HDD clicking & Win8 stuck after installing VMware or VBox!

sam97

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Hi.

I've had my computer for about four years with an Asus motherboard, and I recently (like two days ago) had it changed to a Digilite motherboard. I'm also a regular user of VMware or VirtualBox, whichever is feeling fancy to me.

About six months ago, my Seagate hard disk started clicking regularly at about 10 seconds interval, which quickly came down to 1-2 second interval, causing the hard drive to click furiously. Due to this, my Win8 would get stuck and won't even give a BSOD. Same thing would happen at restart. Automatic Repair didn't help, but chkdsk would find some corrupted sectors and fix the issue. On the next restart, after running smoothly for 5 minutes, the clicking and stucking would start again. I finally narrowed down the problem to VMware and removed it and ran chkdsk again. This seemed to solve the problem.

After getting my new motherboard, I thought the results might be different, so I installed VMware and ran it for a long time. There was no clicking of HDD until the next startup. As soon as I logged in, desktop became slow and stucky, and finally I heard the horrific sound of that clicking again. (Now whenever I hear ANYthing click ANYwhere, I freeze for a second.) I knew what the problem was and applied the same solution I applied months ago.

I come here asking for help to find the root of this problem. I need to be able to run VMware or VirtualBox to go through a few Linux and python books I'm reading. My brain just cannot grasp how a software could affect the hardware this badly! I'll try a few other things to narrow down the problem while I wait for responses. At this point, where changing the HDD seems to be the only option, any alternative help is highly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro WMC
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    AMD Athlon II X3
    Motherboard
    Digilite DL-960GM-GS3 FX
    Memory
    Transcend DDR3 4GB 1333 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon 3000
    Monitor(s) Displays
    AOC
    Screen Resolution
    1366 X 768
    Hard Drives
    Seagate
    Mouse
    Odyssey
    Browser
    Firefox | Chrome
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes | Windows Defender | Clamwin Portable
Your HD is going bad. Backup your data and replace it.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer T690
    CPU
    Intel Pentium D Dual Core
    Motherboard
    Acer/Intel E946GZ
    Memory
    2GB (max upgrade)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3000 - PCI Express x16
    Sound Card
    Integrated RealTek ALC888 high-definition audio with 7.1 channel audio support
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer AL1917W A LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1440 X 900
    Hard Drives
    350 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10
    Thumb drives
    PSU
    Standard 250 watt
    Case
    Desktop 7.2" (183mm) W x 17.5" (445mm) L x 14.5"
    Cooling
    Dual case fans + CPU fan
    Keyboard
    Acer Windows PS/2
    Mouse
    Wireless Microsoft Arc
    Internet Speed
    54mbp/s
    Browser
    IE11
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    Office Pro 2013 / Nokia Lumia 1520 Windows Phone 8.1DP GDR1
Sorry for the delay. Yeah, I'm starting to agree with that. It must be my HDD.

But just to make sure that it is my HDD, I'm just going to do one final task. I haven't found one yet, but as soon as I get my hands on another hard drive (from a friend, etc.), I'll load Win8 on it and run VMware for a while, with reboots. If everything stays well throughout, then the problem has been isolated and this thread Solved. If the clicking returns, so will I. If anybody has an objection or an alternate opinion, I'm all ears.

Edit: Also, if possible, can someone explain how a software like VMware is able to cause a hardware problem (even in a corrupt HDD)?

Thanks for hearing me out!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro WMC
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    AMD Athlon II X3
    Motherboard
    Digilite DL-960GM-GS3 FX
    Memory
    Transcend DDR3 4GB 1333 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon 3000
    Monitor(s) Displays
    AOC
    Screen Resolution
    1366 X 768
    Hard Drives
    Seagate
    Mouse
    Odyssey
    Browser
    Firefox | Chrome
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes | Windows Defender | Clamwin Portable
You could run a HDD test. Seagate should have one listed on their site.

Any software is just zeroes and ones to any storage device and cannot possibly damage a drive. Heat or shock is usually the culprits. Drop it or the computer and it’s usually toast. Is your computer case cooling well enough? When was the last time it was cleaned?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer T690
    CPU
    Intel Pentium D Dual Core
    Motherboard
    Acer/Intel E946GZ
    Memory
    2GB (max upgrade)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3000 - PCI Express x16
    Sound Card
    Integrated RealTek ALC888 high-definition audio with 7.1 channel audio support
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer AL1917W A LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1440 X 900
    Hard Drives
    350 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10
    Thumb drives
    PSU
    Standard 250 watt
    Case
    Desktop 7.2" (183mm) W x 17.5" (445mm) L x 14.5"
    Cooling
    Dual case fans + CPU fan
    Keyboard
    Acer Windows PS/2
    Mouse
    Wireless Microsoft Arc
    Internet Speed
    54mbp/s
    Browser
    IE11
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    Office Pro 2013 / Nokia Lumia 1520 Windows Phone 8.1DP GDR1
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