Dying HDD..?
 

Note: Western Digital Brand Hardrive >_______>. Some people might recall me saying I'd never buy one ever again. Well when this computer was built by MSI, I wasn't aware of the brand HDD type until after I got it to my house.

But I wanna make sure before assuming it's dying.

The symptoms..to the best I can describe.. It makes those sounds like its processing as usual, except it's loud and irregular. Like it's "struggling".

Also there is a online game that causes my computer to reboot on logout, and I'm not sure if thats linked to the problem.

When each time I turn my computer on, I lose some drive space. The biggest was 7 gigs. Now yesterday was 20.8GB and today it's 20.9..yea going in reverse. I haven't downloaded anything. As for whats being deleted, I don't know. Maybe its just reporting the amount wrong.

I ran a diagnostic and it deosn't help much because it passes the test. No bad sectors(I'm using a seagate program which can test non-seagate brands).

In light of this, I moved all my important stuff to my secondary.

Do a SMART selfcheck or check the event logs Windows produces and search them for error on the physical drives.

Perhaps it's just the amount of fragmentation. When was the last time you defragged?

As for where your space is going, go to this site: Download

Download SpaceMonger 1.4.0 and use it to see a physical map of your drive.

Defragmentation doesn't reduce drive capacity Zergrinch. Winter Storm should better check the reallocated sector count. If the drive is really loosing sectors the count should be quite high.

SMART was disabled on my drive, so I went into the bios and enabled it. I don't need to defrag yet according to the report I ran for it. I don't know how to check for the reallocated sector count.

Oh I figured out how. I'll see how it goes.

Ok it didn't tell me anything. This is becoming irritating. I mean damn, everytime I shut my computer down and reboot the next day, the volume count is either lesser or greater from the last.

What is "volume count"? What app do you use to extract the SMART readings from the harddrive? SpeedFan is quite good for windows, smartmontools should be used on *nix operating systems.
Can you supply the SMART readings? Would be best including the RAW data values. Are there any "pending sectors"?

You should start using the drive in read-only mode if you're not sure about the damage state. Or don't use it at all. Get a new drive fast and transfer the intact data to it. Or transfer your files to another system, maybe your friend can backup your files on his system for some time.

Keep in mind that defective sector count, caused by a crashes head on the platter, can increase because of loose particles in the harddrive box (which in turn destroy other sectors, it's like having sand in your drive).

When I meant volume, I meant space. I downloaded Speedfan. Heres the results.

Your hard disk is a WDC WD800JD-75MSA3 with firmware 10.01E04.
The average temperature for this hard disk is 36C (MIN=25C MAX=50C) and yours is 33C.
Your hard disk's S.M.A.R.T. attributes are now being analyzed and a full report about the reliability, health and status of your hard disk is generated:
Your hard disk is not below any attribute threshold. This is good.
Your hard disk was never below any attribute threshold. This is good.
Your hard disk is now being compared to real data used to define normal values for your specific hard disk model. This way, the analysis can automatically use proper operating ranges. The images give you an idea of how each attribute is within such range. Current and raw values are shown for easier reference for experienced users. There are 1742 hard disk models in the current archive.

• Attribute | Current | Raw | Overall
• Raw Read Error Rate 200 0 Very good
• Spin Up Time 171 2425 Very good
• Start/Stop Count 100 391 Very good
• Reallocated Sector Count 200 0 Very good
• Seek Error Rate 200 0 Very good
• Power On Hours Count 96 3263 Good
• Spin Retry Count 100 0 Very good
• Calibration Retry Count 100 0 Very good
• Power Cycle Count 100 342 Very good
• Unknown attribute 190 67 33 Very good
• Reallocated Event Count 200 0 Very good
• Current Pending Sector 200 0 Very good
• Offline Uncorrectable Sector Count 200 0 Very good
• Ultra DMA CRC Error Rate 200 0 Very good
• Write Error Rate 200 0 Very good

All of the attributes of your hard disk have normal values. This is good.

The overall fitness for this drive is 97%.
The overall performance for this drive is 100%.

No pending sectors.

Now I'm confused. Maybe its nothing.

SMART can't always register mechanical problems, maybe the servo is failing but your hd vendor doesn't use sensors there to register problems.

And you're right. The SMART readout is fine. I would be cautious however. Higher noise than usual could be a sign of the drive failing in the near future. Make sure to have some backups if the drive fails.