Is it a virus or bad hard drive? Can I save my files if something breaks up my computer?
Is it a virus or bad hard drive? Can I save my files if something breaks up my computer?
Hi all I think my hard drive just died but I'm not 100% sure about that. I'm usually a "War and Peace" type person, so I want to try being as short as possible. If you need more details just let me know and I will explain more. Also I have many screen photos. I am running Windows 7 Pro SP1 and I do not really want to change it right now.
The PC started getting a bit slow and glitchy over the last few months but it is hard to be sure. CCleaner and defragging usually makes things go back to normal again. It's an old PC...!
I recently installed Audacity sometimes it would crash and had trouble saving my projects properly. Since I learned those two things are common problems, that was bad. I also installed Firefox because some files I wanted to record using Audacity would not play in Chrome.
I left my PC running for a couple of hours while it "live recorded" something from the internet. When I got back all open programs had closed (just the desktop showed), and my sound card changed its speed from 44.1khz to 48khz.
When I tried recording again it stopped after about xx minutes and the file wouldn't reopen in Audacity. Things got worse... Chrome would not even open or open and crash. Firefox would open but very slowly. After rebooting I got a black screen with a message saying "disk needs to be checked for consistency". It deleted lots of corrupt file segments and index entries, recovered orphaned files, and did other stuff. Windows loaded after that and I got back onto Firefox and Audible. So I set up to record again the next day.
Morning - the recording stopped itself again. Things started getting worse with programs not opening, huge lag, etc. Then the Windows graphics changed... First it removed my custom settings and went back to default, then it looked like Windows 98/XP! Finally it got to a point where the mouse worked but nothing else.
I tried several reboots and got more "checked for consistency" messages again. I ran CCleaner a couple more times. On one of them I saw an entry for "System Memory dumps – 395,893KB. 3 files".
Then after a reboot Windows would not load and I got the MBR Error 1 screen. Oh no - this has happened before a few years ago. Since then I have not had Windows load again either. Also I got BOOTMGR missing messages but I am not sure when or if it was before or after I unplugged the two data drives.
I loaded from WinDVD and tried the "Startup Repair" option quite a few times but nothing solved anything. I tried "Windows Memory Diagnostic" but I don't think that worked either. I also tried Command Prompt > "chkdsk" a few times, and later I tried "bootrec /fixmbr" and "bootrec /fixboot". For those two commands it said the operations were completed successfully, but nothing changed.
I changed the CMOS battery but it did not help much. Increasingly when I loaded WinDVD the HDD would not be recognized at all (i.e., where it asks you to select the HDD with the OS, the list is blank). Then I had to hard reboot - sometimes a few times - before the HD came back. But on another reboot it was gone again. Eventually it wouldn't recognize it at all. And it wasn't found in BIOS either.
Later I put it into a caddy and attached it to a laptop. The laptop would not recognize anything whatsoever, even that there was a drive there. But then later in the evening I tried again and messages came up for each partition saying they 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 recognize 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 here are my main questions:
1. Is the drive dead?
2. Does it sound like a hardware failure or a virus or???
3. Is there any way to retrieve data? 99% 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 it? I have got another drive so don't need this one if it is risky? Huge thanks to anyone who has gotten here and can offer any insights. Cheers
Update your post to give details about the computer's hardware and operating system. Tell me about the power supply unit: what brand, model, how much wattage it uses, how old it is, and if it's original, new, refurbished, or used. Also share info on the hard drives: brands, models, how much storage they hold, and how full they are right now. List every other device connected to your PC. Did you connect a keyboard, mouse, webcam, or printer? Was the internet connection wired or wireless? I have more questions and worries but only those that fit with what we just talked about will be relevant.
I am sorry, I should have thought of that. Here is the details: It's a custom-built Desktop PC Motherboard with an Intel CPU named DP35DP, an Intel Q6600 processor, and an ATI GPU called HD 5450. There are 4GB of RAM from Corsair XMS2 CM2X2048-6400C5. The hard drives come in three total parts: two Western Digital 500GB drives and one Western Digital 2TB drive. I don't know how full they are yet, but I will connect them to check. There is a Seasonic SS-400ET power supply of 430W. This is the OEM version from S-12, which was originally built in 2008 and new when it was put together. The system runs Windows 7 Professional for 64-bit sound support with an EMU 1820M PCI sound card, a Logitech K360 USB wireless keyboard, a Logitech M570 USB wireless mouse, and wireless connections using a Linksys WUSB54GR adapter. Many thanks for your reply, but I worry it might get scary.
If the spinning platters keep going, the electronics still work and the heads are still moving, but it's not just broken yet—it's too old to use safely. It sounds like a hardware problem, maybe because there are many bad sectors on the disk. If any files on those bad sectors get messed up, that could be very bad for you. I have many drives that are either failing or completely dead. You might try some recovery software after booting Windows or Linux from another drive, but the best option is probably to send the drive off to a professional data recovery agency. That isn't cheap. You can test the drive and check its S.M.A.R.T. reports for pending or bad sectors. I never use any hard disk when these errors show up. It's only a matter of weeks, months, or years before things get worse. Not worth taking that risk. Since your drives are old, I suggest buying a new hard disk or SATA SSD and reinstalling Windows on it. This will get the computer running again. If you use an existing drive for Windows, it might have its own errors too and cause more problems. You can boot Windows 7 off a SATA SSD and it should be faster than using a hard disk. A 120GB SATA SSD is enough for Windows 7, but 500GB would be better and run faster. After you reinstall Windows, plug in all your old hard disks and run CHKDSK (without the fast /F or /R options) just to check them as read-only files. If you let CHKDSK try to fix files and clean bad blocks, that could make things worse for a data recovery agency. It's up to you, but I suggest copying all your important files off the hard disk before trying to fix it further.
You didn't give me any proof. I need to check my hard drive myself. Use the HDtune tool, then show me the pictures from a computer screen. (Please upload the picture to imgur.com and tell me where it is). To be honest? It looks like a virus that got between your computer and the chair. You know what happens when you leave recording things while it's dark at night - it messes up your system, but you keep doing it again and again. Unknown - until I do some basic checks. Try using recovery software to see if data can be saved. Tell me if it worked or not. Unknown - until you check something very little first.
Thanks so much for your kind words. I'm not sure if I misunderstood point #4 from @Misgar, but did you think all my hard drives were failing? If that's what you meant, then it wasn't true; the other two look okay. I'll test them later when they're running again to check their health status. Both of you talk about testing and fixing a broken drive. I could try doing that after reinstalling Windows or Linux for testing, but I assumed I wouldn't be able to do it because my laptop can't even see the drive. If the BIOS can't read the drive and if the computer doesn't see the drive in the tray, will my test Windows/Linux find it? There isn't anything critical on there that needs a replacement. It would have been nice to get one if I could afford it, but honestly, nothing important enough to justify buying it. Hmm, getting an SSD to make things faster and less hot is tempting. No need for defragging right now. All that sounds good, though I'll have to figure out which drives work best with Windows 7 and what kind of SATA port my motherboard has. Is there any way to test the power supply unit? It seems like a shame to throw it away if it's still working well. Haha, that made me laugh; I really enjoy it! To be fair, this computer only crashed once before I tried overnight recording, and then it crashed again properly afterward. I should have run tests after that first crash too, backed up the data right after. If you're being overly optimistic or just ignoring problems, well, my bad. I do use the internet sometimes, but maybe that's better for another time. I've never had a virus until now. I used Windows XP all the way to 2018 without any issues then either.