HELLO,
MY HARD DRIVE RECENTLY STARTED SHUTTING DOWN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WORK.
PROBLEM HAPPENS WHEN I ATTEMPT TO READ LARGER AMOUNTS OF DATA FROM IT. HARD DISK SIMPLY SHUTS DOWN. IT STOPS SPINNING AND VANISHES AT THE SOFTWARE LEVEL.
AFTER SHUTDOWN OCCURS, ALL APPLICATIONS (INCLUDING WINDOWS EXPLORER) WHICH WERE ACCESSING THE HARD DRIVE AT THAT MOMENT FREEZE AND I HAVE TO KILL THEM.
AFTER REINCARNATION OF THE KILLED WINDOWS EXPLORER, THE DRIVE WHICH SHUTTED DOWN IS NO LONGER VISIBLE. IT IS NO LONGER DISPLAYED IN THIS PC IN WINDOWS. IT IS NOT VISIBLE IN OTHER PROGRAMS AS WELL INCLUDING THE DISK MANAGEMENT SNAP IN FOR MICROSOFT MANAGEMENT CONSOLE PROGRAM.
IN DEVICE MANAGER SNAP IN FOR MICROSOFT MANAGEMENT CONSOLE PROGRAM THIS DRIVE IS HIDDEN, BUT ITS ENTRY CAN BE ACCESSED IF I SELECT 'SHOW HIDDEN DEVICES' OPTION. WHEN I GO TO PROPERTIES IT SAYS THAT DEVICE IS DISCONNECTED WITH CODE 45. SO IT LOOKS LIKE THIS IS NOT A SOFTWARE SHUTDOWN, BUT RATHER SHUTDOWN AT HARDWARE LEVEL, OR, THAT IS, SHUTDOWN INITIATED BY THE HARD DRIVE CONTROLLER CHIP SINCE AFTER THIS HARD DRIVE IS COMPLETELY DETACHED FROM THE SYSTEM.
DEVICE MANAGER SUGGESTS ME TO RECONNECT THE DRIVE. SINCE DRIVE IS CONNECTED, RECONNECTING WOULD MEAN UNPLUGGING THE POWER CABLE FROM THE DRIVE AND PLUGGING IT BACK IN, BUT, SINCE IT IS SATA INTERNAL DRIVE, REPLUGGING IT WHILE COMPUTER IS RUNNING IS A BAD IDEA.
THE PROBLEM IS NOT JUST LIMITED TO WINDOWS.
IF I GO AND RESTART MY COMPUTER AFTER THIS HAPPENS, EVEN BIOS (BASIC INPUT OUTPUT SYSTEM WHICH STARTS BEFORE WINDOWS) DOES NOT SEE IT. NOT JUST THAT, BIOS COMPLETELY FREEZES AFTER RESTART. IT FREEZES JUST AT THE POINT WHEN IT IS DETECTING HARD DRIVES.
SO IT LOOKS LIKE HARD DRIVE SHUTTED DOWN SO MUCH THAT NOT EVEN BIOS IS CAPABLE OF WAKING IT UP, AND NOT EVEN BIOS SEAS IT.
IN ORDER FOR ME TO RESTART MY HARD DRIVE I HAVE TO CUT POWER TO IT AND AFTER BRINGING POWER BACK, HARD DRIVE RESTARTS AND SPINS UP AGAIN. I DO THIS BY SWITCHING COMPUTER POWER BUTTON TO OFF POSITION, AND SWITCHING IT BACK TO ON POSITION AFTER SEVERAL SECONDS (WHEN POWER WHICH IS LEFT IN CAPACITORS IN COMPUTER PSU [POWER SUPPLY UNIT] RUNS OUT). THIS IS THE ONLY WAY WHICH I FIGURED OUT TO RESTART MY HARD DRIVE. SIMPLY POWERING DOWN COMPUTER WITH POWER BUTTON DOES NOT WORK, SINCE EVEN WHEN COMPUTER IS SHUTTED DOWN, POWER IS PRESENT AT HARD DRIVE AND IT KEEPS IT FROM RESETTING. SO, JUST MECHANICAL POWER SWITCH WORKS, BUT ONLY AFTER POWER IS COMPLETELY DRAINED FROM CAPACITORS. FAST OFF-ON ON THE SWITCH ALSO DOES NOT WORK SINCE POWER IS LEFT IN CAPACITORS WHICH IS ENOUGH TO KEEP COMPUTER POWERED FOR ABOUT 5 SECONDS AFTER POWER IS DISCONNECTED.

