Is my Hard Drive failing?

[ONY]

Hiya guys,

as of yesterday im getting a noise on my computer. It's sort of like a grinding noise. It didn't stay there for long yesterday and it only happened when i started up the computer today. Lasted a couple of minutes or so. Ive looked through a couple of other threads and was wondering, could it be my Hard Drive is failing?

Any help would be much appreciated as always. Many thanks,

 

Ony

[Guest Wolfeymole]

Ok Ony

 

Go into Start/ All Programs/ Accessories/ Command Prompt.

 

Type chkdsk /f note the space between the k and the forward slash.

 

Tell us what it come back with.

[ONY]

Hiya Bob,

i tried this last night and have just done it again and got the same response which is:

 

c:\Documents and Settings\User>chkdsk /f

The type of the file system is NTFS.

Cannot lock current drive.

 

 

Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by

another process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be

checked the next time the system restarts? (Y/N) :

 

 

Im wondering if this has anything to do with that TROJAN in my last thread because that was what the Malwarebytes found, it was called:

 

Trojan.Downloader

c:\System Volume Information\_restore....etc, etc,

[Guest Wolfeymole]

It cannot lock the current drive Ony and run a check disk because it is windows.

 

Run it again and type Y

 

Reboot and checkdisk will run.

 

Did none of the malware tools eliminate that Trojan?

[ONY]

  Wolfeymole said:

It cannot lock the current drive Ony and run a check disk because it is windows.

 

Run it again and type Y

 

Reboot and checkdisk will run.

 

Did none of the malware tools eliminate that Trojan?

 

 

When i did that check yesterday and got that response, i typed Y and today once i started it up it did some sort of check....cant remember what it all said to be honest. As for the malware tools, they came up clean last night. So should i do that checkdisk again now and reboot and report back?

[Guest Wolfeymole]

Yes please Ony.

 

Make a note if any bad sectors are found as in this picture where there are none.

 

http://www.1ststop.net/images/chkdsk.jpg

[ONY]

OK, Bob...will do that now. Looks like ive got alot of writing to do...lol

Be back shortly and many thanks as always. :D

[Guest Wolfeymole]

We are at your service as always Fee :)

[ONY]

Hiya Bob,

just done it and it all seemed to go ok but the last part only stays up on that blue screen for a matter of seconds. I saw it said there were no bad sectors but before i could get to read it all it goes away. Had to do it 3 times but still it goes away far to quick to read it all.

[Guest Wolfeymole]

Ok that sounds good.

 

Go back into Command Prompt and simply type chkdsk

 

This will then give you information as to the state of the hdd until you close Command Prompt.

[ONY]

OK, Bob...thank you, will do that now. :D

[ONY]

Be prepared for the full write up....lol...here goes:

 

c:\Documents and Settings\User>chkdsk

The type of the file system is NTFS

 

WARNING! F parameter not specified.

Running chkdsk in read-only mode.

 

CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 3)...

file verifying completed.

CHKDSK is verifying indexes (stage 2 of 3)...

Index verification completed.

CHKDSK is recovering lost files.

CHKDSK is verifying security descriptors (stage 3 of 3)...

security descriptor verification completed.

CHKDSK is verifying Usn journal...

Usn journal verification completed.

CHKDSK discovered free space marked as allocated in the

master file table (MFT) bitmap.

Correcting errors in the Volume Bitmap.

Windows found problems with the file system.

Run CHKDSK with the /F (fix) option to correct these.

 

15639245 KB total disk space.

7796124 KB in 52981 files.

20324 KB in 5214 indexes.

0 KB in bad sectors.

232501 KB in use by the system.

65536 KB occupied by the log file.

7590296 KB available on disk.

 

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.

3909811 total allocation units on disk.

1897574 allocation units available on disk.

 

c:\Documents and Settings\User>

 

 

Sorry for the long post....didn't want to miss anything. :D

[Guest Wolfeymole]

That looks ok Fee but can I ask what, if any, kind of external backup you have?

[ONY]

I dont have any external back up im afraid Bob.....last night i did try saving 'MY DOCUMENTS' to a data stick but when it had finished and i checked it, there was about 4 of everything. I tried to delete the extras but it wouldn't let me or if i did manage to delete any, they just came straight back. I then took the data stick out and put it back in again only to find it only had one file on it and i couldn't even open that. So i deleted it and gave up on the data stick...:)

[Guest Wolfeymole]

USB Sticks to me are trash, I would seriously consider obtaining either a proper internal hard drive or an external hard drive, internal would be better though.

 

How old is your PC Fee?

[ONY]

lol, Bob...i think i agree with you on the memory sticks. They seem like a good idea but ive had nothing but problems with them.

As for my laptop, ive had it for about 7 years or so. I know in the world of computers that's ancient but it's been pretty reliable to be honest. :D

So what sort of price would/should i expect to pay for a new Hard Drive? Im certainly not in a position to afford anything too expensive.

[Guest Wolfeymole]

What do you think of this Fee?

 

Currys - Shop for 3.5 inch External Hard Drives - Western Digital My Book Essential Edition-320G My Book Essential Edition-320GB

[ONY]

  Wolfeymole said:

What do you think of this Fee?

 

Currys - Shop for 3.5 inch External Hard Drives - Western Digital My Book Essential Edition-320G My Book Essential Edition-320GB

 

 

 

 

That looks pretty cool. :D

[Guest Wolfeymole]

I had to suggest an external as you can't put multiple hard drives in a laptop Fee.

 

Go with that or alternatives to that and back your personal up.

 

I don't wish to alarm you but consider what would happen should the hard drive in that laptop die tomorrow?

[ONY]

  Wolfeymole said:

I had to suggest an external as you can't put multiple hard drives in a laptop Fee.

 

Go with that or alternatives to that and back your personal up.

 

I don't wish to alarm you but consider what would happen should the hard drive in that laptop die tomorrow?

 

 

I agree Bob and thanks for that. Im well aware that laptops are harder to repair as well. I certainly need another Hard Drive to back up everything. They may do a similar thing in PC World too and as my son works there, he gets a 10% discount as well, so that would help. :D

[Guest Wolfeymole]

Ok

 

Just ask anything before you go through their doors as they will try to sell you anything.

[ONY]

  Wolfeymole said:

Ok

 

Just ask anything before you go through their doors as they will try to sell you anything.

 

lol...i know bob, my son's one of them. Im forever telling him to cut out the c**p im not one of his punters. To be honest i dont rate that shop at all but i'll make sure i just go for something like you just suggested and ignore the rest of what they say...lol. :D

[Guest Wolfeymole]

Lol

 

Tell him to join FPCH and we shall debate tech support. :D

[ONY]

  Wolfeymole said:

Lol

 

Tell him to join Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help and we shall debate tech support. :D

 

 

lol...you'd win hands down. :D :D :D

[Guest Wolfeymole]

Well I think that external HDD is a fair price Fee but again I must recommend that with having a laptop aged 7 then you are pushing it for a lifespan.

 

Put aside for a new pc before long love.