Xp keeps crashing if PC left unattended

I don't leave my pc on all the time but more recently have had problems with random freezes. It tends to happen if I don't use my pc for a while(half hour or so) then it freezes. Upon reboot, it says no hard disk found. I turn it off for a couple of mins then all is well when I turn it back on. When pc is left idle, there are no big progs running, only stuff like zone alarm etc. The temps(as reported by motherboard monitor) seem ok and don't normally rise above 50deg or so when idle(cpu temp).

What can be causing this?

Could be the hard drive on its way out, so you might want to back everything up. You could try using a spare hard drive (if you have one), or try a different IDE cable.

time for a back up I would say...

is it usual for a hard drive to fail after about 18months to 2 years of normal usage?

No it isnt, the average life of a hard drive is way more than that. but that is average so some hard drives will unfortunatuely last shorter like yours appears to be doing.

Do you hear any odd grinding/whirring noises that come and go?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Timmy!!!

Do you hear any odd grinding/whirring noises that come and go?

---

I occasionally hear noises but thought that was the fan. Now I'm maybe thinking different. The pc only crashes occasionally(one every 10 days or so), how long do you think I have before it dies altogether?

May be worth enabling S.M.A.R.T monitoring in your bios if it's no already, may report if falure is imminent

Yep, S.M.A.R.T should tell you if the drive is dying.

I would also download a utility from the drives manufacturer if available and check your drive.

Try cleaning out any unused programs, then doing a thorough chkdsk or scandisk and defrag.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Insomniac

Yep, S.M.A.R.T should tell you if the drive is dying.

I would also download a utility from the drives manufacturer if available and check your drive.

---

I downloaded the data lifeguard from the western digital site. I ran a S.M.A.R.T. test and an extended(thorough) test and both passed.

Does this then mean that my drive is ok and it's prob something else that is causing the prob(maybe excessive heat)?

Leave S.M.A.R.T enabled in your Bios.

Both S.M.A.R.T and Data LifeGuard will give you a pretty good indication.

They aren't infallible, but I would start looking elsewhere like heat issues.

My sisters PC is also dying a similar death, yet she won't do sweet FA about it. She will leave it on, and go out. I'll go near her room and hear "beep beep beep beep."

I'll have a walk into her room, to discover her PC is beeping. Then ,stuck trying to boot, it says "Primary Master Fail"

So i would agree it may be your hard drive on its way out, which is weird, i have an IBM drive that is 3 years old in this machine, and its still one of the fastest drives in it! I've never had a drive fail on me...and i hope not to.

If you have ever seen the insides of a hard drive, and familiar with how they work, it's a wonder that many more don't fail and that they work as good as they do.

It's a mechanical device with extreme tolerances, and so, it's the most prone PC component to failure.

Apart from Windows off course. LOL.