AFTER I MANAGE TO RESTART IT, HARD DRIVE WORKS WITHOUT ANY PROBLEMS IN BOTH BIOS AND WINDOWS AS LONG AS I DO NOT TRY TO READ LARGE AMOUNTS OF DATA FROM IT. WHEN I DO, IT SHUTS DOWN AGAIN.

SO, WHAT I AM TRYING TO ASK YOU, ALTHOUGH I KNOW THAT IT IS PROBABLY HOPELESS, IS, IS THERE ANY OTHER WAY OF WHICH YOU KNOW TO RESTART A HARD DRIVE WITHOUT RESTARTING MY COMPUTER?

JUST TO MENTION, THIS HARD DRIVE IS SECONDARY, SO, I CAN WORK IN WINDOWS EVEN AFTER SUDDEN SHUTDOWN OF THIS HARD DRIVE OCCURS.

PROBLEM WITH ME RESTARTING A HARD DRIVE ON THIS WAY IS THAT I HAVE TO SHUT DOWN AND START UP MY WINDOWS. BUT THE PROBLEM IS THAT ON MY COMPUTER IT TAKES 40 MINUTES TO START UP WINDOWS AND FULL 12 HOURS TO SHUT IT DOWN. SO, IN ORDER FOR ME TO RESTART MY HARD DRIVE I NEED TO WAIT MORE THAN 12 HOURS FOR WINDOWS (OR JUST 40 MINUTES IF I SIMPLY UNPLUG MY COMPUTER FROM POWER WHENEVER I NEED TO RESTART IT, BUT THAT IS ALSO A VERY BAD IDEA).

I KNOW THAT IT LOOKS LIKE MY HARD DRIVE IS DYING BECAUSE MANY SIMPTOMS HAVE MANIFESTED:
- READ AND WRITE SPEEDS ARE FALLEN TO AROUND 5-10 MB/S.
- FILES AND EVEN WHOLE FOLDERS (WITH THOUSANDS OF FILES IN THEM) KEEP DISAPPEARING FROM MY HARD DRIVE.
- EVERY 2-5 DAYS MY HARD DRIVE BECOMES INACCESSIBLE AND AFTER REPAIR WITH CHKDSK PROGRAM IN WINDOWS NEW 5-20 BAD CLUSTERS APPEAR ON MY HARD DRIVE.
- EVERY FEW MONTHS $MFT (MASTER FILE TABLE) GETS CORRUPTED AND CHKDSK PROGRAM CAN NOT REPAIR MY HARD DRIVE SO I HAVE TO REFORMAT IT.
- AND, AS I SAID, MY HARD DRIVE SHUTS DOWN WHEN LARGER AMOUNTS OF DATA ARE READ OFF IT.

WHAT IS FUNNY IS THAT DESPITE ALL THESE PROBLEMS AND SYMPTOMS SMART (SELF MONITORING AND REPORTING TECHNOLOGY) SAYS THAT THE DRIVE IS OK, THAT IS, IN GOOD CONDITION. NEITHER BIOS, NOR WINDOWS NOR SEVERAL OTHER HARD DISK DIAGNOSTIC PROGRAMS GIVE ME ANY SMART ERRORS.

BUT, THE LAST SYMPTOM DID NOT EXIST UNTIL RECENTLY. IT ONLY MANIFESTED ITSELF SEVERAL DAYS AGO.

