Defraggler killed my HDD

[Dugs]

I was using Defraggler on my F:\ HDD used to auto save C + D drives as backup. Naturally this HDD gets fragmented from daily use.

So was running Defraggler, for several hours, in background as I did simple work....no heavy loads or anything unusual.

When I was almost done for the day and closed windows (win10 1903), Defraggler was stopped and my F: HDD was missing. Tried to find it via win file explorer and it was not listed anywhere.

Did a PC restart. Same result: no F:\ drive. Shutdown and was planning to open case and check cables....but 1st decided to do a backup to USB HDD for safety.

When I started PC the second time, my F:\ drive was back and all seems to be OK, nothing lost. Still did a backup anyway OK.

 

So writing here to ask: this ever happen to other users? A small Defraggler bug somewhere? Could it have been something other than Defraggler? Is this common at all for typical PC users?

Doug

[Andavari]

How did it kill your HDD if it eventually was listed again by Windows and was usable? If it had actually killed the HDD it would be unusable and need replacing.

To cause the issue did you shutdown the PC while Defraggler was still defragmenting the drive?
If so that's a big no no with any disk utility from defrag software to secure disk wiping programs. Some disk utilities don't like that at all since in some it can be like pulling the plug, and in some cases can set a disk as the RAW format. Although like most disk defrag software Defraggler uses the Microsoft Defrag API which means it's supposed to be safe.

In any event if the disk is actually usable and seen in Windows you may want to run ChkDsk /f on it via an admin Command Prompt, and then reboot the PC so it can scan the drive for errors (full Microsoft instructions):

chkdsk /f F:

 

[Dugs]

Killed it but it came back alive...so maybe unconcious rather than dead.

No, did not shut down. Defraggler stopped running, I thought it was done and went to check results; but found HDD not listed anymore. I closed program windows, not OS...sorry for confusing language.

Thanks, chkdsk a good idea.

Everything seems to be OK now, but was scary for hours...still wondering if a sign of future trouble...Dell system tests (including HDD) passed OK.

Edited July 25, 2020 by Dugs

[nukecad]

2 hours ago, Dugs said:

Killed it but it came back alive...so maybe unconcious rather than dead.

Been there done that,
Cardiac Arrest and my heart stopped for 20 minutes. I'm still here 4 years later and still going strong.
If I can come back from dead with some thumps and an electric shock then I'll try the same with a piece of computer hardware.
PS. Having come back from dead I call the date it happened my 'Zombie birthday'.

To be serious it may be a good time to get another external disc and make a backup or mirror image of that drive just in case it does fail.

[Andavari]

It would be worth also doing some S.M.A.R.T. scans on the drive, then again those Dell utilities you mentioned probably already do that when checking the drive. If I'm remembering correctly from twenty years ago it is or was called the Dell Hard Drive Confidence Utility.

[Dugs]

Thanks.

Always good to know if my problem is unique or not and what others have done.

This is a WD Black 2TB drive with a 5 yr warranty that is 1.5 yrs old and only used for daily backup; so I'll wait a while.

SMART scan shows no issues. But I'll keep an eye on it and get it replaced if more problems later. 

2 days running OK so far.

Still unsure if Defraggler did it or was an OS glitch, or??? Maybe will never know till something else happens with the HDD.

[nukecad]

Defragmenting is a disc intensive process, (as are AV scans or file recovery) so any problems with a disc are more likely to show up there.

[Andavari]

I wonder if Windows power settings could've put the drive to sleep if the PC was unattended and not in use long enough for that. Even on my laptop I've turned off powering down the drives, and I've disabled USB suspending because it always eventually causes issues with external backup drives.

[Dugs]

Nope. I was continuously using the PC for other stuff and when done closing those program windows, I looked at Defraggler,,,it was stopped and inactive and no longer even displaying the F: drive I was defragging.

I agree tho, and have my PC not sleep for a couple hours automatically, and if backing up data that will take a long time, I turn off auto sleep or shutdown forever, and turn them back on when done.  I have never done USB suspension because never thought I needed to do that.