Weird Problem: Hard disk all of a sudden hums or hisses, and then hangs

Hello,

I've been having this problem for quite a while already.

The pc will all of a sudden freeze, and then I can hear the hard disk, or
the pc, issue two hums or hisses, which is accompanied by the hard disk
light being on, indicating disk activities. After this two hisses, I can
move the mouse a bit. But then within like 10 or 15 seconds of the hums or
hisses, the hard disk hisses twice again, and the hard disk light is on.
Then the pc freezes right there.

Ctrl-alt-del can't reset the pc, and I need to press the reset button.

After the reboot, the pc is like normal again. But then, the problem may
come back from time to time, like after a few weeks' time.

I at first suspected of some viruses, but scanning with Norton Antivirus or
with Ad-aware and spybot search and destroy did not turn up any viruses or
spywares.

Anyone can point me to what I should try to check?

Thanks.

Herbert

My first step would be to run the diagnostics for the brand of hard drive.
If you don't know what brand the drive is, you can download the limited-use free
edition of OnTrack Data Advisor from this location:
http://www.ontrack.com/freesoftware/#dataadvisor

When you click the download link on that page for Data Advisor 5.0 Free edition, you
will be taken to a page to register with the OnTrack site, then you will be able to
download the diskette creator file.

The downloads are diskette creators. They are to be run once from a working Windows
system and will guide you through the process of extracting the Data Advisor onto a
3.5" floppy disk.

Download and Use Instructions:
http://www.ontrack.com/dataadvisor/downloadinfo.asp

As far as I know, Maxtor's diagnostics will also work with any brand of drive.

Hard Drive Diagnostic Programs by Vendor:

OnTrack Data Advisor:
http://www.ontrack.com/freesoftware/#dataadvisor
IBM/Hitachi Drive Fitness Test:
http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/download.htm
Western Digital Data Lifeguard Tools:
http://support.wdc.com/download/
Quantum/Maxtor PowerMax:
http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/downloads/powermax.htm
Seagate SeaTools:
http://www.seagate.com/support/seatools/index.html
Download:
http://www.seagate.com/support/seatools/B7a.html
http://www.seagate.com/support/seato...toold_reg.html
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm


"Herbert Chan" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I've been having this problem for quite a while already.

The pc will all of a sudden freeze, and then I can hear the hard disk, or
the pc, issue two hums or hisses, which is accompanied by the hard disk
light being on, indicating disk activities. After this two hisses, I can
move the mouse a bit. But then within like 10 or 15 seconds of the hums or
hisses, the hard disk hisses twice again, and the hard disk light is on.
Then the pc freezes right there.

Ctrl-alt-del can't reset the pc, and I need to press the reset button.

After the reboot, the pc is like normal again. But then, the problem may
come back from time to time, like after a few weeks' time.

I at first suspected of some viruses, but scanning with Norton Antivirus or
with Ad-aware and spybot search and destroy did not turn up any viruses or
spywares.

Anyone can point me to what I should try to check?

Thanks.

Herbert

Glee's advice always sounded good to me. Before/after that, perhaps...

http://support.microsoft.com/default...;EN-US;q287914
Articles about Scandisk
http://support.microsoft.com/default...;en-us;Q286263
Articles about Defrag

I must warn that Scandisk may not do a great job when there is a
great one to do...
http://cquirke.mvps.org/9x/scandisk.htm
Therefore, perhaps UNcheck "Automatically fix errors" on it's front
screen. It will then ask whether you want each error fixed. If it sounds
truly horrible, say "No!", and post the log. The log will be
"C:\Scandisk.log". Do not let it constantly restart, either.
(When running Scandisk in DOS, there won't be such a box to uncheck. You
must do it in "C:\Windows\Command\Scandisk.ini", per cquirke's advice.)
REALLY, in light of all THAT, the BEST thing to do is to have a full
system backup to run to! Would you like my list of backup apps?

1. Turn off screen saver (R-Clk Desktop, Properties, Screen Saver--
None)
2. Turn off power management (Control Panel, Power Management-- Always
On,Never,Never,Never)
3. Disable any permanent internet cable connection, perhaps.
4. Suspend Task Scheduler
5. Turn off interfering programs. Use "StartupCop" or "EndItAll2" from
PCMag (below). Or "START, Run, MSConfig, Startup tab". Note what is
unchecked. Then, go to the General tab & disable the entire Startup
Group, by clicking "Selective.." & unchecking "Load Startup...". Reboot.
Don't forget to re-enable before the next boot.
6. Use "HDValet" from PCMag, or
(a) "Control Panel, Internet Options, Delete Files button, bolt Delete
all offline content, OK, OK"
(b) "START, Run, %TEMP%", & delete all files that will let you. This
will likely be "C:\Windows\Temp". This is best done after a fresh boot,
unless you have not seen the message "Reboot to complete this install".
7. Run Scandisk (Thorough, usually w/o write testing. Check all three
items under "Scandisk, Advanced button, 'Check files for' box". If you
want to be informed as it does a fix, UNcheck "Automatically fix errors"
on the front screen, or look inside "C:\Scandisk.log" afterwards.)
8. "START, Run, Defrag /p /details". Apparently, "/p" Defrags the
unmovables.

The purpose of steps 1-5 is only to prevent constant restarts of
Scandisk & Defrag, if you get them; but DEFINITELY turn off the Virus
Scanner. Scandisk should be done perhaps once a month, and certainly
after every serious crash. Do a Defrag after a sluggish boot or when
this says so:
http://www.pcmag.com/ 's CrackUp, by Gregory A. Wolking & Bob Flanders.
Also, take DiskAction, to determine what is constantly writing to the
HDD, which causes the restarts. Take BHOCop & StartupCop too.

"DiskAction" reports the last 12 processes that access any partition. It
discovered the MS Critical Update Notification Tool was accessing my
HDD every five minutes. It can be uninstalled in "Control Panel,
Add/Remove Programs". Then, occasionally, "START, Windows Update" on
your own.

"BHOCop" found a Browser Helper Object called Wavehelper Class, created
by "Wavetop", that was building a monstrosity of an error log called
"Logit.txt" in here. "START, Find, F/F, Logit.txt"-- see one?

Now, my hard drive is quieter than my mouse. (Of course, I now also have
384 MB RAM, up from an initial 64, eliminating Swap File activity.)


--
Thanks or Good Luck,
There may be humor in this post, and,
Naturally, you will not sue,
should things get worse after this,
PCR

"Herbert Chan" wrote in message
...
| Hello,
|
| I've been having this problem for quite a while already.
|
| The pc will all of a sudden freeze, and then I can hear the hard disk,
or
| the pc, issue two hums or hisses, which is accompanied by the hard
disk
| light being on, indicating disk activities. After this two hisses, I
can
| move the mouse a bit. But then within like 10 or 15 seconds of the
hums or
| hisses, the hard disk hisses twice again, and the hard disk light is
on.
| Then the pc freezes right there.
|
| Ctrl-alt-del can't reset the pc, and I need to press the reset button.
|
| After the reboot, the pc is like normal again. But then, the problem
may
| come back from time to time, like after a few weeks' time.
|
| I at first suspected of some viruses, but scanning with Norton
Antivirus or
| with Ad-aware and spybot search and destroy did not turn up any
viruses or
| spywares.
|
| Anyone can point me to what I should try to check?
|
| Thanks.
|
| Herbert
|
|