Re-install OS X to fix hard drive issue?

[EssentialParado]

More and more recently I've been hearing my hard drive occasionally start clicking for a few moment and my system would freeze during this time. After some research I thought my drive was failing because it shares the same model number as the Seagate drives from Apple's replacement program.

So I called Apple to ask about getting the drive replaced, but the support advisor told me it actually seems like it could be corrupted data on the drive, and that would cause the drive to spend more time on a particular drive sector than usual, and so he said I should first erase and re-install OS X to rule that out and then call back if the problem persists.

I was just wondering how likely this sounds to you guys like it could be corrupted data. I'm not a pro when it comes to hard drives by any means, but could a simple erase and re-install fix the clicking noise and freezing?

 

[Bear]

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I was just wondering how likely this sounds to you guys like it could be corrupted data. I'm not a pro when it comes to hard drives by any means, but could a simple erase and re-install fix the clicking noise and freezing?

That is not the first step. The first step is to do a Verify Disk and if you get errors you will need to boot off the recovery partition and run "Repair Disk" from there.

Before you start make sure you have a good backup.

And depending on what errors you get from Repair Disk, erasing and installing OS X may be the way to go.

 

[EssentialParado]

Hmm, I too found it odd he didn't ask me to do any disk utility checks first, which makes me think he may not have been too well-versed in this area. But saying that, I have run a verify and repair on the disk with no issues found. The SMART status is also fine. I guess that just leaves a fresh install, which is gonna take a while.

 

[Bear]

Hmm, I too found it odd he didn't ask me to do any disk utility checks first, which makes me think he may not have been too well-versed in this area. But saying that, I have run a verify and repair on the disk with no issues found. The SMART status is also fine. I guess that just leaves a fresh install, which is gonna take a while.

What I and others have found about Smart Status is that if it indicates anything other than a good status then your drive will fail rather soon. If it says it has a good status, it means your drive might be okay or could be failing right now. My last drive failure had a good smart status right up to the point it stopped worked working. This was after I was getting funky noises from the drive and odd pauses in operation.


So in short, reinstalling your system may mask the issue or it might be enough to get the drive to finally fail. Just keep good backups and be ready for the drive to fail.

 

[SaSaSushi]

Even if the SMART data shows no problems, the absolute first thing that would come to my mind with a clicking sound emanating from a hard drive associated with system freezing is an impending hard disk failure.

I would back up your data immediately and if that drive is a candidate for Apple's Seagate recall demand they replace it. Don't take no for an answer, nor listen to recommendations that you try reformatting and reinstalling.

Apple owes you a new hard drive replacement. That is whether there is anything wrong with the drive or not.

It's better to be safe than sorry and I think you're probably dealing with a failing drive anyway.

 

[EssentialParado]

Even if the SMART data shows no problems, the absolute first thing that would come to my mind with a clicking sound emanating from a hard drive associated with system freezing is an impending hard disk failure.

I would back up your data immediately and if that drive is a candidate for Apple's Seagate recall demand they replace it. Don't take no for an answer, nor listen to recommendations that you try reformatting and reinstalling.

Apple owes you a new hard drive replacement. That is whether there is anything wrong with the drive or not.

It's better to be safe than sorry and I think you're probably dealing with a failing drive anyway.

I agree and I think you're right. I've decided to just humor them and do a reinstall anyway, just on the off chance it is some corrupted data, I didn't want to go through changing drives and have the same issue again, this will at least rule it out so I can go back to Apple and tell them it's definitely a hardware problem.