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Hard Drive Failure?

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MasterDex   02-10-2008 at 10:32:31 AM

I recently built a new system:

Asus P5N32-E mobo
Intel Q6600
2GB RAM Corsair XMS2
X-FI Platinum Fatal1ty w/ Front Panel
NZXT Hush case

I moved over my hard drives and graphics card from my old machine as well as my DVD and DVD-RW drives. My GFX card is an ATi 2600HD 512mb and the hard drives are both 160gb SATA.

Recently my computer has been freezing up and/or restarting randomly and often won't get passed the windows loading screen. When it does it runs chkdsk which proceeds to correct indexes or delete corrupted entries, usually after it runs it'll restart again and will load windows fine. This has been happening very inconsistently too, sometimes it will happen 4 or 5 times in a row and other times I can be at my computer for hours without anything happening.
Is this, as I suspect, signs of immenent hard drive failure or is it something less/more serious?

I'd like to be sure before I go out and buy a new hard drive.
Thanks in advance for any help.

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chameleon101   02-10-2008 at 11:09:23 AM
- 0 +

You did a complete reinstall of windows, correct?.... i had a harddrive that used to corrupt info heaps, was overheating and now it sits on a shelf.. book stop.

Reply to chameleon101
MasterDex   02-10-2008 at 11:30:54 AM
- 0 +

I did when it first started happening as I couldn't get into windows at all. So I'm looking at failure then? I was hoping I could save myself the money :(

Message quoted 1 times
Reply to MasterDex
dcinmich   02-10-2008 at 11:54:30 AM
- 0 +

MasterDex wrote :

I did when it first started happening as I couldn't get into windows at all. So I'm looking at failure then? I was hoping I could save myself the money :(



I had this happen to me once. Turned out I had bad sectors on one of my HDs and a corrupt RAM module. What I did was download the Windows Memory Diagnostic utility to check the RAM and I got a utility to check my HD from the manufacturer's web site.

You may want to do the same and check both your RAM and HDs.

Reply to dcinmich
MasterDex   02-10-2008 at 03:47:35 PM
- 0 +

My RAM is fine, it's only about 2 months old but I'm not sure wha a good utility for checking the health of my HD would be.

Reply to MasterDex
CNeufeld   02-10-2008 at 04:52:37 PM
- 0 +

Most HD manufacturers offer diagnostic software. Check them out first.

Clint

Reply to CNeufeld
nukemaster   02-10-2008 at 05:45:07 PM
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did you test your ram? new ram does not make good ram....defects happen... and since most data goes through ram you can corrupt a hard drive that way...

 

Check out Ultimate boot cd...has most diagnostics on it for hard drives and ram
http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/download.html


Message edited by nukemaster on 02-10-2008 at 05:45:41 PM
------------------------------ http://i33.tinypic.com/sw3a5y.png
http://tinyurl.com/26uxxb - C2/i7 Temp? http://tinyurl.com/cj3pw - VGA power?
http://tinyurl.com/5v55wk - C2 Mem performance? http://tinyurl.com/6pmbke - SLI/Xfire?
http://tinyurl.com/yfmxdc9 - Part Guide?
 Reply to nukemaster
MasterDex   02-10-2008 at 07:10:36 PM
- 0 +

I've just started to download Ultimate Boot CD now. I'm fairly certain that the RAM is fine but like you said, it is worth making sure. What bugs me most is the inconsistency of the freezes and crashes. Having them happen all in a row and then not at all for hours or one isolated crash, etc. Is this normal with a failing HD or bad RAM?

Reply to MasterDex
jitpublisher   02-10-2008 at 08:13:28 PM
- 0 +

What version of Windows are you running?

Reply to jitpublisher
nukemaster   02-10-2008 at 08:22:48 PM
- 0 +

Are they crashes(Freeze) or restarts? if they are restarts they may be BSOD's. Windows restarts when it can not recover from an error.

Instructions for XP
Right click My Computer
Select Properties
Select Advanced(tab)
Click Settings under Startup and Recovery
Make sure there is no check box next to Automatically restart.

This way if you get a BSOD it will stay up and you can copy the error code down.

My friend had ram that was not compatible with his board and it cause random crashes and freezes ect. The ram was fine even with memtest but changing the ram for another brand fixed it. Asus boards have good compatibility so the should not be likely.

Another thing to check is the Event viewer for errors

Right click My Computer
Click Manage and look for the even viewer in there. take note of any errors.

Did you update any drivers recently?

Either way post any results you find and when testing the drive, DO NOT write zeros to it....its in the diagnostics of most drives but that wipes the drive out. just run the short and long tests....


Message edited by nukemaster on 02-10-2008 at 08:23:24 PM
------------------------------ http://i33.tinypic.com/sw3a5y.png
http://tinyurl.com/26uxxb - C2/i7 Temp? http://tinyurl.com/cj3pw - VGA power?
http://tinyurl.com/5v55wk - C2 Mem performance? http://tinyurl.com/6pmbke - SLI/Xfire?
http://tinyurl.com/yfmxdc9 - Part Guide?
 Reply to nukemaster
MasterDex   02-13-2008 at 05:57:25 AM
- 0 +

Well I checked my RAM and my HDD and they are both healthy. Since I last posted I haven't had any reboots either and everything seems to be okay. I checked my error log too and the only error that corresponds to a crash is this

Error code 00000051, parameter1 00000004, parameter2 00000001, parameter3 e60b6488, parameter4 00532848.

I'm not sure what this points too and my searches on the web have come up fruitless other than it has something to do with either the registry or a device conflict. Either way, things are going good for now but if anyone has any info that could help me on that error I would appreciate it.

Reply to MasterDex
Zorg   02-13-2008 at 06:40:15 AM
- 0 +

I don't see your PSU listed.

Reply to Zorg
bobbknight   02-13-2008 at 08:51:37 AM
- 0 +

Format your OS hard drive and reinstall your OS, this will most likely fix your problems.





Rattus Viola: Sino non they quisnam operor non have scientia futurus vestri rector.

Message quoted 1 times
Reply to bobbknight
MasterDex   02-13-2008 at 09:34:47 AM
- 0 +

bobbknight wrote :

Format your OS hard drive and reinstall your OS, this will most likely fix your problems.





Rattus Viola: Sino non they quisnam operor non have scientia futurus vestri rector.



I did that already but it didn't fix it. Things seem to be going smoothly now so fingers crossed it stays that way.

@Zorg: Forgot about my PSU. It's a Thermaltake Toughpower 750W, it's the newest piece of hardware I bought.

Reply to MasterDex
Zorg   02-13-2008 at 10:21:52 AM
- 0 +

Well, it's unlikely you have a power problem, aye?

Reply to Zorg
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