Question Virus or hardware failure, is my HDD dead, and is the data recoverable ?

[tom_martin22]

Hi all

I think my hard drive has just died, but not totally sure. I’m usually a "War and Peace" kinda guy, so I’m gonna challenge myself to be as brief as possible. If more details are needed please let me know and I’ll elaborate. I also have plenty of screen photos. I'm on Windows 7 Pro SP1 and really no wanting to change right now.

- PC had possibly started to get a touch slow and glitchy over the last few months, but tough to be sure. CCleaner and a defrag would usually speed things up again. It’s an old PC…!

- Recently installed Audacity. It sometimes crashed and had problems around saving projects properly. Since learned both these things are common.

- Installed Firefox as some of the files I wanted to record using Audacity would not play in Chrome.

- Left my PC running a couple of hours while it “live recorded” something from the internet. Returned and found that all open programs had closed (just desktop showed), and my sounded card had switched from 44.1khz to 48khz.

- Tried recording again. When I got back it had stopped after xx minutes and the file wouldn’t re-open in Audacity. Things got dodgier... Chrome would not open (or opened and crashed). Firefox would open, but very slowly. Rebooted and got a black screen showing a “disk needs to be checked for consistency” message, deleting lots of corrupt file segments and index entries, recovering orphaned files, and various other stuff. Windows loaded after and I got back onto Firefox and Audible. So I set up to record again overnight.

- Morning – the recording had stopped itself again. Things started getting worse, with programs not opening, huge amounts of lag, etc. Then the Windows graphics changed… First it got rid of my custom settings reverting to default, then it went to something that looked more like Windows 98/XP! Finally it got to the stage where the mouse was working but nothing else.

- Tried several reboots and got more “…checked for consistency” messages as before. I ran CCleaner a couple more times. On one of them I saw an entry for “System Memory dumps – 395,893KB. 3 files” in the results.

- Then after a reboot Windows would not load and I got the MBR Error 1 screen. Ouch – been there before a few years back. Have not had Windows load since then. I also got BOOTMGR is missing messages, but not sure when and whether it was before or after I unplugged the two data HDDs.

- Loaded from WinDVD. Tried the “Startup Repair” option quite a few times but it wouldn’t solve anything. Tried “Windows Memory Diagnostic” but I don’t think it worked. I also tried Command Prompt > “chkdsk” a few times, and later I tried “bootrec /fixmbr” and “bootrec /fixboot”. For these last two it said the operations were completed successfully, but nothing changed.

- Changed CMOS battery, but didn’t help.

- Increasingly when I would load the WinDVD the HDD would not be recognised at all (i.e. where it asks you to select the HDD with the OS, the list would be blank). I would then have to hard reboot – sometimes a few times – before the HD would reappear. Then on another reboot it would be gone again. Eventually it wouldn’t recognise it at all. And it wasn’t found in BIOS either. I later put it into a caddy and attached it to a laptop. The laptop would not recognise anything whatsoever, not even the fact there was a drive there. But then later in the evening I tried again and messages came up for each partition saying they each had to be formatted. Trying to open them just brought up the message “XX is not accessible. The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable”. Right clicking on them to open properties showed 0 bytes. But it did recognise the HDD model number under the Hardware tab. By the next day though, it would no longer show again.

Sorry it was so long, I did my best! So, my main questions are:

1. Is the drive dead?
2. Does it sound like a hardware failure, a virus, or???
3. Is there any way to retrieve data. 99.9% of my stuff is on other drives. But there are a few bits I’d like to retrieve if possible.
4. Is it best to not use the drive ever again, or should I format and try re-using? I have got another drive so don’t need this one if it is risky?


Huge thanks to anyone who has got this far and is able to offer any insights.

Cheers

 

[Ralston18]

Update your post to include full system hardware specs and OS information.

Include PSU: make, model, wattage, age, condition (original to build, new, refurbished, used)?

Disk drive(s): make, model, capacity, how full?

List of all connected peripherals.

Wired or wireless network?

I have other questions and concerns: however, those questions may or may not be relevant based on system specs.

 

[tom_martin22]

My apologies, I should have thought of that... Here goes:

It's a self-built Desktop PC

Motherboard: Intel DP35DP
CPU: Intel Q6600
GPU: ATI HD 5450
RAM: Corsair XMS2 CM2X2048-6400C5 (4GB)
Hard Drives: 3 in Total. 2x Western Digital 500GB WD5000AAKS. 1x Western Digital 2TB WD2002FAEX. Not sure how full they are but will hook them up to find out...
PSU: Seasonic SS-400ET (430W). This is the OEM version of the S-12 430. Original to build (2008). New when built.
OS: Windows 7 Professional 64bit

Soundcard: EMU 1820M (PCI)
Keyboard: Logitech K360 (USB wireless)
Mouse: Logitech M570 (USB wireless)
Wireless connection using a Linksys WUSB54GR


Many thanks for your reply and hope you can help. Sounding a bit ominous though!!

 

[Misgar]

1. Is the drive dead?

If the platters spin up, the electronics still work and the heads are still seeking, it's not quite dead, but obviously the drive is no longer usable.

