Hard Drive Failure

[bhxtyrant]

Man this sucks lol,LAtely around here we have been seeing a lot of people asking about hard drive issues,seems i might have caught this issue as well.The past few days i have been getting plagued with freeze ups,at first i thought Windows Messenger was causing the issue but now i'm starting to think it could be my hard drive.

A few moments ago when attepmting to open Outlook Express to check my e-mail my PC once again locked up and during the lockup i could here the hard drive making a constant sound.Somewhat like the normal loading sounds it would make but alot louder (im assuming this sound is the grinding sound people talk about).

After about 5 minutes the PC finally loaded OE and i was able to continue using it but the PC seemed to go significantly slower as far as accessing files.

So i would like to know anyones opinions on the matter,if or if not you think it is indeed the drive.And last but not least does anyone know of a small program which can copy everything from on drive to another in the same PC?I would like to basically copy my C: drive onto a spare 40GB i have then remove the orignal and put int he replacment.Thanks as always TZ :)

[rmm59]

I do not know what OS or hard disk you have, but one of the utilities on here

http://tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287

should allow you to check it out and see if it needs replacing.

As for creating an image , have a look here

http://www.thefreecountry.com/utilities/backupandimage.shtml

and see if anything is suitable.

P.S. have you tried to boot into safe mode to see if the bahaviour is the same?

[bhxtyrant]

Thanks for the reply,
Just for future posters reference i am running Windows XP Pro SP2 all latest windows updates,I have already ran a spyware/adware scan and plan to try an antivirus scan tonight.I have also run a defrag on my drives.I have not tried safe mode yet because the occurence of the problem is random.For example right now the Pc seems to work fine but a few hours ago it occured.

This morning when i went to logon to my PC it occured causing me to have to manually reboot.

On a side note to the Acronis users,I have been using acronis True Image for a few weeks and thankfully made backups.But i have a question.I was going to use the "Disk Clone" option to clone my main drive onto my spare HDD.My main drive is currently C: and my spare would be H: when connected.The question is if i clone C: onto H: then remove the old C: and put H: into the C: position would it cause any issues since my current C: is 30GB and my spare is a 40GB?Thanks once again.

I am not sure if the clone option does a full HDD clone or not so thought i would find out before i attempt to do it.I would prefer this as it would not require me to have to reinstall XP and updates once again.

:EDIT:I performed a full system scan for virus's results turned up negative.Also check boot recirds and at the moment the only programs to launch during boot are ZoneAlarm,Norton Antivirus,Trueimage Monitor,and Microsoft mouse and keyboard software for my wireless mouse/keyboard set.

I successfully tranferred all files to spare HDD and am waiting to see if the error occurs again at which time i will swap the old drive for the spare to see if the error still occurs.

[joshsiao]

Could you describe the sound that you hear in more detail?
It is grinding like "whir" then "click" then "Whir" and so on or does it sound like a old floppy disk being read?
Or is it just whiring away?
Do you have the problem when the drive is cold, ie Upon the first startup of the day or when its hot ie after installing software, playing games etc...

[rik]

My first question is what brand hard drive is it? There are many diagnostics that you can download and run to tell if it is a physical problem with the drive.

Secondly, Have you checked Event Viewer to see if any errors have been recorded?

[bhxtyrant]

Hey guys thanks for the replies,
@joshsiao
The sound is kinda hard to explain,It's not the classic whir,click,whir that i have heard before upon a drive going bad,It sound more like a really long whir the a HDD will make when loading a program except it's louder and is continuous for a few minutes before it will either freeze completely or on occasion start working again.
I leave my PC turned on 24/7 so it's usually warm but this occurs at different times,sometimes after gaming and sometimes during the occasional checking of e-mail or iternet browsing.

@rik
The drive in question is a 40GB maxtor drive.I havew had it a few years and it's run perfectly for ages but since it is somewhat old and i leave my PC on 24/7 unless i plan to be gone awhile is what led me to think it's going bad.

