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Chapter 5 Trouble Shooting
Hard Disk Problems
The hard disk drive does not work or is not recognizable -
Check the hard disk indicator LED. When you access a file, the LED lamp should light up momentarily.
The HDD may be defective.
If your computer has been subjected to static electricity or physical shock, you may have damaged the
disk drive.
The hard drive is making abnormal whining noises -
You should back up your files as soon as possible.
Make sure the source of noise is indeed from the hard drive and not the fan or other devices.
The hard disk drive has reached its capacity -
Run Disk Cleanup utility in Windows. [Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk
Cleanup] The system will prompt you for what to do.
Archive files or programs that you no longer use by moving them to an alternative storage medium
(optical record-able disk, etc.) or uninstall programs that are no longer used.
Many browsers store files in the hard drive as a cache to speed up the performance. Check the
program’s Online Help for instructions on decreasing the cache size or on removing temporary Internet
files.
Empty the Recycle Bin to create more disk space. When you delete files, Windows saves them to the
Recycle Bin.
The hard disk takes longer to read a file -
If you have been using the drive for a period, the files may be fragmented. Go to [Start > All Programs >
Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter] to perform a disk defragmentation. This operation
may take a while.
Interrupted requests or problems with other hardware devices may have occupied the CPU and
therefore slowing down the system performance.
The files are corrupted -
Run the Error-checking utility in Windows to check the HDD. Double-click My Computer. Right-click C:
and select Properties. Click Check Now in Error-checking in Tools.
