Is my hard drive going to die soon?

[dauss]

Over the past few days I've been doing a lot of work on my computer, a lot of hard drive and processor activity. It was a little chilly this morning, around 60F, but I started my dell 8100 which I have had since mid 2001. I powered it on, and it was very quiet. Then it didn't boot, made a beeping noise . I go into the bios and no devices are listed on my 1st or 2nd ide channel. I power off and try again, same thing happens. Turn it off and finally on the third time I can hear the hard drives spinning up, and boots up like normal without any problems. Anyone have this happen to them before?

[MTAtech]

It may be having problems or maybe not. It's hard to say without being there.

However, I've had drives that started to act weird (a technical term) and finally failed. What I do is backup everything and wait. I suggest you do the same.

BTW, 60 degrees is not chilly for a machine.

[magicfreak32]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MTAtech

It may be having problems or maybe not. It's hard to say without being there.

However, I've had drives that started to act weird (a technical term) and finally failed. What I do is backup everything and wait. I suggest you do the same.

BTW, 60 degrees is not chilly for a machine.

^^ What he said.

[joker12578]

I once had a problem like this, being you haven't had this problem before it's probably not the same. Mine turned out to be the PSU and took one of my 60gig drives down with it.

[#43 fan]

It could be the PSU, since there was no indication of the drive. Since you turned it on 3 times, that might be an indicator that it might be going. My advice, get a new computer. Heck, build a new one.

[MTAtech]

In fact, I recently had a PSU sputer and eventually die. One of my HD's died a month before (replaced by WD warranty). Yea, the PSU can be a cause too.

However, more the case to backup and move the data off the system.

[saladbarkid]

For the love of Steve, Back up your data!!

[fakan]

you can do image of your hd using ghost or acronis image maker just to be on the safe side

you can download utility of maxtor website or tocows which will monitor your hd and diagnose any sort of problems

norton disk doctor perhaps

[linux?]

Hey,

First i'd try reseating the jumpers(on HDD) and swapping out the cables, reseat the power connectors.

You can try increasing the IDE delay time, if "applicable" in your BIOS. Basically delays the boot process so the drives can start spinning before the BIOS goes online....

Also if you or somone you know has experince with electronics, borrow a multilmeter and measure the 12 volt and 5 volt rails going to your HDD.

Also keep in mind that it could be the motherboard's ide controllers, before you invest any money into it.