What have i done to my PC?

[TheNooters]

My first post on here so apologies if im not posting in the right forum but...

 

My PC was overheating and was coated in dust inside the case which covered most components so i bought some compressed air and cleaned the inside. I was holding a vacuum nearby where i was using the compressed air to suck up the dust but i must have got to close to something because upon turning back on my PC windows attempted start-up repairs and it took over an hour to fix disk repairs. After it did that windows kept doing the same thing and i was stuck in repair disk errors loop. The only screen i could get to was the windows recovery environment where you have all the options such as Reset PC, CMD, etc... i couldn't even reset this pc as that ran into errors also. Anyway i tried running many things through CMD and eventually i was able to log into windows 10 and view my desktop but it was VERY VERY slow.

So i tried to re-install windows through booting from USB and CD but everything got worse, i could no longer boot windows or even boot from USB or CD. Eventually i was able to boot to USB after changing boot priority in the BIOS and moving HDD to the bottom of the boot list.

Long story cut short, after many hours and errors i was able to reset pc using windows 8 disk and install windows 8. However it's still very slow to boot up windows but maybe about 10 minutes after it's on it seems fine but i can't access my user folder on windows like documents or downloads it says unreadable or corrupt but can access program files etc on same hard drive?

Is it the hard drive causing these issues? Or is it something else? If you want any more details please just ask

[Senzelian]

If you are able to log into windows, then you should try to download CrytalDiskInfo - a software to read out the S.M.A.R.T. data of your drive.

That will basically show you, in which condition your drive is in and is quite easy to read.

 

Just get the standard edition here: https://crystalmark.info/en/software/crystaldiskinfo/

And then tell us what it says.

 

I suspect a problem with your drive.

[JustMATT]

I had similar loading problems before on a toshiba dirve (one of the reasons i refuse to buy a drive from them again) and there were no warnings about it in SMART, but i noticed something in speccy, its spin-up time (or something, i forget) for a normal drive is below 100ms, my drive was pretty close to the limit of 32bit integers (multi-billion), this is just what happened to one of my drives but it could be whats happening to yours, although I wouldn't be surprised if it was something else

[Christophe Corazza]

32 minutes ago, TheNooters said:

it took over an hour to fix disk repairs. After it did that windows kept doing the same thing and i was stuck in repair disk errors loop.

 

That most definitely sounds like a drive problem.

[joshuawi99]

See it as a good reason to swap the HDD out for a faster SSD

[Radium_Angel]

43 minutes ago, TheNooters said:

My first post on here so apologies if im not posting in the right forum but...

 

My PC was overheating and was coated in dust inside the case which covered most components so i bought some compressed air and cleaned the inside. I was holding a vacuum nearby where i was using the compressed air to suck up the dust but i must have got to close to something because upon turning back on my PC windows attempted start-up repairs and it took over an hour to fix disk repairs. After it did that windows kept doing the same thing and i was stuck in repair disk errors loop. The only screen i could get to was the windows recovery environment where you have all the options such as Reset PC, CMD, etc... i couldn't even reset this pc as that ran into errors also. Anyway i tried running many things through CMD and eventually i was able to log into windows 10 and view my desktop but it was VERY VERY slow.

So i tried to re-install windows through booting from USB and CD but everything got worse, i could no longer boot windows or even boot from USB or CD. Eventually i was able to boot to USB after changing boot priority in the BIOS and moving HDD to the bottom of the boot list.

Long story cut short, after many hours and errors i was able to reset pc using windows 8 disk and install windows 8. However it's still very slow to boot up windows but maybe about 10 minutes after it's on it seems fine but i can't access my user folder on windows like documents or downloads it says unreadable or corrupt but can access program files etc on same hard drive?

Is it the hard drive causing these issues? Or is it something else? If you want any more details please just ask

Drive is failing. Replace it and next time, don't use a vacuum. They can generate enough static charge to wreck components. Take the system outside and blow the dust out.

[TheNooters]

22 hours ago, Senzelian said:

If you are able to log into windows, then you should try to download CrytalDiskInfo - a software to read out the S.M.A.R.T. data of your drive.

That will basically show you, in which condition your drive is in and is quite easy to read.

 

Just get the standard edition here: https://crystalmark.info/en/software/crystaldiskinfo/

And then tell us what it says.

 

I suspect a problem with your drive.