AND BEFORE IT MANIFESTED ITSELF I WAS ABLE TO KEEP ISOLATING BAD CLUSTERS AS THEY APPEARED AND KEEP USING MY HARD DRIVE. BUT NOW WITH THIS HARD SHUTDOWNS IT IS BECOMMING IMPOSSIBLE TO REPAIR MY HARD DRIVE.
THE PROBLEM IS THAT SECTOR BY SECTOR SCAN WHICH IS REQUIRED TO FIND BAD SECTORS TAKES ABOUT 6 HOURS ON MY HARD DRIVE AND READS HUNDREDS OF GIGABYTES OF DATA FROM IT. BUT, SINCE, AS I SAID, WHEN LARGE AMOUTNS OF DATA ARE READ FROM IT, IT SHUTS DOWN, I AM UNABLE TO COMPLETE THE SECTOR-BY-SECTOR SCAN AND REMAP BAD CLUSTERS. SO I CAN NO LONGER REPAIR MY HARD DRIVE.

SO, WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO DO IS TO ISOLATE BAD SECTORS AND REMAP THEM, BUT I CAN NOT DO THAT WITHOUT FULL DRIVE SCAN, AND I CAN NOT DO FULL DRIVE SCAN BECAUSE THE DRIVE WILL SHUT DOWN, AND I CAN NOT RESTART IT WITHOUT RESTARTING WINDOWS, AND THAT TAKES MORE THAN 12 HOURS TO COMPLETE. SO, I AM UNABLE TO REPAIR IT ANYMORE.

SINCE MY HARD DRIVE IS FROM 2007. AND HAS BEEN IN USE EVERY DAY SINCE THEN FOR ABOUT 12 HOURS PER DAY IN AVERAGE, I KNOW THAT IT LOOKS LIKE IT HAS PASSED ITS LIFETIME AND THAT IT IS JUST FAILING, WHAT IS NATURAL PROCESS FOR A HARD DRIVE; WE ALL GET OLD AND DIE EVENTUALLY. BUT DESPITE THAT, IN THEORY, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO ISOLATE ALL BAD CLUSTES AS THEY APPEAR, NO MATTER HOW MANY OF THEM IS. AS NEW BAD CLUSTERS KEEP APPEARING ONE SHOULD BE ABLE TO JUST KEEP ISOLATING THEM. EVEN IF GIGABYTES AND GIGABYTES OF HARD DRIVE ARE ISOLATED, IN THEORY, REMAINING PARTS SHOULD BE ABLE TO BE USED.
AND I HAVE JUST ABOUT 250 KB OF BAD CLUSTERS, AND THAT IS NOT THAT MUCH. STIL 99.9999% OF MY HARD DRIVE IS GOOD. SO, THERE IS NO REASON TO STOP USING THE WHOLE DRIVE, JUST TO ISOLATE BAD SECTORS. AND AS LONG AS HARD DRIVE IS POWERED ON I CAN DO THAT.

SO, MY QUESTION HERE IS NOT 'WHAT IS GOING ON WITH MY HARD DRIVE', I KNOW THAT SINCE IT IS IN USE FOR 14 YEARS WITHOUT STOPPING THE ANSWER IS ABOUT 90% SURE THAT IT IS LONG PASSED ITS LIFETIME. MY QUESTION HERE IS:

HOW TO START HARD DRIVE AGAIN AFTER IT EXPERIENCED HARD SHUT DOWN WITHOUT SHUTTING DOWN MY COMPUTER, OR, EVEN BETTER, HOW TO PREVENT IT TO SHUT DOWN BY ITSELF?

FOR ANYONE WHO RESPONDS, THANK YOU.

_________________
YBY

it will take me some years to read all this, but sooner or later you will be given an answer. No hurry, until 2030
(sorry, it's 2 am...)

_________________
Adatmentés - Data recovery

Clone it, use ddrescue or hddsuperclone. If you want to minimize risk though, let a lab do it.

