Is my drive bad or what?

[Jon]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

I ordered a drive from ebay, and it seems to work fine. However,

1. I have RARed/encrypted files, and when I tried to unRAR them, it
failed, saying the file was corrupt. The only reason this can happen
(according to the RAR folks) is if something in the chain makes an
error. I think if my processor were making errors I would have noticed
it by now.

2. I have tried installing Libranet linux about 432432154325 times. I
have verified the CDs several times, and they always come out as
correct. However, I have fresh installed it several times in a row with
the exact same settings and it behaves differently each time.

I have run windows XP's disk checker several times and it never says
that anything is wrong. Is there a better check?

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[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

Jon wrote:

> I ordered a drive from ebay, and it seems to work fine. However,
>
> 1. I have RARed/encrypted files, and when I tried to unRAR them, it
> failed, saying the file was corrupt. The only reason this can happen
> (according to the RAR folks) is if something in the chain makes an
> error. I think if my processor were making errors I would have noticed
> it by now.
>
> 2. I have tried installing Libranet linux about 432432154325 times. I
> have verified the CDs several times, and they always come out as
> correct. However, I have fresh installed it several times in a row with
> the exact same settings and it behaves differently each time.
>
> I have run windows XP's disk checker several times and it never says
> that anything is wrong. Is there a better check?

None of the above would indicate a problem with your hard drive.
Have you tested your RAM with memtest86?


-WD

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

Previously Jon <u035m4i02@sneakemail.com> wrote:
> I ordered a drive from ebay, and it seems to work fine. However,

> 1. I have RARed/encrypted files, and when I tried to unRAR them, it
> failed, saying the file was corrupt. The only reason this can happen
> (according to the RAR folks) is if something in the chain makes an
> error. I think if my processor were making errors I would have noticed
> it by now.

> 2. I have tried installing Libranet linux about 432432154325 times. I
> have verified the CDs several times, and they always come out as
> correct. However, I have fresh installed it several times in a row with
> the exact same settings and it behaves differently each time.

> I have run windows XP's disk checker several times and it never says
> that anything is wrong. Is there a better check?


Main memory is more likely suspect. Disk data is protected by
checksums and you should get errors, unless the errors are
introduced in the chipset. The data-cable is also protected
by checksums.

Advice: Get memtest86 ( http://www.memtest86.com/ ) and run it
for some hours. If that does not turn up problems, invetigate
further.

Arno
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"The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws" - Tacitus

 

[Jon]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

Will Dormann wrote:

> None of the above would indicate a problem with your hard drive.
> Have you tested your RAM with memtest86?

I will try it.


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[Jon]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

Arno Wagner wrote:

> Advice: Get memtest86 ( http://www.memtest86.com/ ) and run it
> for some hours. If that does not turn up problems, invetigate
> further.

I am going to run memtest during the night. Is there a similar program
for checking hard drives more thoroughly than windows XPs error checker,
or is the windows checker pretty thorough?

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[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

Previously Jon <u035m4i02@sneakemail.com> wrote:
> Arno Wagner wrote:

>> Advice: Get memtest86 ( http://www.memtest86.com/ ) and run it
>> for some hours. If that does not turn up problems, invetigate
>> further.

> I am going to run memtest during the night. Is there a similar program
> for checking hard drives more thoroughly than windows XPs error checker,
> or is the windows checker pretty thorough?

I have no idea about the XP checker. I use XP only for gaming
and nothing else. Uusually a S.M.A.R.T. surface-scan is enough
to find problems. The only thing more thourough I know
is spinrite (http://grc.com/spinrite.htm). No idea how much
better it is.

Arno
--
For email address: lastname AT tik DOT ee DOT ethz DOT ch
GnuPG: ID:1E25338F FP:0C30 5782 9D93 F785 E79C 0296 797F 6B50 1E25 338F
"The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws" - Tacitus

 

[Jon]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

Arno Wagner wrote:

> I have no idea about the XP checker. I use XP only for gaming
> and nothing else. Uusually a S.M.A.R.T. surface-scan is enough
> to find problems. The only thing more thourough I know
> is spinrite (http://grc.com/spinrite.htm). No idea how much
> better it is.

I will try the SMART scan. I ran memtest all night and it didn't find
errors. Also, I got a partition cleared on my windows hard drive (not
the one I think is bad) and linux installed on it with no problems so
far. I think it's the hard drive. Maybe it has intermittent problems.

Jon


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