yours
>> then very low for a long time untill ageing starts to take effect.
>> If it lasts a year it is lilkely last a lifetime these days, a
>> lifetime being so long that
>> effectively it would be obsolete by the time it failed, an example
>> would be a
>> 20 megabyte (not giga) drive, many of which may still work today but
>> no one would every use one today.
>
> I don't know about that "lasts a year it'll last a lifetime" part...
> to me it seems more accurate that if it lasts 3 months it'll likely
> last 5 years but after that all bets are off, it becomes too much of
> a liability to continue using it, and even shorter replacement
> interval is warranted with more valuable data, not even considering
> the performance or capacity benefits.

After many years in IT support I'd have to say the main reasons for drives
ending their life are in order:

Becoming Obsolete
Physical Abuse
Component Failure

With the order reversed during the first few months.

Alan

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

"Alan Walker" <alan@lordkhaos.dyndns.org> wrote in message
news:7Qafc.68$Lg7.1@newsfe1-gui.server.ntli.net...
> kony wrote:
> > On Wed, 14 Apr 2004 02:42:14 +0100, "half_pint"
> > <esboella.nospam@yahoo.com> wrote:
> >
> >>
> >> "Ablang" <HilaryDuff133@ablang-duff.com> wrote in message
> >> news:Xns94CABAF0655004132004@195.131.52.135...
> >>> How long are hard drives supposed to last anyway (in your
> >>> experience)? I know some probably have an MTBF of about 30 years,
> >>> but I had a WD 6.x GB HD that just became as good as dead a few
> >>> weeks ago (too many bad sectors; scandisk ran forever).
> >>>
> >>> So tell me about the bad ones in your life?
> >>
> >>
> >> As for many products the failure rate is 'bath' shaped, high at the
> >> start (like yours
> >> then very low for a long time untill ageing starts to take effect.
> >> If it lasts a year it is lilkely last a lifetime these days, a
> >> lifetime being so long that
> >> effectively it would be obsolete by the time it failed, an example
> >> would be a
> >> 20 megabyte (not giga) drive, many of which may still work today but
> >> no one would every use one today.
> >
> > I don't know about that "lasts a year it'll last a lifetime" part...
> > to me it seems more accurate that if it lasts 3 months it'll likely
> > last 5 years but after that all bets are off, it becomes too much of
> > a liability to continue using it, and even shorter replacement
> > interval is warranted with more valuable data, not even considering
> > the performance or capacity benefits.
>
> After many years in IT support I'd have to say the main reasons for drives
> ending their life are in order:
>
> Becoming Obsolete
> Physical Abuse
> Component Failure
>
> With the order reversed during the first few months.

After many years of using disks, all the way back to the old Bryant 2A with
3.5 FOOT platters (honest!), I believe that today, with the modern
technology, dropping a disk is the biggest cause of failure followed by
bearing wear. I have never had a disk fail that I could prove was due to
positioner problems or to the electronics failing. Cables can be a problem.
Power supplies don't seem to be a cause either.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

"Patrick" <pberry26@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:TZafc.470705$Po1.128049@twister.tampabay.rr.com...
> Ablang wrote:
> > How long are hard drives supposed to last anyway (in your
> > experience)? I know some probably have an MTBF of about 30 years, but I
> > had a WD 6.x GB HD that just became as good as dead a few weeks ago (too
> > many bad sectors; scandisk ran forever).
> >
> > So tell me about the bad ones in your life?
> >
> IDE drives are NOT intended to run over 50% service (on for 12 hours,
> OFF for 12 hours!)

Really thats pretty much how my computer has been run over the last
5 years, on daytime, off at night, just like 99% of home computers.
Perhaps you had better inform the main PC manufacturers that
they have been using the wrong type of drives in their PC's for
the past decade or so.
It will be quite a shock to them!!

