Have I got a corrupt/damaged hard disk?? 1

[PaulyP]

Hi all.

Here's my problem.

I've just bought and installed a new Western Digital Caviar 250Gb SATA Hard Drive. I work with very large video files usually around 30Gb each. When downloading them from video camera tape onto the drive everything works fine until I've used about 70Gb on the drive. If i now move any more video or sound files onto the drive they get currupted and only play a small part of the file before stopping and playing no more, or not opening at all.
I know there is no problem with the files themselves as they download and play fine from a different drive. I should also say that these corrupted files can't be transferred from one drive to another - the copy file dialoge just frezzes on say 12% transferred and moves no more.
I have tried running a disk and surface scan on the drive. With the corrupt files still on the drive, the scan does not complete. After reformatting the drive and rerunning the scan, no faults or problems seem to be evident.
My question is - does it sound like there is a problem with the drive so that I can return it to the store (i dont know if there are lots of problems that the disk scan can not detect.) Because it needs to be sent back to an internet store (

http://www.ebuyer.co.uk)

I'll have to order a new disk from them and then get a refund because it takes them 10 days to do anything; and £250 is a lot of money to spend if they can find no problem and wont refund.

Ive detailed my system below just incase any one thinks it could be a coniguration or conflict problem of somesort.

Thanks to all for any help, much appreciated

Paul.


P.S. - I bought Western Digital this time because I thought that they were supposed to be about the most reliable - am I correct in thinking this?? - I've never had any problem with any of my Maxtors.

System Details:

Abit AT7-Max2 Motherboard.
1Gb Samsung PC333
435W Enermax PSU
IDE 1 - Maxtor 37.7Gb ATA133 HD
IDE 2 - Sony DRU-500A DVD Writer (master) + Pioneer DVD (slave)
Onboard Highpoint IDE 3 - Maxtor 60Gb HD
Onboard Highpoint IDE 4 - Maxtor 60Gb HD
Serial ATA connector 1 - 250Gb Western Digital Caviar SATA HD (the drive is also cooled in ThermalTake HD Housing)
Gainward Geforce 4 Ti4600 PowerPack Version
SB Audigy Sound Card

Software: Windows XP Pro

 

[Grenage]

If you Partition the Drive into several smaller partitions, does the same error occur at the 70GB mark on each partition?

 

[PaulyP]

Thanks for the suggestion Grenage - I've spent all day trying your little experiment and lo and behold, i've got a little further. I made a mistake in the first post - the files actually become corrupted when I get to the 100Gb filled point. So I did as you suggested and split the drive into 2 125Gb drives. Still the same problem at the 100Gb mark but now I can copy 100Gb to each partition before anything gets currupted - double the storage space I had before - ergo there is obviously nothing wrong with the drive. What I will do now is repartition the drive into 3 80Gb drives which I think will solve the problem completely... Phew!

Strange though that the problem seems to arise at 100Gb - is there a limitation in xp or possibly the highpoint controller is not upto the job??

Anyway - Thanks again for the help Grenage - you've saved me a lot of hassle in not having to return the drive - nice one!! ;-)

 

[Grenage]

np

Since it's a constant amount you're getting to there is most likely a limitation somewhere. I would guess the BIOS/Controller too.

Good luck.

 

[edfair]

Try a google search for "hard drive limitations". Shows the hardware and operating system limitations.

Ed Fair
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply. Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[Peahippo]

Something about this thread itched. Then I googled "ntfs file limitations". I got here:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/tr...prodtechnol/winxppro/reskit/prkc_fil_tdrn.asp

... which also tells about FAT32 file limitations.

Which file system are you using in WinXP? NTFS allows files to get about 16000 GB in size, with max drive volume of 256000 GB; for FAT32 (made by XP), 4 GB and 32GB.