CompTIA exam study guide presentations by instructor Brian Ferrill, PACE-IT (Progressive, Accelerated Certifications for Employment in Information Technology) "Funded by the Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Grant #TC-23745-12-60-A-53" Learn more about the PACE-IT Online program: www.edcc.edu/pace-it

1. Troubleshooting
hard drives and
RAID.

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Instructor, PACE-IT Program – Edmonds Community College
Areas of Expertise Industry Certifications
 PC Hardware
 Network Administration
 IT Project Management
 Network Design
 User Training
 IT Troubleshooting
Qualifications Summary
Education
 M.B.A., IT Management, Western Governor’s University
 B.S., IT Security, Western Governor’s University
Entrepreneur, executive leader, and proven manger
with 10+ years of experience turning complex issues
into efficient and effective solutions.
Strengths include developing and mentoring diverse
workforces, improving processes, analyzing
business needs and creating the solutions
required— with a focus on technology.

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– Common symptoms.
– Common tools.
PACE-IT.

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Troubleshooting hard drives and RAID.

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Troubleshooting hard drives and RAID.
Read/write failures.
The most likely cause is
bad clusters.
The hard drive failure rate tends to
be low when bad clusters are the
cause; however, they still occur and
are more likely as the system ages.
Slow performance.
The most likely cause is
fragmentation.
A highly fragmented hard drive will
require a longer seek time for data
retrieval.
Loud clicking noise.
The most likely cause is
a bad disk drive.
That is not a clock ticking, but you
now have limited time before failure.

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Troubleshooting hard drives and RAID.
Failure to boot/OS not found.
The most likely cause is
the wrong boot order.
Check the BIOS settings. This can
also be indicative of an operating
system problem.
Drive not recognized.
The most likely cause is
either…
For an external drive, it will be a file
system or partition issue. For an
internal drive, it will be a BIOS or
cabling issue.

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Troubleshooting hard drives and RAID.
RAID not found.
The most likely cause is
the incorrect driver.
Most often, RAID is set up as an
external enclosure with its own
drivers; use the correct one.
RAID stops working.
The most likely cause is
a disk failure.
It can also be caused by a multiple
disk failure. In RAID 0, this is a big
problem. In other RAID set ups, it is
time to replace disks.
Blue screen of death (BSOD).
The most likely cause is
the incorrect driver.
Use the correct driver.

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Troubleshooting hard drives and RAID.

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– Screwdriver.
» Or set of screwdrivers to get into the case and remove a drive.
– External enclosures.
» Allow a suspect drive to be accessed from an operational
system for diagnosis and repair.
– CHKDSK.
» Common tool to fix read/write failures and OS not found issues.
– FORMAT.
» Commonly used to fix an incorrect file system structure.
– Defrag.
» Commonly used to improve hard disk drive performance.
– File recovery software.
» Used to recover data from a drive that has had problems.
Troubleshooting hard drives and RAID.

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Troubleshooting hard drives and RAID.
Performance issues, strange noises, and access issues all point to a
possible hard drive or RAID issue.
Topic
Common symptoms.
Summary
Screwdriver set, external enclosures, CHKDSK, FORMAT, and file recovery
software are all useful tools in the hands of the technician—allowing him or
her to diagnose, fix, and/or recover from hard drive issues.
Common tools.

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THANK YOU!

12. This workforce solution was 100 percent funded by a $3 million grant awarded by the
U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration. The solution was
created by the grantee and does not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S.
Department of Labor. The Department of Labor makes no guarantees, warranties, or
assurances of any kind, express or implied, with respect to such information, including
any information on linked sites and including, but not limited to, accuracy of the
information or its completeness, timeliness, usefulness, adequacy, continued availability
or ownership. Funded by the Department of Labor, Employment and Training
Administration, Grant #TC-23745-12-60-A-53.
PACE-IT is an equal opportunity employer/program and auxiliary aids and services are
available upon request to individuals with disabilities. For those that are hearing
impaired, a video phone is available at the Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD)
office in Mountlake Terrace Hall 159. Check www.edcc.edu/ssd for office hours. Call
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