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Asheera
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Elite Assassin
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posted November 27, 2008 04:29 AM |
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PC Problems
I decided to make this thread since I have a problem now, but I hope other people will use it with their own problems when they have.
I got a big problem. My PC doesn't want to work anymore  (I'm using my crappy laptop now)
Just as I was surfing HC and loading a new page, the whole system froze completely (not even the mouse cursor could be moved). The LED that indicates activity of the Hard Drive was ON permanently all this time.
After waiting for around a minute I gave up, I knew it was a permanent freeze and I pressed the PC's Reset button.
Then, when it started to load Windows (with that Logo and the loading bar), some half-way through loading the OS, there appeared a Blue Screen with a lot of text written on it, but I couldn't read because it immediately restarted the computer again. This happens ALL the time - I can't seem to get into Windows anymore, not even in Safe Mode  (doesn't work either)
However, I have 2 Hard Drives, so I decided to boot from the other one. I entered the Bios and modified the boot priorities. For the second Hard Disk, it loaded the Windows, but instead of starting the "Welcome" screen, it was a black screen for a long period of time (like 20 seconds) - the LED was ON this time - and then a blue screen appeared, with one line of text - but it didn't restart at all for this one like for the other HDD. The text said something like: "Unknown Hard Error"
I don't know what this could be. I was first thinking of a virus but I think it's unlikely since both my hard disks don't work (unless the damn virus managed to corrupt both and delete some Windows files or something... or it doesn't have these 'symptoms' if it was a virus?)
Then I was thinking of a Hard Disk malfunction, but it's unlikely as well, because BOTH don't work and it's pretty unlikely that both got this malfunction at the same time.
So I think it's something else, like the Motherboard/RAM/Power Source.
The weirdest part for me is that the two HDDs get different problems. Why? I'm clueless.
Can anyone help me?
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william
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
LummoxLewis
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posted November 27, 2008 04:35 AM |
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If you have the right connections, try connecting the hard drive to another computer and seeing if it crashes on there.
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~Ticking away the moments that
make up a dull day, Fritter and
waste the hours in an off-hand
way~
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Nikita
Famous Hero
Meepo is underrated
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posted November 27, 2008 04:53 AM |
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Edited by Nikita at 04:56, 27 Nov 2008.
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Quote:
Unknown Hard error
make sure u have the right harddrive for motherboard or u have placed it completely in.
For others,i have laptop with overheating video card,my mario game is slowing down .Whenver my comp gets to 105-110C,it shuts down and i get the blue screen then it reappers again and restart my comp.When i was using Vista it didnt even tell me then i had overheating video card and just in few secs after i turned my computer on,it made it run slower to overcome the heating probelms.So basically what it is,is that u have a broken component,or smth with windows?try reinstalling it.
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william
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
LummoxLewis
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posted November 27, 2008 05:07 AM |
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Edited by william at 05:09, 27 Nov 2008.
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Quote:
make sure u have the right harddrive for motherboard or u have placed it completely in.
If the Hard Drives were working perfectly before then I don't think it is a problem with the hard drive being incorrect for the particular motherboard. Plus, it's hard to get it wrong anyway. You have a variety of connections for the Hard Drive such as IDE/ATA, SATA, SATA II, SCSI etc. It could be a case where the connection may have malfunctioned, such as a cable coming lose or perhaps an internal component of the Hard drive might be the reason.
If Asheera has the necessary components, then she could connect the Hard Drive to a computer that works (maybe externally would be a good choice) and then try to run a virus scan to see if a virus might be the cause of the problems that she has been having. I am quite confident though that since your first hard drive malfunctioned and then you tried the other one and that too malfunctioned, that either:
- You have some corrupt files
- Something has gone wrong with the connections
- Hard drives Failing
- Motherboard may have something wrong with it.
Quote:
For others,i have laptop with overheating video card,my mario game is slowing down,whenver it gets to 105-110C,my comp shuts it down and i get the blue screen then it reappers again and restart my comp.When i was using Vista it didnt even tell me then i had overheating video card and just in few secs after i turned my computer on,it made it run slower to overcome the heating probelms.So basically what it is,is that u have a broken component,or smth with windows?try reinstalling it.
There's not much you can really do since Laptops are kinda hard to get really good cooling with. Towers are good because they are big and have plenty of room for the air to move around in and then go out of the computer, but since Laptops are small, they usually don't have the capabilities of having sufficient cooling, and that is why they tend to get hot rather fast.
I have heard many problems in regards to computers overheating and the user is usually using vista. I don't hear much about computers overheating with other Operating Systems (with computers that are made properly), so it might just be a case of the Operating System. Vista uses a higher amount of resources than other Operating Systems, and one of the things it uses a lot of is the Graphics. As many of you know, the graphics card requirement of Vista is a lot higher than those of the older Operating systems, and because of this, it is going to use more resources which will put more strain on the hardware aspects of the computer. when you are using more graphics resources, then the video card is being used more and it will get hotter much more quickly than if you just browsed a website.
My suggestion to you is to perhaps try and install an older version of Windows (or another OS) or perhaps take the laptop in for repairs.
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~Ticking away the moments that
make up a dull day, Fritter and
waste the hours in an off-hand
way~
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Nikita
Famous Hero
Meepo is underrated
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posted November 27, 2008 05:21 AM |
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I know how laptops are,i bought it since i could take it whereever i can.For 2nd part,Windows Vista(primium and up) uses Aero which uses some part of video card and keeps it running all the time.It also takes up up to 1 gb of memory just to run basic programs,has many bugs....So i changed it to XP pro,but i have chatted at 1 forum,ppl who have same laptop i do,never heard a problem about this or any other.I think it was my fault at making the games run at highest and playing all day long.(and changing the basic job of video card to higher)
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Asheera
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Elite Assassin
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posted November 27, 2008 05:32 AM |
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Edited by Asheera at 05:33, 27 Nov 2008.
