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Thread ID: 115433 2011-01-18 01:25:00 Earthquake - Laptop Damage Haydinho (16180) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
1170691 2011-01-18 01:25:00 Newbie here,

My laptops been running bad since the chch boxing day quake..

Anyone know if the earthquake can shake my laptop and cause damage?

Also anyone know of a decent place that can check my laptop for earthquake related damage for a cheap price? I need this thing running mint for my Web development course starting in 3 weeks..

anyone help me out?

:help:
Haydinho (16180)
1170692 2011-01-18 02:15:00 You haven't provided a Symptom so hard to say. If it didn't fall off anything then probably not. "Maybe" a quake could cause bad sectors if the device was on at the time.

Probably need to tell us what brand the notebook is before anyone can really make a recommendation
Battleneter2 (9361)
1170693 2011-01-18 03:57:00 HP dv5 1209ax,

wireless turning off alone,

screen freezing,

programs locking up,

delay on startup and shut down,

All this one month after a complete reformat and reinstall to factory settings, and before the quake, was running fine with no problems.
Haydinho (16180)
1170694 2011-01-18 04:14:00 Unless it was actually thrown around during the earthquake, eg fell on the floor or something fell on it, then it is highly unlikely those issues are related to the earthquake. It is probably just coincidence, and the laptop would experience more shaking from being moved around. robbyp (2751)
1170695 2011-01-18 04:37:00 Couldn't they all be caused by HDD damage? Sudden shakes, especially if the laptop was on a hard surface at the time, could have damaged the HDD and if software is controlling those symptoms then it might be a possibility

If it was me I'd replace the HDD and do a clean install, but that's alot of hassle (and some $$ cost) when you're not 100% sure it's the issue
Halwende (3418)
1170696 2011-01-18 07:38:00 Run HDD test in bios. sahilcc7 (15483)
1170697 2011-01-19 23:56:00 I agree with sahilcc7 - run some HDD tests.
If a disk is starting to fail you usually can runs some tests to detect problems.
Also - run a full antivirus scan.
Remove any recently installed programs - assuming you have keys/disks and can install them again if they are important.

From the seemingly random sounding failures I would maybe suspect memory - have you tried taking the memory out and cleaning the contacts and reinstalling them?- google how to do this - its not hard - but there are a couple of precautions you need to take first - mainly ensuring the device is disconnected from the power and ensuring you are reasonably well earthed.
robjg63 (13548)
1170698 2011-01-20 22:02:00 www.hirensbootcd.org
Hirens BootCD - Free bootdisk you can download, has heaps of programs for testing diagnosing ect, there are a few on there to find and repair bad sectors, has saved my ass a number of times, try one of them on there, iirc the one i used in the past was HDD regenerator or something along those lines

http://www.memtest86.com/
Memtest x86 - Tests your ram

Try those, and it should be able to confirm/rule out HDD or RAM issues
1156 (16176)
1170699 2011-01-21 02:22:00 Hdd maybe? I'm no scientist but if the laptop exprenced any g-force it could of killed the hdd or voided the warranty. Could have "quake damage" as I have killed a pc from shaking the cd drive to much. icow (15313)
1170700 2011-01-21 03:59:00 Seagate’s innovative designs continue to improve drive reliability to save customers the cost, inconvenience,
and potential data loss that can result from handling damage. Seagate now leads the industry with a desktop
drive nonoperating shock specification of up to 350 Gs for a 2 millisecond shock duration. This specification has
more than doubled over the last two years. Design enhancements help minimize handling damage caused by
the accidental bumps and knocks a drive may undergo during shipping and installation. This increased
G-force protection is no accident. It is the result of careful design analysis and product enhancements that are
intended to make Seagate disc drives as robust as possible.

G-Force Explanation

When a drive is bumped, knocked or dropped accidentally, the shock is measured not only in strength of the
shock (Gs), but also in duration of the shock (how long those Gs are experienced by the drive). The typical
surfaces found in an installation or shipping environment usually produce shock durations of 2 to 12
milliseconds when a drive is knocked over. Shorter duration shocks (less than 2 milliseconds) are rarer, and
can be much higher—hundreds or thousands of Gs—without causing major damage to the disc drive.

The most difficult shock a drive can withstand reliably lasts about 2 milliseconds in duration. This is why the
industry standard nonoperating shock specification is set at 2 milliseconds. Seagate has the highest desktop
disc nonoperating shock specification in the industry—350 Gs at 2 milliseconds for U8 drives and 300
Gs for 7,200-RPM Barracuda® ATA drives. These specifications exceed all desktop competitors’
specifications.
pctek (84)
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