I recently purchased this drive ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822152185 ). Two days ago (Christmas Eve) I started my computer up for the first time after spending the previous week cautiously building it. Everything seemed fine. Windows 7 installed well, the graphic card drivers installed well, I even played Oblivion for a little while, just to see how it would perform on high settings. It was great. Today (Christmas) I had it on for an extended period, and that’s when I first encountered problems.
Initially, nothing seemed wrong. I would walk away from the computer for a while and return, tap the keyboard and move the mouse, and the computer would come out of standby and I would do stuff (I was mostly transferring files I had stored on my family computer. These were mods and oblivion tools, mostly. Along with some things like Python, 7-Zip, and whatnot that I needed). However, later in the day, I returned to find the monitor not responding to a keyboard touch or mouse shuffle. It was behaving as if it wasn’t plugged in to the video card. I tried restarting the computer manually. Upon start-up, the monitor didn’t recognize the card imput, and the tower seemed to be struggling somewhat. You would hear the fans/processor buzz to life before quickly fading, only to buzz to life again and fade, then buzz to life and fade. So I turned it off and consulted the internet. Going off recommendations, I checked the appropriate cord, unplugging it and replugging it back in. Then I started the system back up, and the monitor worked normally. Problem solved.
Not really. Later on still, I returned to my room to find the monitor blinking again. Oh no, not again, I thought. But then I realized why the monitor wasn’t receiving a signal from my graphics card: my computer was off! I turned it back on, and it didn’t go through the normal startup, but rather acted as though it had only been in standby, as all of the things I was working on were still open and there. Then I received a message from Windows 7 saying that it detected a hard disk error and that I should backup my system and then consult the manufacturer about getting the drive repaired or replaced. I swore. It was brand-freaking-new.
So, if you forumites do believe my OS that the problems I’m encountering are hard disk problems, what are the steps I should take from here? I read on one site to try a system restore, and I found a utility here(HDAT2/CBL Hard Disk Repair Utility) which is supposed to help me run diagnostics and possibly repair problems. I have a 60 day replacement warranty, but I first ordered the part at the beginning of the month, and I’m all anxious over whether I should just replace my drive, or whether that will do any good at all?
EDIT: I’m a first-timer for computer building. I was very careful, and read everything before actually doing it. Haven’t been able to get a friend over to look at it yet, but could I have wired something wrong?
Here are my parts:
SAPPHIRE 100311SR Radeon HD 6970 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
ASUS Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ965FBGMBOX
CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply
GIGABYTE GA-890FXA-UD5 AM3 AMD 890FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Maybe I’ll try to get system specs up by tomorrow…