I checked event viewer and i do not notice any type of errors.But a few weeks ago my PC completely crashed causing me to have to do a format and reinstall of everything.At the time i also believed the drive might be going bad so i decided to install everything fresh on it then make a full backup for safety to see wether the problem occured again as proof that is was indeed the drives fault.It has been running fine for around a month now and these problems just appeared out of no where.

No new software has been added except windows updates and a MSN messeger update.

So far today it hasnt froze yet,I connected my small microphone so if it makes the sound again i can record a sound clip to post which may help you understand the sond i attempted to describe.

[rik]

Grab the Maxtor diags from http://www.maxtor.com/portal/site/Maxtor/menuitem.8db0c3d6932ced37294198b091346068/?channelpath=/en_us/Support/Software%20Downloads and test the drive.

[bhxtyrant]

Thanks for the help rik,Well first thing is first i made a mistake it's a Western Digital not maxtor.The spare 40GB i have is the maxtor.I downloaded WD's diagnostic tools and everything turned up clean except "smart status" fails.

I was also able to record a sound clip of the sound the drive makes.Not the best recording but ou will get the idea.Usually it makes this same sound except it's long and continuous without stopping.

http://rapidshare.de/files/7510046/1.mp3.html

[rik]

If Smart status fails replace the drive.

[bhxtyrant]

thanks rik.

[PIPER]

:fire: >>>>>> WD HDD....:p

[bhxtyrant]

Ok i installed my backup drive today,So far so good ran all the diag and everything is clean on it.The new drive doesn't make those sounds either which is a good sign and is much much quieter then the original.

[rik]

Excellent. Hopefully the bad drive still under warranty and you can have it replaced at no cost.

[bhxtyrant]

Damit this sucks,I just had the same problem yet again with the new drive.All tests turn out clean so now im assuming it has to be my XP install or this damn new version of MSN.

The last things i did before they started occuring was update XP and update MSN messenger.Any idea's?

Quick question.If i do an Overwrite of XP will all my programs need to be reinstalled?Or the XP update patches?

EDIT:i just checked event viewer and noticed this error approx when the PC just froze.

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Service Control Manager
Event Category: None
Event ID: 7000
Date: 11/13/2005
Time: 7:36:07 PM
User: N/A
Computer: NEO-WUMAIN1
Description:
The DgiVecp service failed to start due to the following error:
The system cannot find the file specified.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

[rik]

Do a system restore back using the very first one you have available. Then see how the system reacts. If all is fine, do your system updates. Obviously have the system disconnected from the net when you do this so it doesn't automatically update.

[bhxtyrant]

System restore is impossible :( it says changes made to drive C:after this point can no longer be reversed because system restore monitoring was turned off or the disc was removed.I also did a system search and i could not locate the file DgiVecp.sys which according to various searches is located in the C:/windows/system32/drivers/ and the service DgiVecp is not in the services either :(

[rik]

Hmmm. Well unfortunately my only suggestion would be to format the drive and reinstall. In fact I would probably suggestion wiping the partitions and repartitioning the drive as well. Then see how it works without the updates. If all is well there, do the updates but don't install that MSN Messenger.

Let us know how you come out with this.

[bhxtyrant]

Before i do the format i have a final question hope someone can answer.If the file and service called DgiVecp.sys is a normal windows file (is it usually installed with windows) or does anyone know what program might install this file?

Seems to me this file is the only problem,somehow it was deleted from my PC perhaps during a spyware scan as i have read spyware can get into yur pc using the same file name.however I had no problems with spyware so im sure this was a normal file.If i can only find out what it goes to i can probally locate the file and reinstall it.

[rik]

Here's a Google search related to that file although I'm certain You've already done this. http://www.google.com/search?q=DgiVecp.sys&start=0&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official

Those give mixed results but one in particular indicate a problem with the video card.

Are you have errors with that file or what exactly?

