Hard drives keep failing

[maturus]

I have an Asus P5WD2 Premium Motherboard along with 3 SATA (one of them is SATA2) hard drives. I first started having issues with the 2 SATA 1 hard drives and that is when I purchased the SATA2 drive (I was going to use the warranty to replace the other two.) Even the brand new one keeps failing. It will make a clicking noise and then a high pitch whine like it is spinning real fast. My computer freezes at this point and will return to normal in about a minute. After it does this a few times (like 2 hours later) it will get the blue screen, reboot, and when I log into windows it says that it has recovered from a serious error.

Is there some sort of driver issue I should know about that is continually causing the hard drives to go bad? I doubt it's the drives considering a brand new one started to do it within a week. If I do a repair installation on windows all the drives are fine again for about a week and then start up. Any help would definitely lower my aggrivation.

 

[garebo]

Boy, this sounds like you need a UPS. Standard power coming into a lot maybe even most) of our homes and businesses isnt good enough. It suffers from low and high power issues, with the low power issues ruining our hard drives and other pc parts. And the worst part is that we cant even see the brownouts most of the time. I would almost bet that a UPS would solve your problem. A UPS will supply proper power to your pc when your standard power at the plug fails you for even a part of a second ( and destroys your hard drive and data). You dont even have to get the most expensive unit either, they sell from $50 to $100 US these days for a decent one, maybe lower than $50. If you do buy one, make sure it has hookup for cable\phone as well and hook the pc to the correct plug in the back of the UPS. They have a manual.



Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[garebo]

I forgot, it could be other issues as well, like a bad power supply in your pc, maybe even a bad motherboard. I would bet, though, if its not the power supply its the fact that you need a UPS as stated above.
If you have a digital or analog multimeter you can test the different voltage outputs on your power supply. YOu can get a good tutorial on testing power supplies at techrepublic.com. You do have to register, but its free, they dont bug you or sell your info, and its a great place as well!
The power supply testers you can get for around $10 at bestbuy and compusa and other pc stores dont do the job, trust me on this. The only thing these testers will do is tell you if the power supply will boot, but it doesnt tell you the voltages at each rail, which is crucial information.
I can tell you about my experiences before using UPS's and after. In a few years before using UPS's ( I have 5 of them), i lost many hard drives, a vid card, a couple motherboards, one or two power supplies, a few usb\firewire enclosures,and other parts. Since installing UPS about 5 yrs ago, something like that, I have lost one older hard drive and a used firewire enclosure. Power in my area is known to be bad, with brownouts, being the culprit. I know i already railed about this in my first post, sorry, but i feel strongly about using UPS's to protect our computer parts. My computer is like a part of my family, lol.


Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[maturus]

Thanks for the advice. I do indeed have a UPS connected to all of this. I'm wondering if it's the power supply. I have a 420W PSU. I've been wanting to get a new one, but I can't find one with a native 24-pin for the motherboard (the norm is 20 I think?) Any suggestions?

 

[garebo]

I wish you could actually properly test the one you have.
Coprse you could bring it into a shop and have them check it out, shouldnt cost much. I would, though, because if you are using a UPS then i am pretty sure the next suspect would be the power supply, then the motherboard. I dont even think bad ram could cause you to lose hard drives like this, so the problem may be simple and straightforward, as in, its either power from the wall or your power supply, or power problem at the motherboard.
Since you are on a UPS, then its the other items.
Sorry, gotta ask. Are you sure the plug for your pc is plugged into the correct receptacle on the back of your UPS. Some UPS's are set up in a confusing way so that not all the receptacles on the back will give you full protection, you have to read your manual. This could be your problem as well, unless you know for a fact that your pc is connected properly, its easy to connect it wrong and not have the protection you need and want.

As for 24 pin, that is actually becoming the standard now, or is the new standard. You should be able to find plenty of power supplies with 24 pins.


Good advice + great people = tek-tips