sager NP2090 potential hardrive problems?

Recently i've been experiencing problems with my hard drive (or atleast i think so), First time having a problem so im not sure how serious the problem is or if its serious at all.

Basically:

-normally i have 50-60 GB of freespace, but in past 2-3days in changes randomly from 0-70GB of freespace...Since then i haven't really installed anything, especially anything that is more than 2GB large. The only things i have done is put files into the recycling bin, and move folders around. (like changing the directory of a game from one place to another, and the things i've deleted are .rar files)

-When i copy a folder and paste it somewhere else, it used to be really fast... it would start off at 6-7MB/s then towards the end it would be moving it at 17 MB/s. Now when i move the same files it goes from anywhere between 170k/s to 5MB/s..... which really sucks.....


Weird thing is i haven't even moved my computer an inch, for the past two weeks...Other things ive noticed is that the harddrive doesn't heat up like it used too, and i have occasional performance spikes. (like im doing something and the screen freezes for barely a second)

 

Are you running Vista? if so, check how much space is allocated for System Restore. There are several stories on the forums of Vista's restore points consuming massive amounts of HDD space in a very short amount of time

You should also schedule a Checkdisk. If you're running XP, just go to the command prompt (start -> run -> cmd -> OK) and type "chkdsk /r" (that's a space between chkdsk and /), then press enter.

If you're running Vista, go to Start -> All Programs -> Accessories (-> System Tools?) and right-click the command prompt and select "Run as administrator," then type "chkdsk /r" and press enter.

In Vista OR XP, the chkdsk will prompt you that it cannot lock the drive, and it will request permission to run on the next reboot. Press "Y" and enter, then exit the command prompt and restart your computer. Check Disk will check your drive for errors, and the "/r" tag means it will attempt to fix corrupted sectors/data wherever possible.

It will take a while to complete, but keep your notebook close. When it completes, CHKDSK will display a summary of your drive, including any unrecoverable sectors. If it shows ANY unrecoverable sectors, make a note of how many and contact tech support to see about a replacement.

 

Is the hard drive making any weird noises? I have an NP2090 and I'm getting a little worried because just after I write a big file (say a 4GB movie) it starts having crazy HDtune benchmarks.

Speaking of, post an HD Tune benchmark, you can get it here.

 

I havent tried the chkdsk /r thing yet, but i did try HDtune and my results were like this...

 

Also, go to the website of the drive's manufacturer and download the diagnostic utility they (should) have available for free - that will enable you to go a basic health check on the drive.

 

WOW that is a messed up HD Tune.

I would suggest backing up any important data should anything fail, but in the meantime I'd also suggest the following:

1. Find what's taking up all your space. There's a cool utility SpaceMonger that gives you a view of whats taking up the drive's space. You'll find some .sys files (ex: hiberfile.sys) that are hidden system stuff, but make sure you know what is taking up your hard drive space (in case of a virus/worm/etc). Delete whatever you don't want on your computer that isn't essential to the system and see if that speedsanything up.

I'm mainly talking about large files because that's what was causing my hard drive to act up.

2. Manually defrag the system. Vista is set up to ignore files larger than 64MB in defrag size, but try defragging your computer overnight. Type in a command line prompt (winkey+r, type "cmd" and hit enter). Then type as follows:

defrag x: -v -w

where x is your drive letter. This defrags ALL your files on your disk regardless of the default 64MB threshold. Just let it chug overnight.


Oh one more question: what version of Vista do you have? I'm curious because of the "shadow copy" feature on business and ultimate that can eat disk space.

 

its vista home premium, at the moment im searching for what reportqueue is, but i've posted a screeny bellow of what my hardrive looks like.. Ill also try the manual defrag just before i goto sleep.



The reportqueue is taking up alot of space and i dont know what it is.

Also on the picture:

sdata.grf <-file needed for a game (i have more than one because well i play at more than one place) (1.5gb in size, this is the file i move around alot, when i try out different clients and servers that i mentioned before)

movies folder in FFVII, is well obivously the movie folder for the Animation scenes in the PC version of the game (about 1gb in size)

Besides the Reportqueue, which combining the two of em is 100gb+ i know what everything is that is potentially excessively big.

 

SOLUTION: Push you window key and search for WERCON, you can mess around with it if you want. But when your done, push the "Clear solution and problem history" on the side. Doing that freed up a TON of space, i haven't looked at that since ive gotten my computer and because i mess around alot (trying mods on games and what not) the file really piled up ><.

I approxemitely freed up 40-50GB of space, the reason why the number kept changing is because it was accepting report for one program thats a trial and start up when i turn on my comp. The second is well me modding and patching games after i move em, and being unsuccessful (FFVII pc version has some cool mods).

Also please don't close this just in case the problem persist...Im still gonna defrag, and check with HDtune one more time.

Edit: sorry i just notice i double posted >< i shouldve edited my post above.(Kind of got caught in the moment i guess)

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Well my HDtune, is pretty much the same. As far as I can see, most my problems are fixed, my HDD doesnt heat up like it used to but thats not exactly a bad thing is it?

Im still defraging, those file took alot of space on my computer. I don't know why but each time those "Something has stopped working" and the "Unexpected shutdown" windows on my computer it creates whatever it creates in two locations. But when i clear my history it clear in both folders so its not that bad i guess. Thank you for everyones support especially dtd00d

 

Wow i think you found your problem! lol that's a ridiculous pair of ReportQueue folders. It's to see you found what was going on, the freed up space will hopefully help along with a fresh defrag. Thanks for posting the pics so readily, it made things easier.

Heat and physical shock are the biggest enemies for a hard drive, so it's good that it's cooled down a little, though the 34C from before is good already.

If your HDTune still shows signs of choppiness after this, back up the most important stuff to a flash drive or something, just in case something should go wrong in the future.

I'm happy to help. Keep us posted