Windows 7 SATA disk noise... Win 7 only

[nandemonai]

Hiya guys,

Now, many of you may call me crazy but let me assure you, I know my way around computers pretty darn well, both hardware and software but this is really quite an odd issue.

Since the RC release I've been testing, as we all have. Honestly, to me, Win 7 so far looks like XP with a theme and some minor GUI improvements but hey whatever floats your boat

Onto the issue..

I have a triple boot system on two drives. 1st drive is a 120G system disk (Ubuntu ext3, XP NTFS and Win 7 NTFS). 2nd drive is a 720G data drive (1 partition, NTFS). Both are WD drives.

For the first week or so things were fine, but recently my data drive has been making an odd noise when accessing the data drive, getting progressively more frequent. It's a noise I've not heard before and I've heard my share of failing disks.. this is different.

What will happen is, even when spinning fine (ie it's not spin up sound) I'll try and access a directory or file on the drive and it lags for about 1-2 seconds while making a 'bzzz' sound. It's hard to explain but it's more of an electrical sound than a metallic one if that makes sense. I'm certain it's the drive data as it's always when accessing something on this drive with a corresponding delay. It actually almost sounds like the drive spins way too fast for a second or two. That's the best way I can describe it.

Now, normally I'd chalk it up to hardware as that's certainly what it sounds like BUT.. this has NEVER happened on either Ubuntu or XP. Not once.

The drive is not fragmented (3%ish at the most), it passes chkdsk fine with no errors, even passes a surface scan with no bad sectors. I've run S.M.A.R.T. diagnostics on it and also no errors to report there. Not one.

Thing is, it was fine until the last few days. There are only two things I can think of that have happened recently that _could_ be related. The first was a sleep issue, Win 7 doesn't like my motherboard (Asus P5Q Delux) and when I tried to suspend a few days ago, it crashed big time, thrashed the disk (I'm assuming it was the system disk) and seized. Wouldn't reboot then on a cold boot the machine refused to pass POST. Tried everything, complete power down, reset etc but it just wouldn't boot. I ended up having to reset CMOS and then finally my machine would function again (Found some people with the same issue on similar boards with Win 7, dodgy drivers I'm assuming).

After setting up the BIOS again and being sure not to ever touch sleep again (heh even Ubuntu can sleep this machine fine) the machine was fine again but then a day or so later this HDD issue started. The only other thing I've done with the data drive since then was install a game on it. That's it.

So does anyone have any suggestions? Ideas what it could be etc?

I'll reiterrate again that this only ever happens in Win 7. XP / Linux accesses the disk fine.

 

[ChatGPT]

It sounds like you're facing a peculiar issue with your data drive in your triple-boot system, specifically experiencing unusual sounds and delays when accessing data on the drive in Windows 7, while not encountering the same problem in Ubuntu or XP. Let's break down the information you provided and see if we can troubleshoot this issue effectively:

### Possible Causes and Troubleshooting Steps:

1. Power Management Issue:
- The crash you experienced during the sleep attempt in Windows 7 could have triggered some power management settings that are causing this unusual behavior when accessing data.
- Check the power management settings in Windows 7 to ensure they are not causing the drive to behave differently. You can try adjusting them or disabling certain power-saving features to see if that resolves the issue.

2. Driver Compatibility Issues:
- As you mentioned, your motherboard had issues with Windows 7 drivers, especially related to sleep mode. Even after resetting the BIOS, there might still be lingering driver-related problems causing the drive access issue.
- Update all relevant drivers for your motherboard, including chipset and storage drivers. Ensure they are compatible with Windows 7 and up to date.

3. Software Conflict:
- The recent installation of the game on the data drive could have introduced software conflicts that impact how Windows 7 interacts with that drive.
- Try uninstalling the game temporarily to see if the issue resolves. If so, there might be compatibility issues with the game and the drive.

4. Faulty Windows 7 Installation or Update:
- There could be a corruption or misconfiguration in your Windows 7 installation that is causing this behavior, especially after the crash incident.
- Consider running Windows Update to ensure your system is up to date. You might also want to consider running a System File Checker scan to check for and repair any corrupted system files.

5. Disk Health and Integrity:
- Even though the drive passed SMART diagnostics, it's still worth considering further tests to ensure the disk's health. You can use third-party disk health tools like CrystalDiskInfo to get a second opinion on the disk's condition.

6. Environment Differences:
- It's also worth noting any environmental factors that might be influencing the drive differently when accessed by different operating systems. Windows 7 could be stressing the drive in a way that the others are not.

### Actions to Take:

• Check and adjust power management settings in Windows 7.
• Update motherboard drivers and ensure compatibility with Windows 7.
• Uninstall the recently installed game temporarily to see if it affects the drive's behavior.
• Run Windows Update and System File Checker to ensure system integrity.
• Consider using third-party disk health tools for additional diagnostics.

By following these steps, you might pinpoint the root cause of the issue and find a solution to the drive access problem in Windows 7. Let me know if you need further assistance or if you have any updates on your troubleshooting progress!