Notebook's hard disk area becomes so hot that it restarts when I do a lot of things with it :(

My elder brother has been complaining about his laptop that consistently restarts whenenver he does a lot of things like playing games, YM, using MS Office applications, etc. Apparently, this happens when he feels that his hard drive becomes hot so fast. I tried identifying the problem by starting in BIOS mode and checked if his hard drive is detected and displays its supposed memory. It did, but when I boot-up in prompt or command mode and choose R for repair, it was reported that an error from the hard disk is detected and needs further assitance from the supplier or technical support. Having read some articles regarding the symptoms of a failing hard drive considering my brother's notebook has already been 2 years, the articles say that consistent immature restarting of a computer during high-performance or several multi-tasking jobs is a sign of an aging hard drive nearing its collapsing state. It was further suggested that if such symptoms exist, one needs to back-up his/her files and consider buying a new hard drive.

Do you think such prognosis is accurate? This happened to our desktop before and same solution was done and remedied the problem. I was wondering if such measure would be also be the same as my elder brother's case.

Thanks

 

To verify your suspicions, use HDTune to check the SMART parameters on the drive. This will tell you whether the hard disk is likely to fail soon.

On the other hand, heat on it's own can easily account for the instability; I would recommend using HWmonitor to check out the temps of the CPU, GPU and HD while the machine is under load. Also, check Vista's Event Viewer (Start > "event viewer") and create a custom view to check for only critical events in the last week or so.

 

Okay, I'll try that Thanks

 

Crstal Disk Info can read SMART data too - even for USB drives nowadays

In terms of HDD temps - make sure the fan is clean.

On ym mother's old laptop, a clogged up fan lead to a very warm HDD - its amazing how much a little bit of cleaning can do

With regards to "HDD stability" - HDDs with perfect SMART data can fail, HDDs with bad SMART data can last quite a while still, however it is bettr to replace them in this case.

 

i think the hard disk is dying because of the errors and the increasing temps.

 

Second this motion. Backup your files or clone it while you still can.

cheers ...

 

What do you mean by "SMART" data? Is that some sort of an acronym? Thanks

 

SMART - Self Monitoring "something"
Its a self monitoring system implemented in all (??) HDDs nowadays and measures parameters like temperature, speed etc. and if read by a utility warns you if a HDD is in a bad state.

 

I downloaded SiW, HWMonitor, and HD Tune. When I checked the "sensors", only my HD's temp is displayed, and nothing else... Why is that on my friend's notebook, those softwares displayed other hardware temps like the RAM temp, wireless adapter, etc? Is there some sort of an HD misreading in my notebook or something? WHy is that so? :O(

 

The software can only read what are being made available via BIOS, chipset driver etc ...

It could be that your brother notebook does not have these info.

cheers ...

 

-So what will I do now?

 

Not much really. I would suggest elevation, boring some 2mm holes in the hard drive cover area to get more air in.

cheers ...

 

I just did what you suggested and it significantly decreased my brother's notebook's temp. Thanks Btw, do you advise me overclocking his fan speed using sppedfan? What do you think regarding overclocking? Thanks in advance

 

Can't do much with an "older" notebook. The only time I want to see my fan works is either at full blast or coming on in time when the temp hits the plateau of panic.

cheers ...

 

Can you elaborate more on the statement, "old notebook"? I mean what exactly do the detailed specs of an old notebook have in order not to be suitable for overclocking its fans? Thanks

 

Last time I had this problem, the cause was my notebook's fan was malfunctioning. I had to brought it to a notebook repair shop and had it repaired.

It caused severe hot temperature and it used to shutdown suddenly. Sometimes I can't even start it right up after it shutdown suddenly, I had to wait for a few minutes. I couldn't even type contently because the keyboard section (around the touchpad) became so hot. At the time, I've done anything, checking SMART, checking BIOS, HDTune, all I could think of.

So my idea is that you check the fan first.

 

The "old" term for fan overclocking was used wrong. That statement should not be there in the first place. Sorry.

One just does not OC notebooks fan. The notion of making a fan that currently runs at 1200rpm (as an example) to speed up to 1300rpm is quite an oxymoron.

cheers ...

 

-so what do you suggest, buy a notebook cooler or have my brother's notebook's internal fan fixed?

 

First try fixing the fan.

You can buy a cooler - but that's not solving the problem.

You can always buy a cooler later on if its still warm.

 

-how then can I fix the fan?

 

If in warranty:
Complain to manufacturer.

If out of warranty:
Buy a new one and swap it out.
(Assuming you have done the cleaning)
Have a repair shop replace the fan.

 

-It's out of warranty already.
Does fan swapping have compatibility issues?

 

Not at far as I am aware, in terms of software.

In terms of hardware:
Size, location of screws, Power draw...

But make sure its designed for your laptop.

 

-would you recommend I do it myself or just send it to a technician?

 

I'm not sure.

I suppose you could mess up if you've never done it before.

You can always try to get a quote from a technician - that should be free.

It may be even better to buy a new laptop - depending on the age of your current one, and the amount of money you have available.

 

-my brother's compaq is just about 2yrs...

 

Old - My laptop is about 1 year old

(My previous lasted me for 3 - and my grandfather has one of our old ones, that is now 4,5 years old, my old one is now 4 years old and working as a server.
)

I really don't know - in the end it comes down to cost.

 

-but my brother's compaq, running on vista, still works fine with 3.5GB RAM and other customised specs... Does he really have to buy a new one?

 

He doesn't have to.

But say a repair costs 300$ and a new laptop 400$ - in that case, unless youare in financial difficulty getting a new laptop is a better idea.

But do ask a repair shop for a quote.