>
> My best drives are SCSI, and the 10,000rpm Cheetah by Seagate last 7
> years in 100% service, on servers! (my records). Zero failurs in 7 years.
>
> Western Digital, Maxtor, Fujitsu, Hitachi, Seagate, and IBM IDE drives
> seem to do OK on my 100% systems, but, I see from my records, that they
> get to be RMA under warranty about 30%. So, about one out of three IDE
> drives fails every two years!
>
> The failed drives start doing a slow click, click click...
> That lets me know that it is time to backup, R&R...
> I run SCSI on these systems, also, so I jsut move the stuff over to a
> SCSI drive!
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

I have only had two systems. Added an extra HDD to both. I never (actually only once or
twice) defragmented the first pc. The same sectors were always hit. It was almost like a
familiar melody that I would hear while using the under memory-ed pc. Anyway, the primary
HDD started to go south. Luckily just I bought the second pc. So dumped everything into
the new pc HDD by slaving the primary from the first pc. I didn't even disconnect the HDD
from power supply. I just pulled it out of the case to have enough room so the ribbon
cable could reach. Yes certain sectors weren't available. Luckily that wasn't data but the
OS. HDD's seem to be pretty reliable as long as you have enough memory on your system so
they aren't being constantly called on to spin up and work. That should be pretty much
reserved for bootup, opening an app or downing loading something huge. Other than that let
it sleep and live. Sorta like Rip Van Winkle.


Ablang wrote:
>
> How long are hard drives supposed to last anyway (in your
> experience)? I know some probably have an MTBF of about 30 years, but I
> had a WD 6.x GB HD that just became as good as dead a few weeks ago (too
> many bad sectors; scandisk ran forever).
>
> So tell me about the bad ones in your life?
>
> --
> "All men make mistakes, but married men find out about them sooner."
> -- Red Skelton

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

ToolPackinMama wrote:
>
> Ablang wrote:
> >
> > How long are hard drives supposed to last anyway (in your
> > experience)? I know some probably have an MTBF of about 30 years, but I
> > had a WD 6.x GB HD that just became as good as dead a few weeks ago (too
> > many bad sectors; scandisk ran forever).
> >
> > So tell me about the bad ones in your life?
>
> The last 6 dead drives I replaced just happen to all be WD. Two this
> week. Coincidence?
>
> They don't seem to go more than 3-4 years, at best.


I've had 4 WD's. One died because I didn't defragment it and it kept on hitting the same
sectors. Almost like dropping a needle on a phonograph record in the same pace over and
over again. My current WD's have been in this old dog since 1997 PII MMX. I attribute
their longevity to having max memory. Add a decent firewall to that. With that the HDD's
haven't had to do much work other than at startup and at cleanup on shutdown for the last
few years.

I'm looking to build a new system and have no problem using a WD. If anything did happen I
would just do what I did last time. I'll just slave another HDD onto the system and dump
what I can onto the fresh one. Personally I don't see it happening. If used properly,
HDD's including WD are bullet proof.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

In article <TZafc.470705$Po1.128049@twister.tampabay.rr.com>,
Patrick <pberry26@yahoo.com> wrote:
>Ablang wrote:
>> How long are hard drives supposed to last anyway (in your
>> experience)? I know some probably have an MTBF of about 30 years, but I
>> had a WD 6.x GB HD that just became as good as dead a few weeks ago (too
>> many bad sectors; scandisk ran forever).
>>
>> So tell me about the bad ones in your life?
>>

>IDE drives are NOT intended to run over 50% service (on for 12 hours,
>OFF for 12 hours!)
>

????? I've never heard of a duty duty for retail hard drives.
Can you refer us to something to support this ?

--
Al Dykes
-----------
adykes at p a n i x . c o m

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

Ablang <HilaryDuff133@ablang-duff.com> wrote in message news:<Xns94CABAF0655004132004@195.131.52.135>...
> How long are hard drives supposed to last anyway (in your
> experience)? I know some probably have an MTBF of about 30 years, but I
> had a WD 6.x GB HD that just became as good as dead a few weeks ago (too
> many bad sectors; scandisk ran forever).
>
> So tell me about the bad ones in your life?