[bhxtyrant]

Well it's definently not my vid card,100% sure of that.but yes the only error i get in event viewer pertains to the service DgiVecp not starting due to the file DgiVecp.sys missing from my PC.This error occured in event viewer almost exactly when the PC locks up.But i do not know exactly what software installs this file and i do not see a service called DgiVecp in services to shut it off.So it's got me a bit confused.

And yep i already tried googling it.Found many info about possible spywae but i am 100% confident that my file in question was not spyware as it never showed up in any of my antivirus/spyware scans.

[Devil]

I dont know if this might help.
But try to put it on another pc as a slave drive.
Access it via MSDOS and erase a few folders.

I think that should do!

[Devil]

Another Idea if the above doesnt work.
Put it on another pc as a slave drive.
Do a quick format.
And try a data recovery software.

You should be able to recover at least 75% of the data.

[bhxtyrant]

Thanks for the reply Devil but i think you are mis-understanding my problem :) i have no problem with accessing/formatting the hard drive.The problem is the PC freezes up because of some sort of error with a missing file called DgiVecp.sys.I have no clue if i even had this file installed,or if it was installed after a windows update or a piece of software.I have been searching Google and Microsoft.com.Found some references to the file in question but none of which tell me exactly what software this file comes from.

[Devil]

Oh ok... my bad haha!
Anyways, good luck!

[bhxtyrant]

Hey guys,just wanted to post an update.I ended up finally having to format and reinstall everything.So far all windows updates are installed with no problem.So i have a question.Does anyone have any suggestions to ensure i don't have this problem again?

My antivirus,windows XP pro and Ad aware and Zone Alarm software are all fully up to date,I have Acronis True Image installed and made a full backup and also have Sstem Restore turned on.However i had all this the same last time before i encountered the problem and it still didnt seem to help any.Installing my backup didnt eliminate the problem,sytem restore didnt either.So im looking for any suggestions :)

At the time i ran virus and adware/spyware scans and all turned out clean.So i am really stumped on what might have caused the problem.

[Conan]

If you did a restore with Acronis and the problem came back maybe it was an issue with your Anti-virus or Firewall updating itself after the restore and caused the problem/s once again.

[bhxtyrant]

If you did a restore with Acronis and the problem came back maybe it was an issue with your Anti-virus or Firewall updating itself after the restore and caused the problem/s once again.

Nope i didnt do a restore and the problem came back,I did a restore and the problem was still present even after the restore.But at the time i made the backup was way before the problem even showed up.

I just did a clean install and i am already seeing the same error in event viewer :( im getting highly pissed now lol.So far no lock ups like before but the error below still is in the event viewer under system.

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Service Control Manager
Event Category: None
Event ID: 7000
Date: 11/18/2005
Time: 10:39:59 PM
User: N/A
Computer: NEO-WU1
Description:
The DgiVecp service failed to start due to the following error:
The system cannot find the file specified.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.


Now one thing i noticed is this error first shows itself at 10:29PM last night,now at that time the only things i had installed were-

1.)My ATI tv tuner card software
2.)printer/scanner/copier compaq A3000 drivers
3.)Microsoft Inteltype and intelpoint for my wireless Microsoft Duo Elite set.
4.)Windows Media player 10
5.)Software Distribution Service (i assume this is a windows update?)
6.)Concord Digital Camera drivers
7.)Adobbe Acrobat Reader 7.0

So i assume whatever this error is must somehow be rlated to one of these programs?If so does anyone know which?I'm fairly sure it's not the ATI drivers as i had them installed for ages and this is the first time i ever got this error.My guess would be it's related to whatever this "Software Distribution Service" is.

[medo]

hello
iam sure you have bad sectors in your hard and the sound you are talking apout is just the hard traying to read from abad damgd places so he cant and traying to go around it .....the only thing you can do is proforming scandisk ( from dos) by booting with cd or floppy and type this command : scandisk all\ than entr....iwill make anew thread soon just apout bad secor and how to recover or fix it ...
good luck