multiple hard drive failure

Hi,

I've had my pc for about a year and a half, and during this time it has went through 4 hard drives.
It starts with occasional random freezes sometimes it unfreezes itself, other times I have to cut the power to reboot, and slowly over time these episodes becomes more frequent.
During the first year it was under guarantee so I told them the problem, showed them a few of the event viewer logs and they would send me a new hdd and it would work fine for a few months then start all over again.

It's now out of guarantee and I dont really want to buy a new hard drive every three or four months.
Is it possible that something else on the pc is causing the hard drive to fail?

These are a few event viewer logs

Log Name: System
Source: Disk
Date: 05/07/2012 17:16:09
Event ID: 51
Task Category: None
Level: Warning
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: fangy-PC
Description:
An error was detected on device \Device\Harddisk4\DR4 during a paging operation.
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="Disk" />
<EventID Qualifiers="32772">51</EventID>
<Level>3</Level>
<Task>0</Task>
<Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2012-07-05T16:16:09.598400000Z" />
<EventRecordID>88951</EventRecordID>
<Channel>System</Channel>
<Computer>fangy-PC</Computer>
<Security />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data>\Device\Harddisk4\DR4</Data>
<Binary>040168000100000000000000330004802D010000A20000C00000000000000000002A000000000000BF6B0A0000000000FFFFFFFF01000000400000C40200000000200A1280002040000000003C00000000020000F82D7A8500000000A0DB5285E06DD985150000002A080000001500000100000000000000700007000000000A00000000270000000000000000000000</Binary>
</EventData>
</Event>




Log Name: System
Source: nvstor32
Date: 31/08/2012 10:40:23
Event ID: 9
Task Category: None
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: fangy-PC
Description:
An unknown error has occured on this device.

Device: \Device\RaidPort0
Model: WDC WD5000AAKX-003CA0
Firmware Version: 15.0
Serial Number: WD-WCAYUFW78177
Port: 0

Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="nvstor32" />
<EventID Qualifiers="49374">9</EventID>
<Level>2</Level>
<Task>0</Task>
<Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2012-08-31T09:40:23.986700000Z" />
<EventRecordID>110373</EventRecordID>
<Channel>System</Channel>
<Computer>fangy-PC</Computer>
<Security />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data>\Device\RaidPort0</Data>
<Data>WDC WD5000AAKX-003CA0</Data>
<Data>15.0</Data>
<Data> WD-WCAYUFW78177</Data>
<Data>0</Data>
<Binary>0000000005002800000000000900DEC0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000</Binary>
</EventData>
</Event>


Log Name: System
Source: nvstor32
Date: 02/09/2012 19:24:29
Event ID: 3
Task Category: None
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: fangy-PC
Description:
Data error on device.

Device: \Device\RaidPort0
Model: WDC WD5000AAKX-003CA0
Firmware Version: 15.0
Serial Number: WD-WCAYUFW78177
Port: 0

Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="nvstor32" />
<EventID Qualifiers="49374">3</EventID>
<Level>2</Level>
<Task>0</Task>
<Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2012-09-02T18:24:29.464750000Z" />
<EventRecordID>112332</EventRecordID>
<Channel>System</Channel>
<Computer>fangy-PC</Computer>
<Security />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data>\Device\RaidPort0</Data>
<Data>WDC WD5000AAKX-003CA0</Data>
<Data>15.0</Data>
<Data> WD-WCAYUFW78177</Data>
<Data>0</Data>
<Binary>0000000005002800000000000300DEC0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000</Binary>
</EventData>
</Event>




Log Name: Application
Source: Microsoft-Windows-Search
Date: 22/12/2011 17:50:21
Event ID: 7042
Task Category: Gatherer
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: fangy-PC
Description:
The Windows Search Service is being stopped because there is a problem with the indexer: The catalog is corrupt.