2. Does it sound like a hardware failure, a virus, or???

It's probably hardware failure, e.g. the disk might contain dozens or hundreds of bad sectors. Tough luck if any files on these sectors are corrupted. I have dozens of failing or dead drives.

3. Is there any way to retrieve data. 99.9% of my stuff is on other drives.

You could try your luck with recovery software after booting Windows or Linux from another drive, but the best option might be to send the drive off to a professional data recovery agency. Not cheap.

4. Is it best to not use the drive ever again, or should I format and try re-using?

You could test the drive and check S.M.A.R.T. data for pending or bad sectors. I stop using any hard disk when these errors appear. It's only a matter of time (weeks/months/years) before they get worse. Not worth the risk.

Given the age of your drives, I suggest buying a replacement hard disk or SATA SSD and reinstall Windows. This will get the computer up and running again. If you use an existing drive for Windows, it might have errors of its own and cause more problems. You can boot Windows 7 off a SATA SSD and it will be faster than a hard disk. A 120GB SATA SSD is enough for Windows 7, but 500GB would be better and faster.

After reinstalling Windows, plug in all your remaining hard disks and run CHKDSK (without /F /R) as a read-only check on each drive. If you allow CHKDSK to fix files and check for bad blocks, you could make things worse for a data recovery agency. It's up to you, but I suggest copying all files off a hard disk before trying to fix it.
https://www.howtogeek.com/1033/how-to-use-chkdsk-on-windows/

I use Hard Disk Sentinel Pro to test disk drives, starting with the 'read-only' option. The trial version does not allow full surface testing until you buy the software. Other software exists, but I like the "pretty" pictures.
https://www.hdsentinel.com/help/en/61_surfacetest.html

If the result of a surface scan is like this, the drive is toast. Recover data, smash with hammer, recycle.

HD Sentinel scans can take several hours even on small drives. Expect 3 to 4 hours on a fully working 2TB drive. Much longer if there are multiple bad sectors.

PSU: Seasonic SS-400ET (430W). This is the OEM version of the S-12 430. Original to build (2008). New when built.

I have loads of similar old PCs, but if your PSU is 2008 vintage, it's well past the end of its warranty and I recommend changing it soon. Electrolytics dry out and eventually go bang. Before that, the ripple voltage increases which can damage the mobo and other components.

OS: Windows 7 Professional 64bit

I do hope you're not connecting this Windows 7 PC to the internet. Extended support ended Jan 14, 2020.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/windows-7

 

[SkyNetRising]

1. Is the drive dead?

Unknown. You have not provided any evidence.
Diagnose your drive. Use HDtune health, show screenshots.
(upload to imgur.com and post link)

2. Does it sound like a hardware failure, a virus, or???

Honestly? It sounds like virus between computer and chair.

You know, that leaving recording process unattended during night messes up your computer,
but you do that anyway - again and again.

3. Is there any way to retrieve data. 99.9% of my stuff is on other drives. But there are a few bits I’d like to retrieve if possible.

Unknown.
Diagnose your drive. Try data recovery software. Report your success/failure.

4. Is it best to not use the drive ever again, or should I format and try re-using?

Unknown - until you have done some minimal diagnostics.

 

[tom_martin22]

Many thanks for the helpful replies.

Not sure if I am misunderstanding you on point #4 @Misgar but were you thinking all of my HDDs were failing? If so, that's not the case, the other two seem fine. I will test them when back up and running though to see what kind of health they are in.

You both mention testing and diagnosing the failed drive. I can try do that after I've re-installed Windows/Linux for testing, but I presumed I wouldn't be able to. If BIOS and the WinDVD fail to even see the drive, and if my laptop doesn't see the drive in a caddy, will my test Windows/Linux see it?

You could try your luck with recovery software after booting Windows or Linux from another drive, but the best option might be to send the drive off to a professional data recovery agency. Not cheap.

There's nothing too important on there. Would be good to get it if I can, but certainly nothing worth paying for.

I suggest buying a replacement hard disk or SATA SSD and reinstall Windows.

Hmm, I am tempted to get a SSD to speed the system up a little. Less heat too. No defragging. All sounds good, but I'll need to look into which drives work well with Windows 7, and which SATA type my mobo supports.

PSU is 2008 vintage, it's well past the end of its warranty and I recommend changing it soon. Electrolytics dry out and eventually go bang. Before that, the ripple voltage increases which can damage the mobo and other components.

Is there any way to test a PSU? Seems a shame to throw it away if it's still in good working order.

Honestly? It sounds like virus between computer and chair.

You know, that leaving recording process unattended during night messes up your computer,
but you do that anyway - again and again.

Ha ha, that made me laugh I like it! To be fair, it only crashed proper once before I tried the overnight recording and got the second crash proper. I should have run tests, and backed up after that first crash though, you're right. If the charge is blind optimism and/or bearing one's head in the sand, I plead guilty.

I do hope you're not connecting this Windows 7 PC to the internet

I do use the internet, but maybe that's a discussion for another time. I've never had a virus to date. I used XP up until 2018 and no problems with that either.