Help! HDD dying?

[Alchemist]

Getting some strange behavior from my machine lately. Sometimes HDD light
stays on, CD burner light stays on and wont open, random freezing for 20-30
seconds at a time even when idle, freezes during diskcheck at boot, decides
not to shut down etc etc.

Cant tell if this is a virus/worm or if the HDD is simply dying. It began
when I had to move the computer out of the room to paint, which leads me to
believe its the latter. I am always careful with it, set it down gently,
and when this trouble began, I opened her up to check for any loose
connections, which there arent.

Standard IDE 4 gig drive with WinXp Home installed. This drive is dedicated
to the OS, my files and programs are on another drive.

Any ideas please post! Karma will go up 5 points!

 

[Anthony]

Getting some strange behavior from my machine lately. Sometimes HDD light
stays on, CD burner light stays on and wont open, random freezing for 20-30
seconds at a time even when idle, freezes during diskcheck at boot, decides
not to shut down etc etc.

Cant tell if this is a virus/worm or if the HDD is simply dying. It began
when I had to move the computer out of the room to paint, which leads me to
believe its the latter. I am always careful with it, set it down gently,
and when this trouble began, I opened her up to check for any loose
connections, which there arent.

Standard IDE 4 gig drive with WinXp Home installed. This drive is dedicated
to the OS, my files and programs are on another drive.

Any ideas please post! Karma will go up 5 points!

It does sound like something may be on the way out.
Un plug your CD-ROM drive and test the ebhaviour for a while if it is
still there then the problem is more than likely HDD related.

If you know who the manufacturer is you can always download their
diagnostic tool and test it.

Dont forget to check the to make sure that all your hdd cables are
securely plugged in as well, sometimes they will come loose.