Sometimes the PC boots windows and sometimes it doesnt (just black screens before I get to log in) anyway I was able to boot into windows on a rare occasion with limited services running and installed CrystalDiskInfo off a USB onto the PC. Please see the attached images 

[TheNooters]

22 hours ago, JustMATT said:

I had similar loading problems before on a toshiba dirve (one of the reasons i refuse to buy a drive from them again) and there were no warnings about it in SMART, but i noticed something in speccy, its spin-up time (or something, i forget) for a normal drive is below 100ms, my drive was pretty close to the limit of 32bit integers (multi-billion), this is just what happened to one of my drives but it could be whats happening to yours, although I wouldn't be surprised if it was something else

Yeah nothing seems to be saying it's bad but when I'm booting the PC and sometimes get in to windows on the rare occasion, it freezes for a 15 seconds or some then comes back and it keeps doing every minute or so. It also freezes during windows 8 installing and comes back. Would your gut tell you its definitely the hard drive? Even though it does sometimes work? Also in the PC I'm hearing noises I've never heard before? Like a clicking noise every so often? Like something keeps kicking back into life or trying to work, like the hard drive?

[JustMATT]

1 minute ago, TheNooters said:

Yeah nothing seems to be saying it's bad but when I'm booting the PC and sometimes get in to windows on the rare occasion, it freezes for a 15 seconds or some then comes back and it keeps doing every minute or so. It also freezes during windows 8 installing and comes back. Would your gut tell you its definitely the hard drive? Even though it does sometimes work? Also in the PC I'm hearing noises I've never heard before? Like a clicking noise every so often? Like something keeps kicking back into life or trying to work, like the hard drive?

if its clicking the hard drive is definitely fucked, back up whatever you can and RMA it, my drive (seagate barracuda) started clicking and I need to send it in, packaging is a bitch to find tho

[TheNooters]

On 6/4/2018 at 11:19 AM, Radium_Angel said:

Drive is failing. Replace it and next time, don't use a vacuum. They can generate enough static charge to wreck components. Take the system outside and blow the dust out.

I will do that in future. Is it definitely the hard drive then even though I can sometimes boot windows but just very slowly?

[TheNooters]

On 6/4/2018 at 11:07 AM, Christophe Corazza said:

 

That most definitely sounds like a drive problem.

It keeps doing this but once it's done windows can load with limited services but it's very slow. Then If i try and reboot it wont load and instead just blackscreen before I get to windows login. If I go to fix start up issues in recovery environment it straight away says scanning and repairing drive. Shall I just risk buying a new Hard Drive and even if it still doesnt work I'm only £40 down I suppose...?

[TheNooters]

3 hours ago, JustMATT said:

if its clicking the hard drive is definitely fucked, back up whatever you can and RMA it, my drive (seagate barracuda) started clicking and I need to send it in, packaging is a bitch to find tho

I dont need to back up anything up as theres nothing on the PC as I've reset it about 4 times trying to fix the issue. I've got no where to send it to. Shall I unplug a few things including the hard drive and plug them back in or literally just buy a new HDD?

[Christophe Corazza]

Do you have the possibility to run a CrytalDiskInfo test from another computer?

I mean: boot up another PC, plug in this HDD as an additional drive and use CrytalDiskInfo to test the drive?

[Christophe Corazza]

1 minute ago, Christophe Corazza said:

Do you have the possibility to run a CrytalDiskInfo test from another computer?

I mean: boot up another PC, plug in this HDD as an additional drive and use CrytalDiskInfo to test the drive?

 

If you don't get SMART errors at all, the disk can still fail without any warning whatsoever.

It sometimes happens on consumer grade disks with read-errors that somehow didn't end up in SMART data... even though Windows logged those errors in the Event log.

[TheNooters]

1 hour ago, Christophe Corazza said:

 

If you don't get SMART errors at all, the disk can still fail without any warning whatsoever.

It sometimes happens on consumer grade disks with read-errors that somehow didn't end up in SMART data... even though Windows logged those errors in the Event log.

I think I'm just going to have check all the connections inside the PC then buy another hard drive. If it still doesnt work then atleast I can rule that HDD out... from the symptoms I'm having it sounds linked to the HDD but if it turns out not to be that then I really dont know what it could be....? Can a hard drive be partially broken, is that possible?

[Christophe Corazza]

1 minute ago, TheNooters said:

I think I'm just going to have check all the connections inside the PC then buy another hard drive. If it still doesnt work then atleast I can rule that HDD out... from the symptoms I'm having it sounds linked to the HDD but if it turns out not to be that then I really dont know what it could be....? Can a hard drive be partially broken, is that possible?

 

A hard drive can be broken while a S.M.A.R.T. test might still think the drive is fine and give you no warnings.