FWIW: Before you write off your hard drive try a low level format.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

In article <590a927d.0404161242.624521a9
@posting.google.com>, rdoctors@cox.net says...
> Ablang <HilaryDuff133@ablang-duff.com> wrote in message news:<Xns94CABAF0655004132004@195.131.52.135>...
> > How long are hard drives supposed to last anyway (in your
> > experience)? I know some probably have an MTBF of about 30 years, but I
> > had a WD 6.x GB HD that just became as good as dead a few weeks ago (too
> > many bad sectors; scandisk ran forever).
> >
> > So tell me about the bad ones in your life?
>
> FWIW: Before you write off your hard drive try a low level format.
>

Thought most manuf's recommended against low-level
formats with modern drives?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

In article <MPG.1aea85acbe3a0938989855@news-50.giganews.com>,
Toshi1873 <toshi1873@nowhere.com> wrote:
>In article <590a927d.0404161242.624521a9
>@posting.google.com>, rdoctors@cox.net says...
>> Ablang <HilaryDuff133@ablang-duff.com> wrote in message news:<Xns94CABAF0655004132004@195.131.52.135>...
>> > How long are hard drives supposed to last anyway (in your
>> > experience)? I know some probably have an MTBF of about 30 years, but I
>> > had a WD 6.x GB HD that just became as good as dead a few weeks ago (too
>> > many bad sectors; scandisk ran forever).
>> >
>> > So tell me about the bad ones in your life?
>>
>> FWIW: Before you write off your hard drive try a low level format.
>>
>
>Thought most manuf's recommended against low-level
>formats with modern drives?


Please define "low level format" What software do you use ?

--
Al Dykes
-----------
adykes at p a n i x . c o m

 

[ken]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

On Wed, 14 Apr 2004 13:26:11 GMT, Patrick <pberry26@yahoo.com> wrote:

> IDE drives are NOT intended to run over 50% service
> (on for 12 hours, OFF for 12 hours!)

No. IDE and SCSI drives now have the same hardware
(the electronics differ).

 

[ken]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

On 16 Apr 2004 13:42:18 -0700, rdoctors@cox.net (ron doctors) wrote:

> FWIW: Before you write off your hard drive try a low level format.

Newer low level format a modern drive.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

In article <c5r5vu$3ad$1@panix3.panix.com>,
adykes@panix.com says...
> In article <MPG.1aea85acbe3a0938989855@news-50.giganews.com>,
> Toshi1873 <toshi1873@nowhere.com> wrote:
> >In article <590a927d.0404161242.624521a9
> >@posting.google.com>, rdoctors@cox.net says...
> >> Ablang <HilaryDuff133@ablang-duff.com> wrote in message news:<Xns94CABAF0655004132004@195.131.52.135>...
> >> > How long are hard drives supposed to last anyway (in your
> >> > experience)? I know some probably have an MTBF of about 30 years, but I
> >> > had a WD 6.x GB HD that just became as good as dead a few weeks ago (too
> >> > many bad sectors; scandisk ran forever).
> >> >
> >> > So tell me about the bad ones in your life?
> >>
> >> FWIW: Before you write off your hard drive try a low level format.
> >>
> >
> >Thought most manuf's recommended against low-level
> >formats with modern drives?
>
>
> Please define "low level format" What software do you use ?
>

Well, using FORMAT x: or formatting inside of Windows
using Disk Manager is not considered a low level format.
Since I'm not the O.P., I can't say what they're
considering to be a "low level format".

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

"Ken" <___ken3@telia.com> wrote...
>
> No. IDE and SCSI drives now have the same hardware
> (the electronics differ).

That may be the case for 7200 RPM SCSI drives, but I doubt (for example) the
Seagate Cheetah 10/15K RPM SCSI drives are mechanically the same as their
Barracuda series (IDE and SATA)...

 

[jt]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

On Sat, 17 Apr 2004 02:06:50 -0400, Toshi1873 <toshi1873@nowhere.com>
wrote:

>In article <590a927d.0404161242.624521a9
>@posting.google.com>, rdoctors@cox.net says...
>> Ablang <HilaryDuff133@ablang-duff.com> wrote in message news:<Xns94CABAF0655004132004@195.131.52.135>...
>> > How long are hard drives supposed to last anyway (in your
>> > experience)? I know some probably have an MTBF of about 30 years, but I
>> > had a WD 6.x GB HD that just became as good as dead a few weeks ago (too
>> > many bad sectors; scandisk ran forever).
>> >
>> > So tell me about the bad ones in your life?
>>
>> FWIW: Before you write off your hard drive try a low level format.
>>
>
>Thought most manuf's recommended against low-level
>formats with modern drives?

