Computer issues...any input?

[GOEX FFF]

I'm pretty savvy when it comes to computers and such, having built many of them for gaming over the years. But I've had this odd issue with one system that maybe someone can offer some input on.

A few months ago I bought a new 1 TB Western Digital HDD black (I know some may not like WD, but they've all been OK for me).

It's a random occurrence and sporadic. If I put the system in sleep mode overnight and come back to it, the system wakes up but the screen stays black. I can't do anything other than power down the system and turn it off holding the power button. Trying to boot back up and right after verifying the Pool Data, I get the infamous "A disk read error occurred press ctrl alt del to restart windows". Doing the soft boot, I still get the error. I checked the BIOS and made sure it was the right boot sequence.

The ONLY thing that works to fix the issue, is I have to unplug the SATA cable from the HDD and plug it back in. Then the system boots into Windows as normal. I've tried another free SATA connector thinking it could be a bad cable, it ran fine for about a week, then the same issue today, only this time, the system was left on and coming back to it after it's hybrid sleep mode.
Again, same boot error after the black screen and having to power down. Unplugged and re-plugged the SATA in the HDD and it boots into Windows fine again. Sign of a bad HDD? Or.........?

Oh, and in before the "Don't use Windows, use a Mac" crowd.

[Enfield47]

It sounds like you have a HDD problem. Is it still under warranty? If it is I would contact Western Digital about getting a new drive. I haven't dealt with them, but if they are like Seagate, they will stand behind it.

Did you buy it wholesale or retail? If you bought it wholesale, they might not honor the warranty.

If it is a faulty drive and they won't honor the warranty, you might check out SSD. I just ordered a laptop for my boss with an SSD and that thing really cranks. Boot up is incredibly fast and opening programs works much faster too. New Egg has a decent selection of SSDs to choose from at pretty good prices.

Best of luck.

[six seven tango]

I've run nothing but WD's over the years and never had a problem. Even have one of those 1TB Blacks, going on 3 years now without a glitch. That said, every manufacturer out there gets the occasional defect, and it sounds like you may have one.

Are you sure that free SATA connector didn't branch into the same cable harness as the one in question? If it did, disconnect the entire SATA harness from the MB and substitute a different harness. Also, try using a different SATA port on the MB.

Did you do a clean Windows install, or did you mirror your existing HDD? If you didn't do a clean install, you might have to.

Another thing you can try is booting up in safe mode and then turn things back on 1 by 1 until you recreate the problem. It's a royal PIA, but...

[Kablemodem]

I wouldn't trust a computer that is over 50 years old.

[GOEX FFF]

It sounds like you have a HDD problem. Is it still under warranty? If it is I would contact Western Digital about getting a new drive. I haven't dealt with them, but if they are like Seagate, they will stand behind it.

Did you buy it wholesale or retail? If you bought it wholesale, they might not honor the warranty.

If it is a faulty drive and they won't honor the warranty, you might check out SSD. I just ordered a laptop for my boss with an SSD and that thing really cranks. Boot up is incredibly fast and opening programs works much faster too. New Egg has a decent selection of SSDs to choose from at pretty good prices.

Best of luck.

Thanks. I bought the HDD retail at Fry's. Yeah , I've also thought long and hard about switching and using SSD for future projects. Eventually and most likely I'll be doing the switch.

[GOEX FFF]

I've run nothing but WD's over the years and never had a problem. Even have one of those 1TB Blacks, going on 3 years now without a glitch. That said, every manufacturer out there gets the occasional defect, and it sounds like you may have one.

Are you sure that free SATA connector didn't branch into the same cable harness as the one in question? If it did, disconnect the entire SATA harness from the MB and substitute a different harness. Also, try using a different SATA port on the MB.

Did you do a clean Windows install, or did you mirror your existing HDD? If you didn't do a clean install, you might have to.

Another thing you can try is booting up in safe mode and then turn things back on 1 by 1 until you recreate the problem. It's a royal PIA, but...

The OS is a clean install of WIN 7 on the new drive.

And yes, the SATA is from the same harness and I didn't try switching to another SATA port on the MB yet. I'll give those a shot. Thanks for the added info and suggestions!

Hopefully I wont have to do the safe mode task... Uhhg.
If all else fails, I'll RMA the drive to WD.

[GOEX FFF]

I wouldn't trust a computer that is over 50 years old.

Oh crap, I just realized I posted this in the wrong forum..LOL!
I swear I was looking at OT.

MODS, feel free to mover' on out!

But nevertheless, don't knock my C&R system!!

[watt79]

I would also suggest checking for an updated BIOS for your motherboard.

[Jimi Jah]

A 5.56 round fixes those hard drives quickly.

[ocabj]

Don't use Windows, use FreeBSD.

[oldsmoboat]

I've always found sleep or hibernate to be hit or miss with Windows.

[stilly]

It sounds like you have a HDD problem. Is it still under warranty? If it is I would contact Western Digital about getting a new drive. I haven't dealt with them, but if they are like Seagate, they will stand behind it.

Did you buy it wholesale or retail? If you bought it wholesale, they might not honor the warranty.

If it is a faulty drive and they won't honor the warranty, you might check out SSD. I just ordered a laptop for my boss with an SSD and that thing really cranks. Boot up is incredibly fast and opening programs works much faster too. New Egg has a decent selection of SSDs to choose from at pretty good prices.

Best of luck.

^^^ +1

Run the WD lifeguard software on the drive and see if it fails or passes all tests, and do smart test- LONG not short.

I hate WD, but the city uses them and I have grown to warm up to them a little more lately. WD Blue is what I look for now if I HAVE to buy one, else I am looking at Seagate Constellations...

[ziconceo]

Try putting it in sleep mode, then detatching the keyboard and mouse. I'll put my computer in sleep mode then wake up in the morning only to find it turned on. But it also looks like you have a Hdd problem.

[SayHelloToMyLittleFriend]

Computer issues...any input?

It's a hard drive issue ONLY if you install another hard drive with Windows loaded on it and it DOES NOT do the same thing. If it's doing the same thing with a different hard drive it's likely the motherboard or BIOS. I had this problem (sporadic as well) with a Dell laptop and the only thing that fixed it was a mobo replacement.

[XenosAce]

Sounds like everyone else is saying. A HDD problem. Real problem is, why are you not booting up windows from a SSD?

I just did a build, With a 30gb SSD as my C drive and put the same 1tb HDD in for storage. Boots up in seconds. It is amazing.