[Christophe Corazza]

3 minutes ago, TheNooters said:

from the symptoms I'm having it sounds linked to the HDD

 

All the symptoms clearly indicatie that your HDD is at fault.

 

4 minutes ago, TheNooters said:

buy another hard drive. If it still doesnt work then atleast I can rule that HDD out...

 

That might be the best solution. If, for some strange reason, it does not turn out to be your HDD, you will still have additional storage that you can use later on.

You could perhaps buy an SSD and use that to run your OS. It’s 2018 after all :-D

[TheNooters]

5 minutes ago, Christophe Corazza said:

 

All the symptoms clearly indicatie that your HDD is at fault.

 

 

That might be the best solution. If, for some strange reason, it does not turn out to be your HDD, you will still have additional storage that you can use later on.

You could perhaps buy an SSD and use that to run your OS. It’s 2018 after all :-D

They all link back to the HDD but is there something else inside the PC that can be at fault for a faulty HDD? The freezing problem i'm having when windows actually loads is that if i get to the windows login screen it will freeze for about 20 seconds but the mouse cursor can still be moved but keyboard input and clicks do not, but when it unfreezes the keyboard input catches up as well as the clicks. This freezing problem was also happening when actually installing Windows, like when you're going through the set-up as well. So it sounds like that something in the PC keeps failing but coming back to life, does that sound like something a HDD could do?

 

I think i might just buy another HDD because they're cheaper than SSD's? I think my main priority at the moment is getting the PC working and then i may buy an SSD

[Christophe Corazza]

4 minutes ago, TheNooters said:

They all link back to the HDD but is there something else inside the PC that can be at fault for a faulty HDD? The freezing problem i'm having when windows actually loads is that if i get to the windows login screen it will freeze for about 20 seconds but the mouse cursor can still be moved but keyboard input and clicks do not, but when it unfreezes the keyboard input catches up as well as the clicks. This freezing problem was also happening when actually installing Windows, like when you're going through the set-up as well. So it sounds like that something in the PC keeps failing but coming back to life, does that sound like something a HDD could do?

 

I think i might just buy another HDD because they're cheaper than SSD's? I think my main priority at the moment is getting the PC working and then i may buy an SSD

 

A bad drive could absolutely cause lag. If the drive stops reading quickly for a second or two, you would feel that.

 

But besides all of that... when you hear clicking noises (?coming from the HDD?), then, no matter what, you should get a new drive as soon as possible! That’s one of the basic ruled of data storage!

[TheNooters]

39 minutes ago, Christophe Corazza said:

 

A bad drive could absolutely cause lag. If the drive stops reading quickly for a second or two, you would feel that.

 

But besides all of that... when you hear clicking noises (?coming from the HDD?), then, no matter what, you should get a new drive as soon as possible! That’s one of the basic ruled of data storage!

39 minutes ago, Christophe Corazza said:

 

A bad drive could absolutely cause lag. If the drive stops reading quickly for a second or two, you would feel that.

 

But besides all of that... when you hear clicking noises (?coming from the HDD?), then, no matter what, you should get a new drive as soon as possible! That’s one of the basic ruled of data storage!

It's not clicking noises as such but i've never heard it before. 

[TheNooters]

40 minutes ago, Christophe Corazza said:

 

A bad drive could absolutely cause lag. If the drive stops reading quickly for a second or two, you would feel that.

 

But besides all of that... when you hear clicking noises (?coming from the HDD?), then, no matter what, you should get a new drive as soon as possible! That’s one of the basic ruled of data storage!

I am going to try a lot of stuff this weekend including replacing the HDD probably. If nothing works i will reply back on this thread. Cheers for your help

[Christophe Corazza]

16 minutes ago, TheNooters said:

I am going to try a lot of stuff this weekend including replacing the HDD probably. If nothing works i will reply back on this thread. Cheers for your help

 

You’re welcome :-)

I truly hope for you that it is as simple as replacing a harddrive.

Good luck this weekend!

[TheNooters]

23 minutes ago, Christophe Corazza said:

 

You’re welcome :-)

I truly hope for you that it is as simple as replacing a harddrive.

Good luck this weekend!

So do I, thank you!

[Christophe Corazza]

12 minutes ago, TheNooters said:

So do I, thank you!

 

Please let me know if everything worked out fine 

[TheNooters]

31 minutes ago, Christophe Corazza said:

 

Please let me know if everything worked out fine 

Will do! One last thing question, I am going to check all wire connections and reseat RAM etc later on inside the PC. Should I completely unplug PC from wall or just turn off the PSU switch but leave PC plugged in?