_________________
Joep - http://www.disktuna.com - video & photo repair & recovery service

HI,
YEA, BUT THE DATA IS NOT THE PROBLEM. I HAVE A BACKUP.
I JUST WANT TO FIND A WAY TO PREVENT IT FROM RANDOMLY SHUTTING DOWN BY ITSELF.

_________________
YBY

I SUGGEST YOU HAMMER IT TO DEATH

_________________
Joep - http://www.disktuna.com - video & photo repair & recovery service

NO, THAT WOULD MAKE IT SHUTDOWN PERMANENTLY. I WANT THE OPPOSITE. TO KEEP IT RUNNING PERMANENTLY.

_________________
YBY

OH F*CK OFF!

_________________
Joep - http://www.disktuna.com - video & photo repair & recovery service

THAT SUGGESTION DOES NOT HELP WITH THE PROBLEM EITHER.

_________________
YBY

Its only a guess but it might be something wrong with a chip on the PCB with the added problems with the drive getting old and growing bad sectors. It would be best to copy all your data off it steadily and keep the drive cooled. I think overheating of the main chip could be causing a problem too and the components getting old and causing interference. So grab as much data as you can and get a replacement drive.

deleted

_________________
A backup a day keeps DR away.

THANK YOU, SHANE.

THIS INDEED MIGHT BE THE REASON.
WHEN MY COMPUTER IS WORKING, I CAN NOT TOUCH MY HARD DRIVE. IT IS VERY HOT. MORE THAN 50°C.
REGARDING THE BACKUP, I ALREADY HAVE IT, I WROTE A PROGRAM WHICH BACKS IT UP REGULARLY, SO DATA ARE NOT THE PROBLEM HERE. AS LONG AS I CAN KEEP IT RUNNING, I CAN KEEP ISOLATEING BAD SECTORS, SO I WANT TO SEE HOW LONG COULD I KEEP IT WORKING. I HAVE OTHER DRIVE READY IN CASE THIS ONE DIES WHERE I COULD RESTORE DATA FROM BACKUP.

I WILL TRY TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO KEEP IT COOLER AND THIS MIGHT INDEED HELP PREVENT SUDDEN SHUTDOWNS.

I NEVER THOUGHT OF THAT.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

_________________
YBY

The fact that you rule out replacing the drive is dumbfounding.



this starts out well, actually sensible, but goes pear-shaped fast.

HDD's are well known to just sh*t themselves after failing for some time. Like any other mechanical thing, car engines, bearings, pulleys and belts etc, etc, etc.

If the rest of the PC is that old as well, likely you are due for a power supply, Mainboard or HDD failure anyway

HI, HAQUE. WELL, YES, I KNOW THAT IT WOULD BE EASYER JUST TO REPLACE A DRIVE, BUT I HAVE SOME REASONS TO NOT TO REPLACE IT.
FIRST ONE IS THAT I AM NOT EMPLOYED AT THE MOMENT AND I LIVE WITH MY MOM, SO IF I ASK HER TO PAY ME FOR A NEW DRIVE SHE WOULD BE MAD, HAHA, ESPECIALLY BECAUSE I SHOULD GET EMPLOYED SOON (WITHIN NEXT FEW MONTHS), SO, SHE WOULD EXPECT ME TO PAY WITH MY OWN MONEY, WHAT ACTUALLY IS WHAT I AM THINKING AS WELL. I SHOULD NOT BE ASKING HER WHEN I AM EXPECTING TO GET EMPLOYED SOON.
SECOND, I HAVE A BACKUP DRIVE WHICH I CAN USE IN CASE THIS ONE FAILS. I CAN RESTORE BACKUP TO THE SAME LOCATION WHERE BACKUP IS STORED, SO IN THAT CASE I WOULD HAVE SOME TIME TO GET A NEW DRIVE TO BE USED AS A BACKUP DRIVE, ALTHOUGH THAT SHOULD NOT BE PROLONGED FOR A LONG TIME BECAUSE IF I REPURPOSE MY BACKUP DRIVE TO BE MY MAIN DRIVE I WOULD NOT HAVE A BACKUP ANYMORE, SO I WOULD NEED TO GET A NEW DRIVE SOON, JUST IN CASE SOMETHING HAPPENS TO THIS SECOND DRIVE.
AND A THIRD REASON WHY I DO NOT WISH TO REPLACE IT, AND THAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE, IS THAT I AM AN ENGINEER, BOTH ELECTRONIC AND COMPUTER ENGINEER SO I AM CURIOUS BY NATURE. I LIKE TO EXPLORE AND EXPERIMENT WITH THINGS. SO, IT IS VERY EXCITING FOR ME FROM MY ENGINEERING PERSPECTIVE TO SEE HOW LONG WOULD I BE ABLE TO KEEP A DYING HARD DRIVE RUNNING. SO, THIS IS KIND OF AN EXPERIMENT FOR ME.

