The drive being referred to is my second hard drive. This used to happen maybe every couple months or so, but now it seems to only take a couple hours. Usually, I hear a single "click" sound come from the computer shortly before this error pops up. Then that hard drive disappears from the Windows Explorer, and I can't access it at all.
The only way to get it to reappear is to power the computer off for a few seconds, then start it back up. If I just reboot, then the BIOS will fail to detect the other hard drive (and, therefore, the operating system).
The "$Mft" part of the error message (which, I understand, refers to the Master File Table) isn't always the same, especially if this happens while the drive is being accessed (e.g. I'm downloading a file that's being saved there). Usually, I get two or three of the errors in a row. One will be "$Mft", one will show some file that was being saved or whatever, &c.
For the record, the drive in question is the slave on my primary IDE channel. My other hard drive is master on the same.
Any ideas?
Posted by Cartman (Member # 256) on :
OK, these may seem like completely unrelated questions, but do you have a motherboard with a VIA chipset? Or an ATI graphics card?
Also, check if the molex and ribbon connectors on your drive are still firmly, uh, connected. Replace the IDE cable if you have a spare one, too. I mean, the MFT might really be corrupted (in which case you'd have to LL format the thing), but it might also just be some obvious physical problem you're not aware of. Although, the click sound does suggest that it's the drive itself that's causing the error, so rule out what you can.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
I've already tried replacing the IDE cable. No help. And everything is plugged in tightly.
I do have a VIA chipset, but my graphics card is not ATI.
Posted by Cartman (Member # 256) on :
Then try these things first, in order of importance:
Turn off write caching for the second drive (right-click on it in Explorer, then Properties-Hardware-[your drive]-Properties-Disk Properties (2000) or Properties-Policies (XP)). Reboot.
Set your system's performance to Applications/Programs instead of Background Services/System Cache (Control Panel-System-Advanced-Performance Options (2000) or Control Panel-System-Advanced-Performance-Settings-Advanced (XP)). Also reboot.
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
I'm probably wrong, but have you put any new hardware in your computer recently? Drives not being recongised (or coming on) is sometimes caused by the power supply being too weak.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
Cartman: My motherboard is almost four years old. The particular chipset (KX133) isn't actually listed on that Hyperion site, it seems. But I'll try the other things.
Liam: I did replace my DVD drive not long ago. However, I was replacing one drive with another, so the power requirements shouldn't have really changed. And this hard drive problem, I think, started before that, anyway.
Posted by Cartman (Member # 256) on :
Stupid question: the ribbon you're using IS a standard 80-wire, 40-pin one, right?
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
I can't say as I actually counted, but, yes, it's a normal IDE ribbon cable.
Posted by Dat (Member # 302) on :
This should sound obvious (at least to me), but before anything bad really happens to the drive, back up everything you need from that drive.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
Yeah, I should. Only I don't really have anywhere to back up to. I need to buy some CDs.
Posted by akb1979 (Member # 557) on :
Don't have an answer to your problem but . . .
Sod off and buy some CDs now rather than later. My mate and I have both been struck by fucked up PCs - be it hard drives dying or some other shit - and we've both lost data that's been valuable to us. We both now have a stack of blank CD-Rs & CD-RWs next to our PCs and back up regularly (although I'll be investing in an upgrade in a few months and getting a DVD-R). Don't put it off - buy now!!
This advice has been brought to you from your friendly PC novice AK! HEHE! Posted by Nim the Fanciful (Member # 205) on :
How old is the drive in question? I was a technician for six years, every time a drive clicked it was like a limping racehorse. Save what you can and throw it away. It's usually the only moving part in the drive, the little reading arm(s), that do the clicking. Not much to do. Opening it is not recommended, you do and you might as well throw it away. Contamination. But it might be fun and educating, you don't get to peek under the skirt very often.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
The drive is only a couple years old.
And I already know what the inside of a hard drive looks like.
Posted by Balaam Xumucane (Member # 419) on :
As an alternative to the hassle of backing up via CD-Rs and if you've got the dough, you might consider just getting another bigger drive and copying your old drives over. HDs are getting so cheap these days that you can get twice the capacity of your older drives for not a whole lot more than you'd pay for a stack of 100 blanks.
ps-Also, umm, Macs rule or whatever.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
Well, I'd hate to buy a whole new drive if I don't have to (since, as I say, the one in question is relatively new). I could use the space, though, I'm sure.
Anyway, I haven't had a problem since I turned off the write caching that Cartman mentioned. Though, as I mentioned, the time between errors varies from weeks to minutes. So, we'll see.
Thanks, people.
Posted by Cartman (Member # 256) on :
"Macs rule or whatever."
Dork.
Posted by akb1979 (Member # 557) on :
quote:Originally posted by Cartman: "Macs rule or whatever."
Dork.
Aww! Leave him alone. He can't help being like that! Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :
If you bought the drive recently, you may have to have it RMA'd to whoever the manufacturer is. Clicking noises are never a good sign in a hard drive.
To better be sure, best to nuke the drive and try again. The fact that the hard drive is making noises more frequently is cause for suspicion.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
Well, it's not really "making noises". It was just a single "click". It kind of put me in mind of something turning off. And then, the drive would disappear.
Posted by Nim the Fanciful (Member # 205) on :
It can't have disappeared! No drive that small has a cloaking device!
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)