Most manufacturers have a diagnostic utility that also writes zeros to the
drive. Some people confuse that with the old lowlevel format needed for MFM
& RLL drives. New drives can't be lowlevel formatted except in a lab with
special equipment. The diagnostic utility gives the same effect, and will
remap bad blocks from the spare block pool available on newer drives if
spares are not used up. End result looks like a low level format, but the
process is very different

JT

 

[jsmith]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

ToolPackinMama <laura@lauragoodwin.org> wrote:

> The last 6 dead drives I replaced just happen to all be WD. Two this
> week. Coincidence?
>
> They don't seem to go more than 3-4 years, at best.

Very odd. I have never, ever had a WD drive fail.
The one drive I have lost in the last 14 years was an IBM 4Gig.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

<JSmith@VAColony.com> wrote...
> ToolPackinMama <laura@lauragoodwin.org> wrote:
>
>> The last 6 dead drives I replaced just happen to all be WD. Two this
>> week. Coincidence?
>>
>> They don't seem to go more than 3-4 years, at best.

Don't say that! ;-)

After having Seagates for 5 years, I'm going back to WD in the new machine. I
had great luck with WDs for the 12 or so years before that, but Seagate happened
to come in this machine...


> Very odd. I have never, ever had a WD drive fail.
> The one drive I have lost in the last 14 years was an IBM 4Gig.

I've never had a HD fail in a home machine since I got my first one in '86 or
so. I don't count the ones I pulled out of office machines when I was
troubleshooting in a 350+ workstation stock brokerage...

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

Ablang <HilaryDuff133@ablang-duff.com> wrote in message news:<Xns94CABAF0655004132004@195.131.52.135>...
> How long are hard drives supposed to last anyway (in your
> experience)? I know some probably have an MTBF of about 30 years, but I
> had a WD 6.x GB HD that just became as good as dead a few weeks ago (too
> many bad sectors; scandisk ran forever).
>
> So tell me about the bad ones in your life?

On the subject, what would the symptoms of a hard drive failure be?
Would the system randomly rebooting itself be an indication?

I ask this because I was having a problem with my old computer
rebooting itself randomly, even during Windows booting. It wasn't a
virus because I run Liveupdate on Norton Antivirus everyday and do a
full system scan once a week. I built a new computer but kept the old
hard drives, and it wouldn't boot into Windows properly. It would
reboot itself. I tried to repair Windows and it would get to the same
place every time and then reboot. So I formatted the partition and
reinstalled Windows and it worked fine. For a while (it's been less
than a week since I finally got it up and running again). Last night,
while playing "The Longest Journey," it rebooted. Now I have
encountered some errors in running this game, but this concerned me.
The drive has seemed to be running slowly and I have abused it over
the last less-than-two years. It's a 120 GB Western Digital Caviar IDE
drive (5200 RPM, I believe). My computer rarely ever goes off, and I
run Folding@Home in the background constantly (distributed computing
program, so it does access the drive). Could this drive be going bad,
and would randomly rebooting be a symptom?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

"Ablang" <HilaryDuff133@ablang-duff.com> wrote in message
news:Xns94CABAF0655004132004@195.131.52.135...
> How long are hard drives supposed to last anyway (in your
> experience)? I know some probably have an MTBF of about 30 years, but I
> had a WD 6.x GB HD that just became as good as dead a few weeks ago (too
> many bad sectors; scandisk ran forever).
>
> So tell me about the bad ones in your life?
>
> --
> "All men make mistakes, but married men find out about them sooner."
> -- Red Skelton

My Fujitsu MPG3409AH E died on Sunday. "Primary Master Drive Fails" after a
pleasant BSOD in XP - haven't had one of them since Win 95.

Fortunately, was recoverable and managed to retrieve my files today after a
*lot* of effort searching for software to help.
http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm
Did the job with a boot disk scan finding no errors - even though XP still
ran ChkDsk and tidied it up.

Still going to return the thing though. Don't trust it not to fail again.

Nick
Hoping the disk doesn't die again before I can get that 8 Gig of Buffy on to
the new, bigger, better Barracuda 160gig.