Dating a hardware problem ??

Gen.Zhukov

Hi there.

I was wondering if there is a way to find when a problem first occurred with a HDD. It is for warranty purposes.
Let me explain. I've had problems installing updates window/java etc and this had been going on for quite some time. I thought it was some SW conflicting issues. I really didn't think it was HW related (therefore didn't panic) as the laptop worked well most of the time and nothing catastrophic happened.

I tried various fixes via the M/S website and nothing worked. I decided to bring it to a tech and get it looked at. By the time I got it back (2 days) and was told that it may be a HW issue, I was 10 days out of warranty.

So, back to my question. Can I find a report within the machine that will point to a time that the HDD developed a fault ?

Thanks.

Try Event Viewer > Windows Log > System

Drive problems often up there under source "disk".

TiGeR KiNgS

1.618 wrote: »

Hi there.

I was wondering if there is a way to find when a problem first occurred with a HDD. It is for warranty purposes.
Let me explain. I've had problems installing updates window/java etc and this had been going on for quite some time. I thought it was some SW conflicting issues. I really didn't think it was HW related (therefore didn't panic) as the laptop worked well most of the time and nothing catastrophic happened.

I tried various fixes via the M/S website and nothing worked. I decided to bring it to a tech and get it looked at. By the time I got it back (2 days) and was told that it may be a HW issue, I was 10 days out of warranty.

So, back to my question. Can I find a report within the machine that will point to a time that the HDD developed a fault ?

Thanks.

Try dinner and a movie ?

Gen.Zhukov

Deleted User wrote: »

Try Event Viewer > Windows Log > System

Drive problems often up there under source "disk".

Thanks for that.

It's just the kind of thing I was looking for alright but it only goes back as far as 21st Sept and there are no 'Disk entered a shagged state' reports there.
It does show groupings of errors where you can see that the computer hung and had a forced shut down after trying to install updates.

Dunno if thats enough proof that the problem started while it was in the warranty period (6 weeks before it was up)

Hard-drives contain a log of self-tests, but events are logged against drive running life (in hours) rather than a date/time. If there is an event logged then you may be able to work backwards and calculate a date. Even if your drive is bad there is no guarantee there will be any event but it's worth a shot.

I use something else which you won't be able to use but HDD Guardian seems to do it as well. I can't vouch for it personally.