Hard Disk Scrubber destroyed my hard drive

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Ray
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Hard Disk Scrubber destroyed my hard drive

Post by Ray »

I was going to sell my computer because I'm getting a new one. I searched the web, and PC World mentioned Hard Disk Scrubber. I decided to use it to overwrite my current free space. I downloaded it, and started to use it. About 1/4 of the way through the scrubbing, my hard drive started making a chirping noise I've never heard before, and a blue screen popped up saying "Windows has to restart to keep your files" or something to that effect. I assumed it was because of HDS, so I uninstalled HDS and deleted the SCRUBWRK folder. I restarted on my own. 10 minutes later, the chirping happened again, and I got the blue screen again. I tried a system restore, but again, after about 10 minutes, the chirping and blue screen happened. This has happened every time I tried to start my computer. I've never had any hard drive problems before and I've only had this computer for a year and four months. I'm hoping my new computer will come in time for me to be able to transfer my files before my hard drive is completely done for. Is there anything else I can do to save my hard drive so I still have resale value?
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Scott
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Re: Hard Disk Scrubber destroyed my hard drive

Post by Scott »

It sounds like the drive was on it's way out anyway, and by using the scrubber you forced it to use some sectors that were probably rarely or never used before and the drive was mechanically unstable. The screeching sound is a mechanical failure, and cannot be caused by software. It would have failed anyway, but using the program could have brought it on a little sooner since it gives the drive a good workout. It may have also simply failed at that particular time anyway, making it a coincidence. Either way, the scrubber itself cannot damage drives physically, only the data that resides on them.

Scott
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