YEA, MOST OF MY COMPUTER IS THAT OLD. BUT IT SERVES ME WELL. IT STILL CAN RUN WINDOWS SERVER 2019 WITHOUT TOO MUCH PROBLEMS. ALTHOUGH I DID UPGRADE SOME STUFF. BUT MOST OF THE COMPUTER IS FROM 2007.. MY FLOPPY DRIVE IS FROM 1998., MY CD AND DVD DRIVES ARE FROM 2004., AND POWER SUPPLY, MOTHERBOARD, PROCESSOR, GRAPHIC CARD, THEY ARE FROM 2007.. I DID UPGRADE MY RAM IN 2020., BUT, ALTHOUGH I BOUGHT IT ONLINE IN 2020., AND IT SAYS THAT IT IS NEW ONE, I THINK THAT IT WAS MANUFACTURED IN 2009. IF I AM NOT WRONG, IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY, WHEN I INSPECT MY RAM CHIPS WITH SOME RAM BENCHMARK PROGRAMS, I THINK THAT IT SAYS THAT IT WAS MADE IN 2009.. BUT IT WAS NOT USED, SO, AT LEAST THAT IS A LITTLE BETTER. SO YES, IN GENERAL, THIS IS ONE OLD PC, BUT IT STILL WORKS WELL WITH THE NEWEST OPERARING SYSTEMS, SUCH AS WINDOWS SERVER 2019. FROM HARDWARE FAILURES, I HAD ONLY 2 FOR NOW. FIRST ONE WAS THAT CPU FAN DIED. I REPLACED IT. AND SECOND WAS THAT ONE OF MY CD AND DVD DRIVES DIED. THAT WAS NOT A PROBLEM, BECAUSE, AT THAT TIME I HAD 5 CD AND DVD DRIVES CONNECTED TO MY PC FOR NO REASON. I MEAN, I THINK THAT IT IS BETTER TO HAVE THEM CONNECTED ALTHOUGH THEY ARE NOT ALL USED AT THE SAME TIME, THAN TO HAVE THEM SOMEWHERE IN THE ATTIC COLLECTING DUST AND MOISTURE. SO, WHEN ONE OF THEM DIED, I SIMPLY DISCONNECTED IT AND HAVE 4 OF THEM WORKING AT THE MOMENT. ALTHOUGH, THAT DRIVE WAS NOT FROM 2007., IT WAS OLDER, BECAUSE ALL CD AND DVD DRIVES ARE FROM AROUND 2003. AND 2004.. SO, THOSE WERE ONLY 2 HARDWARE FAILURES WHICH I HAD IN ALL THIS TIME. NOTHING MOTHERBOARD OR PSU RELATED YET.
THIS COMPUTER OF MINE WAS A REAL BADASS BACK IN THE DAYS. IT HAD 4 GB RAM, 4 CORE CPU AT 2.5 GHZ AND 2 GB OF GRAPHIC MEMORY. EVEN MORE NOW, WHEN I UPGRADED RAM FROM 4 GB AT 800 MHZ, TO 8 GB AT 1.1 GHZ IT IS STILL USEFUL. BECAUSE IT WAS VERY ADVANCED 15 YEARS AGO, NOW IT IS LOW END OF AVERAGE PC, AND AS SUCH IS MORE THAN ENOUGH TO BE ABLE TO BE USED FOR NORMAL NOT TOO ADVANCED TASKS TODAY. SO THAT IS WHY I STILL USE IT AND DO NOT PLAN TO BUY A COMPLETELY NEW COMPUTER FOR ANOTHER FEW YEARS AT LEAST, UNLESS MOTHERBOARD DIES. HARD DRIVE MIGHT DIE BEFORE THAT, SO I KNOW THAT I AM LIKELY TO HAVE TO REPLACE IT, BUT FOR NOW IT WORKS, NOT TOO STABLE, BUT IT WORKS STILL.

