W520 lock-ups with 100% disk access

[Geekabunga]

Seemingly at random, my W520 will lock-up and the HDD access light is solid. I can move the mouse, but the computer won't respond to mouse clicks or keyboard presses. My only way out is a hard power-down (hold in the power button) and restart. This has happened twice in the past week or so. I'm not doing anything particularly disk-intensive when this happens. I'm using the included 500GB Hitachi drive.

[ColonelONeill]

Grab someting that can read SMART data (HD Tune, etc.)

It sounds like your drive has bad sectors.

[Geekabunga]

I run software that constantly monitors SMART info on the hard drive and notifies me of any pending problems.

[ColonelONeill]

Can you check the Reallocated Sector Count and Current Pending Sector counts?

[Geekabunga]

[ColonelONeill]

>Reallocated Sectors Count: 5

There's your problem. CHKDSK /F /R /B might be able to do something. Alternatively, something like SpinRite or HDD Regenerator might fix it. (All three of these methods take a LONG time, so do it overnight.)

If none of those fix it, then you're probably going to have to replace te drive.

[Geekabunga]

Sigh ... I just bought this thing brand new.

[alphaman]

From where?
W520 is an old model now.

Download the drive diagnostic software from the HDD manufacturer website or download a Hirens boot disc.
As stated schedule a chkdsk on the drive also in case there's any windows filesystem errors.

[Geekabunga]

I bought it brand new from an authorized reseller with unmoved stock. I specifically wanted it instead of a W530 because Lenovo buggered the keyboard.

I'll try the disk stuff, thanks.

[harrisb]

---

@ColonelONeill wrote:
>Reallocated Sectors Count: 5

There's your problem. CHKDSK /F /R /B might be able to do something. Alternatively, something like SpinRite or HDD Regenerator might fix it. (All three of these methods take a LONG time, so do it overnight.)

If none of those fix it, then you're probably going to have to replace te drive.

---

I don't believe that is the problem unless the reallocated sector count keeps growing. The worst that will happen is a bit of slowness accessing the relocated sector. There's something else amiss here.