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  1. Hey all, been quite a while!!

    While watch a video off my computer, it started to act all wonky then froze my system. I restarted, watched again thinking it was one easy restart to fix. But it happened again and my system crashed only then it wouldn't get passed the loading operating system screen. Couldn't get into safe mode or repair.

    Hours later, some wrote to disconnect all secondary HD. I have 3 and I did just that. It booted up and is running.

    I don't want to lose any of my stuff.

    That said, what is my next step. That's as far as the previous instructions were. Why would it do this? HDs are about 10 years I think. One with win 10 just one year.

    Are my other drives dust? Should I plug back in and see? Transfer data to new drives?

    Any advice! And to all the members from years ago, hope you're all doing good!
    SmileSmile
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  2. Test all your hard disks with Cristaldiskinfo. If damage is detected, you must replace the corresponding hard disk.
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  3. Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
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    Brisbane,Australia
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    Use Macrium Reflect,free or paid,to backup the data which you wish to keep from the old HDD's.There are usb external HDDs' available for back-up use.
    The major problem now is the sky high prices and lack of stock,caused by the Wuflu.
    10 year old HDDs should be graciously retired.
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  4. Does plugging these devices back in potentially cause more problems? Should I buy a USB dock to plug these drives in externall

    I actually just scanned these disks with chkdisk in Windows and just defragged them as well (All the day before yesterday. All in good health according to the software used) Still, I will replace them.
    SmileSmile
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  5. Member
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    Jan 2014
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    If you have the time and patience,then reconnect one drive at a time and see which one could be causing the crash.Allow a reasonable operating time between each connection.
    This should establish whether one or all at fault.Then the next step is to determine where the fault lies,disk,cable,plug or socket.
    For usb self powered HDDs,cable and power supply can be proven by substitution.With internal drives,then sata and power cables can be swapped around.
    Also whilst the pc is operating normally,check Reliability History for entries covering the problem event times and if there are,---view tech details---will give searchable information in lines 1&2
    Look in Device Manager for any warning flags.
    It would be advisable to keep all critical data backed-up.
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  6. Originally Posted by joeandmarg0 View Post
    If you have the time and patience,then reconnect one drive at a time and see which one could be causing the crash.Allow a reasonable operating time between each connection.
    This should establish whether one or all at fault.Then the next step is to determine where the fault lies,disk,cable,plug or socket.
    For usb self powered HDDs,cable and power supply can be proven by substitution.With internal drives,then sata and power cables can be swapped around.
    Also whilst the pc is operating normally,check Reliability History for entries covering the problem event times and if there are,---view tech details---will give searchable information in lines 1&2
    Look in Device Manager for any warning flags.
    It would be advisable to keep all critical data backed-up.
    I will attempt to reconnect each drive, one at a time. I will keep the PC running and run videos from the HDs as this is what caused things to crash.
    I will buy some new internal SATA cables as well. Nothing wrong with having some fresh cables.

    I'm unfamiliar with Reliability History and will look into this today.

    I should also look into backing up all my important files. Is it still advisable to backup onto actually HDs? Or has everyone moved to the cloud?

    Ideally, I would like everything to be saved in a manner so that if something goes wrong, I could reinstall the OS and then drag and drop everything else. I hate spending all day reinstalling software, plugins etc.

    I also think its time to build a new PC. Just haven't been keeping up on what is good.
    SmileSmile
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  7. Member
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    Jan 2014
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    When you back-up to the "Cloud",you are placing your personal data on another machine,the control of which lies elsewhere.
    Too many private and public organisations,hospitals included,have had their data storage hacked and compromised.
    The choice is your personal opinion.
    Mine is to trust my own HDDs.
    In the search box,bottom left,type in ---dxdiag--- and select ---open---then read through the pages to check for faults.This is Win 10's built-in DirectX fault finder within it's video system.
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  8. Member Cornucopia's Avatar
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    Deep in the Heart of Texas
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    Best practices states to always have multiple forms and multiple locations of backup/archive.

    Cloud is able to be much more secure physically than local. Whether it is logically secure depends on one's habits. 90% of incidences of cloud hacking have been due to bad storage habits, weak security, and most importantly human error (esp. through social engineering, phishing).

    @OP, I recommend if you have externals, you take them out of their enclosures and treat them as internals (if possible). At least during the test & recovery period. This avoids one of the worst cause of faulty drives - the flakey power supply.


    Scott
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  9. Member
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    I should also look into backing up all my important files. Is it still advisable to backup onto actually HDs? Or has everyone moved to the cloud?
    Use both. Immediately. 3-2-1 Backup. 3 copies of your data, 2 on the same or different media, 1 copy kept offsite, either physically for cloud.

    I commented in detail about hard drives here: http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/computers/11901-hdds-large-capacities.html

    Edit: I just reread the OP and see some of the drives are 10 years old. Back them up now! In use or in storage, 10 years is a good lifetime for hard drives. It could just have well have lasted 10 seconds out of the box or may be 10 seconds from failure the next time you spin the up!
    Last edited by lingyi; 24th Jun 2021 at 01:32.
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