Fireman Posted March 19, 2009 Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 I got a weird scenario here......... Was surfing a bit this morning (firefox) and downloading a tv show using ABC (torrent app).........no problems. A friend came over and accessed a vpn site to check some work files....still no problem. I watched a downloaded .avi file (while still dl'ing using abc), finished watching and closed windows media viewer. Friend came back to use pc...when he turned monitor on the mouse was frozen, nothing we could do would unfreeze it. Hard re-boot.......... tried to launch Firefox.........froze......hard reboot Ditto ditto tried ABC again.......same....freeze. hard reboot...... So, I backed up photos to an external drive Tried Adaware...while it was scanning I tried to open windows explorer (just to look at some files and consider what to get rid of in order to make up some disk space)...but it froze before opening...arrrgh. another hard re-boot Then I ran: Malware-bytes anti malware....nothing spybot...nothing AVG anti virus....nothing Ad-Aware...found 5 items (3 cookies and 2 warnings about not having windows update turned on....so really...Nothing) I thought maybe overheat....but everything appears to be ok. So now I'm thinking maybe some bad RAM (HOW CAN I CHECK THIS?0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1. DDz Quorum B16Enk Posted March 19, 2009 1. DDz Quorum Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 To check RAM: http://www.memtest86.com/ You can download an ISO and create a bootable CD - this will check RAM for you. I would also run a checkdisk (right click drive -> properties -> tools 'check for errors' tick all boxes and click OK, it will tell you it cannot run and do you want to schedule it, say yes, reboot, and go grind some beans for your coffee. Brew, enjoy, then wait a bit longer for the check to finish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fireman Posted March 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 Ummm. just how long would you say to wait for the chkdsk?......... It started the check(step 1 of 5)....it found an unreadable sector.........proceeded to delete some "orphaned" files......moved on to step 2 of 5........fixed a bunch of files.........found another unreadable section, reached 58% of that step then "hung"......(or maybe not, just exactly how long should it take me to grind some beans, brew it and then wait some more?) I bailed......re-booted......should I try it again but wait a really long time this go around? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1. DDz Quorum B16Enk Posted March 19, 2009 1. DDz Quorum Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 Sorry Andrew, got absorbed elsewhere. Yes Chkdsk will take a really long time, perhaps you should try growing the beans, picking them, roasting them before grinding and brewing? Depending upon the size of the disk and the amount of data it could take 3 or more hours to complete. It sounds like this is what you need to do, and to let it run. Unreadable sector does not sound very encouraging, what make model disk is it? Do you have it backed up? If not back up then try checkdisk, if it is (as I believe it is) failing then the chkdsk may stress it beyond the pale..but it will have to be done.. NTFS, the filing system used by XP, is able to mark sectors bad and relocate recoverable data, but you need to run your disk makers health check utility. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1. DDz Quorum B16Enk Posted March 19, 2009 1. DDz Quorum Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 Another quick thing you can do: start->run and type in: eventvwr That will open the system log, click on the system node in left window, then look in right hand pane for red errors, are any disk related? I had this recently and it transpired it was a dodgy SATA cable (I hope). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fireman Posted March 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 thanks for the replies....... The chkdsk hung again at the exact same spot (58%) even after leaving it for 1.5 hours. b16look.txt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fireman Posted March 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 actually sorting it that way is deceiving...... I've left it sorted by date and time.... There are many disk warnings previous to today (usually to do with page file stuff) but no actual errors regarding the HDD until noon today.....then a bunch today...LOL Ive attached another file sorted this way b16look2.txt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1. DDz Quorum B16Enk Posted March 20, 2009 1. DDz Quorum Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 Back up what you can your disk is on the way out. Sorry had a bit to drink Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1. DDz Quorum B16Enk Posted March 20, 2009 1. DDz Quorum Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 Check out this link: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/329075 If you have a dynamic disk this could explain it, too late for me now. Backup just in case, never a bad move unless you over write good with crap, and see what a drive fitness reveals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fireman Posted March 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 Thanks . I will back up what I need today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perfesser Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 Sometimes this is caused by the bearings wearing out in the HD. If it's making unusual noises, this is probably the problem. If it all goes bad and you can't read from the disk you can (as a last resort) tighten up the shaft bearings by putting the HD in a plastic bag, and putting it in the freezer overnight. Get it in the machine and get your data off before it warms up fully and gets sloppy again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fireman Posted March 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2009 thanks for the advice guys.... I've got it all backed up (well mostly backed up....it would fail, then freeze during the backup whenever it encountered those "bad" areas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fireman Posted March 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2009 Ok....gonna mess with this HDD for a bit now and see what those utilites can say about it......... On a side note: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fireman Posted March 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2009 Back up what you can your disk is on the way out. Sorry had a bit to drink Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1. DDz Quorum B16Enk Posted March 21, 2009 1. DDz Quorum Report Share Posted March 21, 2009 Seagate have a facility for putting in the serial number, and it will tell you the warranty status and how to RMA it if covered. Drive is, quite frankly, buggered so needs to be replaced. This is the only drive in your system? Is it SATA or PATA? If PATA (the older standard) when putting in a new drive you will need to take note of any jumpers that are on it, and make sure replacement is jumpered the same. If SATA you can ignore the jumpers, but bear in mind Seagate/Maxtor used to ship drives with a jumper in place that forced SATA 1 mode, removing said jumper will give a significant speed boost - it is documented on Seagate site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fireman Posted March 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2009 yes it is the only drive...it is SATA (if I recall correctly).... off to work shortly, gonna have to look at this Monday. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fireman Posted March 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2009 .........Also should I keep it set up similarily? (ie: partitioned into 2 drives (one for my OS and stuff and the d partition for games and data, etc)) And finally, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gec Posted March 23, 2009 Report Share Posted March 23, 2009 .........Also should I keep it set up similarily? (ie: partitioned into 2 drives (one for my OS and stuff and the d partition for games and data, etc)) And finally, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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