Details:
The content index catalog is corrupt. (HRESULT : 0xc0041801) (0xc0041801)

Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-Search" Guid="{CA4E628D-8567-4896-AB6B-835B221F373F}" EventSourceName="Windows Search Service" />
<EventID Qualifiers="16384">7042</EventID>
<Version>0</Version>
<Level>2</Level>
<Task>3</Task>
<Opcode>0</Opcode>
<Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2011-12-22T17:50:21.000000000Z" />
<EventRecordID>701</EventRecordID>
<Correlation />
<Execution ProcessID="0" ThreadID="0" />
<Channel>Application</Channel>
<Computer>fangy-PC</Computer>
<Security />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data Name="ExtraInfo">

Details:
The content index catalog is corrupt. (HRESULT : 0xc0041801) (0xc0041801)
</Data>
<Data Name="Reason">The catalog is corrupt</Data>
</EventData>
</Event>


There are many others, but these are the most abundant.

Any advice?

I dont know much about computers so please don't get too technical with your answers.

Many thanks,

Fangy.

 

What series (Blue, Green, Black or OEM) is your WD hard drive?

The green series is known for dismal failure rates. The black series (although a bit more expensive) has given me the best performance in system builds with by far the lowest failure rate.

Next question: Were drives #2, 3 and 4 "refurbished" units provided by the manufacturer under warranty? If so, chances are they may have had a glitch the refub process missed which caused them to fail quickly. This is why, as a rule, I do not purchase refurbished drives; using them is the storage equivalent of Russian Roulette,

Aside from my recommendation on Western Digital's Caviar Black series, the best way to choose a drive is to check the reviews on Internet retailers such as newegg.com. Do not rely on brand name alone - some mfrs. have specific drive models at both the top and bottom of the buyer review scores.

Hope this helps.

 

4 hard drives failing in a year and a half?! I think it's time to buy a good quality PSU, as that's what I'd suspect to be the root cause of this.

 

Hi,

Thanks for your reply.

I'm not sure what series/colour the drive is, I have an inkling it was blue but don't quote me. The first three were Seagate Barracuda and on the failure of the third one I asked them to send me something different, hence the Western Digital.
Also not sure whether they were refurb, yes they were replaced under warranty, though not from drive manufacturer but from the pc shop. They all 'looked' new, in their relevant plastic bags but they were only sealed with a sticker and never in any kind of box.

I was begining to think that maybe some other component was causing this like the motherboard or a bad cable. Is that possible? or do you think that it is simply another hard drive failure?
Thanks,
Fangy.

 

How do I find out what kind of PSU is in my pc?
Can you recommend a good one?
Fangy.

 

You'd need to open up the PC to check the make/model and full details of the PSU - it should all be on a big sticker, maybe upload a photo of it?

Good quality PSU's are expensive but worth it - I'd go for XFX or Seasonic, some of the better ranges of Cooler Master are excellent too. With most of the other brands, it's very hard to tell the original maker of the units, many are poor, contain cheaper components or based on ancient designs that aren't suited to modern PC requirements.

 

Hi,
Thanks for getting back to me so quick.
I've been looking around for psu's Would something like this fit/work


XFX Pro 650W Core Edition PSU
- Fixed FDD: up to 1
- Fixed Peripheral: up to 7
- Fixed 6+2-pin PCI-E: 2
- Fixed 6-pin PCI-E: 2
- Fixed ATX12V / EPS12V: One 4+4-pin
- Fixed Motherboard Connector: 20+4 Pin
- Fixed SATA: up to 8
I'm really not sure about these kind of things.
Also what is the best watt to get?
Fangy

 

For a 'normal' PC with a single PCIe graphics card and no overclocking, 550 Watts is suitable for all but the very 'top end' graphics cards.

If you have onboard graphics and don't intend upgrading to one, around 400W should be fine.

For the top 2-3 Graphics cards out there or those with 2xGPU's or Crossfire/SLI cards, 650W would be the starting point, 750W+ with overclocking.

All of this implies a good quality PSU, of course.

Check cable length too, also consider whether you want, or need, a modular PSU (detachable output cables).

 

Hi,
The PSU i've got just now is a ATX500, Is this a low end PSU?
Fangy.

 

If there's no brand name and model number on there, we'd have to assume that it's a cheapo.

 

Hi,

Before you waste your cash on PSUs get a good Hard Drive test program. Most apparent failures of the drive are really software problems.

Jim