_________________
YBY

I've called my opthalmologist for an appointment.

_________________
http://www.northwind.gr
SandForce SSD Recovery
Ransomware Reverse Engineering - NoMoreRansom! partners

regardless. Replace the drive. (if this post is even real, as your old ones from 2012-2013 are just as... sketchy)

...and stop it with the Caps lock, it looks ridiculous.

let's send him a kbd with caps lock disabled

pepe

_________________
Adatmentés - Data recovery

I THINK THAT YOU MIGHT MISTAKENLY WROTE "HDDGURU.COM" INSTEAD OF "PATIENT.INFO" IN YOUR ADDRESS BAR OF YOUR BROWSER, NORTHWIND, WHEN YOU WROTE YOUR LAST COMMENT BECAUSE YOU MIGHT GET THE BETTER SUPPORT REGARDING YOUR EYES PROBLEM ON PATIENT.INFO THAN HERE, AND YOU WRITING HERE INSTEAD OF THERE WITHOUT REALISING IS CERTAINLY A SYMPTHOM OF A SERIOUS EYES PROBLEM, SO, I AM GLAD THAT YOU ARE GOING TO THE DOCTOR TO CHECK YOUR EYES OUT. GOOD LUCK WITH THAT. ♥

_________________
YBY

YES, IT IS REAL POST, HAQUE. WHAT DO YOU THINK THAT I WOULD MAKE UP UNEXISTED PROBLEMS? WITH SO MUCH DETAILS? :O
AND MY OTHER QUESTIONS ARE ALSO VALID PROBLEMS. I MEAN, I DID GIVE UP OR FIND ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR THEM, BUT THIS ONE IS CURRENT.

_________________
YBY

How old are you, 15?

_________________
http://www.northwind.gr
SandForce SSD Recovery
Ransomware Reverse Engineering - NoMoreRansom! partners

I DID LIE ABOUT MY AGE ON MY PROFILE, BUT I CAN SEE THAT YOU HAVE NOT EVEN CHECKED MY PROFILE. IF YOU HAD CHECKED IT, YOU WOULD FIND THAT IT SAYS THAT I AM 22. BUT, JUST LIKE THE REST OF MY PROFILE, THIS IS FALSE. MY REAL AGE IS 26.

I MEAN, IF YOU HAD READ MY COMMENTS YOU WOULD KNOW THAT I COULD NOT POSSIBLY BE 15 SINCE I SAID THAT I AM ENGINEER. SO, SOMEONE HAS TO BE AT LEAST 21 TO BE ENGINEER. YOU CAN NOT BE ENGINEER IF YOU ARE YOUNGER THAN 21. SO I CAN SEE THAT YOU DO NOT READ THINGS, HAHA. OTHERWISE YOU WOULD KNOW.

BUT ANYWAY, I AM 26. ALTHOUGH I DO NOT THINK THAT ANY OF YOUR COMMENTS ARE RELEVANT TO THIS POST. IT MIGHT BE BETTER TO TALK WITH ME IN PRIVATE MESSAGES. IT WOULD BE FUN, AND IN THE SAME TIME IT WOULD KEEP THIS POST CLEAN OF IRRELEVANT COMMENTS. I WOULD BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ALL YOUR QUESTIONS THERE.

_________________
YBY