Hard Drives
Symptom: Some of my files won't open. The dialog box says they're corrupted or unreadable.
Minor: Did you recently suffer a system crash while a program was writing data to your hard disk? If so, your corrupted file may simply be an isolated incident. And because programs like Microsoft Word save intermediate versions of a file as you work on it, you may have something to go back to since your last successful save.
Moderate: If hours of running the PC occasionally yields bad files, use a tool like Motherboard Monitor to gauge the case interior's temperature. If it exceeds 90 degrees Fahrenheit (about 35 degrees Celsius), you're setting up your drive to fail. Check that vents and fans are clear and that all fans are working.
Dire: When corrupt files appear, run Windows' Check Disk tool to detect physical flaws on the disk: Open My Computer, right-click the drive's icon, choose Properties, select the Tools tab, click Check Now, and click Start. Bad disk sectors can portend a drive failure. If any pop up, back up your data and consider replacing the drive.
Symptom: The system won't boot or doesn't see the hard drive.
Minor: Before you panic, take another stab at booting. Maybe your cold hard drive simply couldn't answer the call in the early chill of morning. If that fails, open the case and check the power and data cables. A loose connection can prevent your system from seeing the drive.
Moderate: Did you recently install a new drive in your PC? If so, check the dip switches or jumper pins on the drives to ensure that the master or slave settings of the IDE devices don't conflict. (Our September 2002Step-By-Step provides detailed guidance.)
Dire: Worst case, your drive is dead or unbootable (the critical boot sector of the disk may be damaged). If this is your boot drive, you can use a floppy- or CD-ROM-based utility to boot the PC and investigate the problem. Or take the drive out, set it as a slave, and plug it into a working PC to test it. If it works, pull your critical files off the drive and reformat it.
Symptom: Disk access takes too long and my PC has slowed down.
Minor: A fragmented disk rarely has a significant impact on performance, but you should rule out the possibility first by running Windows' Disk Defragmenter. If your XP system has less than 256MB of RAM, a likelier cause is that Windows is using your hard disk as virtual memory too often. Install more memory, and the problem will probably go away.
Moderate: Mysterious disk activity may be due to spyware running on your PC. Programs like Ad-aware and Spybot Search & Destroy can help remove those nasty little freeloading apps.
Dire: No infections? Excess disk activity and abnormal noise could indicate a defective disk at work. Back up your files immediately and replace the drive.
