. This is the problem:

When I run my simple backup script (using tar gzip)
my k6200 machine within a few minutes locks up 
completely. No other odd behavior has been observed
on this 1.4.2 machine. The backup dir is on the same
physical disk as the rest of the file system. It's
in /usr/bkps/image.d. The script knows not to include
the backup dir in its backup. In any case the whole
machine stops responding. Ping replies are: host is down.
What are the odds the HDD is the culprit?