Disk errors in Event Viewer - Help!

[googlemail2003]

OK - I tried Event Viewer for the first time yesterday and saw many
disk errors. Almost all occur when Norton is doing a virus scan, which
runs daily.

I rebooted and at the Dell logo pressed PF12 and ran the hard disk
diagnostics. It said:

"MAXTOR 6y160m0 Fail - Return Code 7"

Is this serious?

I have not noticed any problems with my system at all.

Ignorance is bliss I suppose, but not if my hard drive is on the verge
of dying.

Help!

Thanks

Jane

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi,

Download Maxtor's diagnostic:
www.maxtor.com/en/support/downloads/powermax.htm

Boot the system with this utility and check the state of the drive, it is
likely to be a candidate for replacement. 6y169m0 is just the model number
by the way. Any potential failing drive should be replaced immediately.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[googlemail2003]

OK, there were block errors. Dell says they will replace the disk with
a blank one and that I have to reinstall ALL the software. This is a
nightmare for me because I have a back injury and sitting at the
computer for a long time is not an option.

What if I just keep using it until something goes wrong? Will I be in
any worse shape than now? I still have a two year warranty.

 

[Malke]

OK, there were block errors. Dell says they will replace the disk
with
a blank one and that I have to reinstall ALL the software. This is a
nightmare for me because I have a back injury and sitting at the
computer for a long time is not an option.

What if I just keep using it until something goes wrong? Will I be in
any worse shape than now? I still have a two year warranty.

It's going to fail. There is no way to tell whether it will be tomorrow
or in a year, but I'd bet on sooner rather than later. Have Dell
replace the disk and hire a local tech to set everything up for you. I
do this for clients all the time and it will only take 1-2 hrs. and so
not be too expensive.

Give your back a rest and let someone else do the work for you. Feel
better soon.

Malke

 

[Rick Rogers]

In addition to Malke, should you have the hardware, you could grab imaging
software like Image For Windows from terabyteunlimited.com and simply image
the existing system to DVD media, then replace the image on the new, blank
drive after installing it.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[googlemail2003]

Thank you!

I have been looking for a product like this. I used to use BackupExec
but they stopped making a workstation version.

I bought Image for Windows today and made a backup right away. I did
get a hard drive error in the middle of the backup (not surprising).
It asked me if I wanted to continue and I said yes. Hopefully this
will not ruin my chances of being able to restore this backup.

Anyway I feel much better having made the back up. I'll make another
tomorrow just to be sure.

In the meantime I've decided to wait for the disk to fail. The work
entailed to restore the system is the same whether I do it now or not.
With the system backup I feel a little more secure. Also I have a
laptop I can use if my desktop dies.

Again, thanks for the info.

Jane