Frequent hard drive failures

[zannettis]

Ok so here's the problem. I own a Dell Inspiron N5110 laptop. I bought it in 2011 and since then i replaced the hard drive four (4!!!) times! The disks keep failing. Scratching noises mostly, slow performance (read and write) etc. Most recent replacement was today. I got a brand new HGST Travelstar Z5K500, after using WDs. I thought that the problem was with the WDs, bad build quality or low lifespan and so i decided to buy something new to try out, although in my gaming pc i have 2 WDs installed that are 5+ years old and still work like new...

Unfortunately for me the BRAND NEW hard disk started the scratching noises immediately after starting the installation of Windows 7. After the installation the overall performance of the laptop is really bad, the same as with when i had the other failing hard drives installed.

So it got me thinking that maybe the problem is with the motherboard or some other piece of hardware, like the charger? Or the battery, because i read somewhere that hard drives fail if the power provided to them is not stable.

 

What do you think? I really can't figure it out. I need a solution to this problem so any ideas, recommendations etc are welcome. And i will not be replacing the hard drive again. not even with an SSD. Too much money already spent on this laptop...

[zannettis]

Probably bad power from the charger or battery, just as you mentioned. Try Changing battery and the charger.

thanks for the fast answer. is there a way to test this?

[EmeraldFlame]

Ok so here's the problem. I own a Dell Inspiron N5110 laptop. I bought it in 2011 and since then i replaced the hard drive four (4!!!) times! The disks keep failing. Scratching noises mostly, slow performance (read and write) etc. Most recent replacement was today. I got a brand new HGST Travelstar Z5K500, after using WDs. I thought that the problem was with the WDs, bad build quality or low lifespan and so i decided to buy something new to try out, although in my gaming pc i have 2 WDs installed that are 5+ years old and still work like new...

Unfortunately for me the BRAND NEW hard disk started the scratching noises immediately after starting the installation of Windows 7. After the installation the overall performance of the laptop is really bad, the same as with when i had the other failing hard drives installed.

So it got me thinking that maybe the problem is with the motherboard or some other piece of hardware, like the charger? Or the battery, because i read somewhere that hard drives fail if the power provided to them is not stable.

 

What do you think? I really can't figure it out. I need a solution to this problem so any ideas, recommendations etc are welcome. And i will not be replacing the hard drive again. not even with an SSD. Too much money already spent on this laptop...

So first, WD drives typically have high quality, and while the will eventually die, and it is possible to have that many die on you under normal circumstances (although highly unlikely), I find it highly unlikely that a single person would encounter this many drive failures that quickly. I would definitely agree that your issue is somewhere else.

The very first thing I would do is get a Digital Multimeter so that you can read the voltages that both the battery and the charger are giving off. Go onto Dell's website, check what their specifications are on both, and make sure that your battery and charger are near those specifications. If one or the other is way off, that is likely you'r culprit. If your battery and charger do seem to be putting out appropriate power, it could be a problem with the power delivery system on the motherboard itself. I would visually check the motherboard for damaged capacitors and chokes, it is very possible that one is defective or burnt out and that is causing your issue. You won't always see visual damage of caps and chokes, sometimes it can be internal, but it seems more often than not, there are visual signs such as deformation, expansion, or charring.

Also just as a heads up if you wanted to get away from WD HDD's, you made a bad choice going to HGST. WD has owned HGST for a number of years now.

[zannettis]

thanks for the answer. i tried measuring the battery with a multimeter. the rating on the battery is 11.1V. I did not however get any readings close to that. the only readings i got were between 0.01 and 0.05 V. So i'm guessing that i made some mistake measuring it? I'm not sure who the positive and negative pins are. i found a schematic that said that the two last pins on either side of the battery are the positive and negative but when i measure them i don't get any readings on the multimeter.

 

As for the hard disk brand. I knew that WD owned HGST but i though it was only on paper, and that each brand continued to work independently from each other and at the end shared profits and expenses.