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Quote:
- You have some corrupt files
- Something has gone wrong with the connections
- Hard drives Failing
- Motherboard may have something wrong with it.
About the corrupt files I'm not sure, because both HDDs fail. A virus could affect both but for me it sounds unlikely. Of course, I could be wrong though.
As for the connections, I'll try to re-connect them, maybe it works.
The Hard Drives failing is also pretty doubtful in my opinion, since they both don't work. I could be wrong again and they could really have 'broken' at the same time though.
Oh and I'm not that fond of reinstalling Windows, since that way I'll have to reinstall all my apps. And what I hate the most is that I'll have to re-configure everything, from Windows to other programs. So if it works without reinstalling the OS it would be great. 
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william
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
LummoxLewis
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posted November 27, 2008 05:38 AM |
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Quote:
Oh and I'm not that fond of reinstalling Windows, since that way I'll have to reinstall all my apps. And what I hate the most is that I'll have to re-configure everything, from Windows to other programs. So if it works without reinstalling the OS it would be great.
Not necessarily. the other day I installed XP on my sisters machine over the top of windows 2000. The install didn't go so well, although it still launched into Win XP, many things were missing (the programs were still there though). So I installed it again and this time the install worked completely and the programs were still there. If you can connect the hard drive to another computer then you could run a virus scan (you might be doubtful but it could still have happened) to see if anything is wrong on there.
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~Ticking away the moments that
make up a dull day, Fritter and
waste the hours in an off-hand
way~
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Nikita
Famous Hero
Meepo is underrated
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posted November 27, 2008 06:21 AM |
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Well that happ to me too 1 time,whenever i tried reinstalling Vista.I had messed up my windows files so i had to reinstall it and i inserted disc and started off,the worst thing is that i havent deleted all the files on my comp and just reinstalled it.Whever i logged in i had half of the things running on my comp and 2 windows vistas on the C(at least 2 is better then 1)so i had 2 incomplete windowses on same disc.
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mvassilev
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
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posted November 27, 2008 06:49 AM |
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I'm also having trouble with my computer. This old laptop (it's 5 years old, I think), works fine most of the time, except it overheats very easily, and just freezes once in a while. Rarely, it just shuts off.
Another problem with it is I have Switch It! set to where I can switch between typing in Latin and Cyrillic letters, but occasionally it switches by itself, and just for one letter. Then it immediately switches back.
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Eccentric Opinion
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dimis
Responsible
Supreme Hero
Digitally signed by FoG
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posted November 27, 2008 07:51 AM |
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just out of curiosity ... is it a toshiba?
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The empty set
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Asheera
Honorable
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Elite Assassin
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posted November 27, 2008 07:53 AM |
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Ok this is getting really weird
I decided to try again. The first Hard Disk got the same old stuff - halfway in loading Windows, it goes to a blue screen with lots of text and restarts immediately. However, I also tried the second hard disk, and guess what? It worked!
I don't know what to think anymore. Was it just a coincidence and a small bug that it didn't work before? Or is my whole system screwed up in a way?
Anyway, now it gets interesting. With the second Hard Disk I was able to see the other one as well. I could enter drives H and I (which would correspond to D and E when the other HDD boots) perfectly, but not G (which would correspond to C), where the Windows is installed. Somehow that partition got corrupted and that's why it couldn't load Windows anymore.
Then, I restarted the system, and Windows (from the second HDD) noticed that it's something wrong with that partition (G), and made a 'check for errors' operation (on that blue screen). It said something like "Removing Indexes from File $0" and then "Adding Indexes to File $0"... after that, the results have shown 4 bad sectors and I couldn't see other infos because it went further with loading Windows.
After that I restarted and changed the HDD boot order to load the other disk and... most surprisingly it worked.
I'm kind of tired now though and I'll go get some rest, so I shut it down without enjoying the 'fix'. Maybe now it doesn't work anymore.
So, what could it be? To be honest, I much preferred the Motherboard being faulty than this, because this either means the Hard Drive had a malfunction or I got a nasty Virus. The Motherboard would have been easily replaced (and I should get a new one soon anyway, the one I have now is pretty old), but the Virus just scares me (I don't know from where I got it, nor if it's still there lurking for the perfect moment to strike again), and the Hard Drive being faulty is even worse (for me). Damn, I hate replacing Hard Drives since I have to reinstall everything because of the damn registry which gets reset after reinstalling the OS (and the registry is only modified when installing an app).
Now, I don't know if it's a Virus or a HDD malfunction. Both of them have some good arguments as to why they are and both have something kinda... silly IMO
1) Virus:
- because the Windows partition being 'corrupt' looks somewhat like a diabolical precise calculated target, rather than just being a random error.
- the '4 bad sectors' stuff is kinda unlikely for a Virus. I think that comes usually from a physical error on the disk, no?
2) HDD Malfunction
- because it said '4 bad sectors'
- the fact that the error got fixed with Windows seems somewhat fishy... I mean, it's kinda unlikely to have a disk error exactly at that spot (and not somewhere else); of course there is a possibility for this but for me it sounds fishy.
And the most weird thing for me is that the second Hard Drive didn't work two times (yes, I tried it twice) before, but now it worked and I restarted the comp multiple times when booting from that one. I'm so confused.
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Shares
Supreme Hero
I am. Thusly I am.
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posted November 27, 2008 08:48 AM |
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Do you have two harddrives or one partioned disk? If it's the latter it is quite easy for a virus to spread through the partions, but if there's several bad sectors on the disk it's most likely that it's a harddrive crash. If it's one HDD it's quite likely that both parts will crash at the same time, then you could try to split several times to find a good sector to install windows at, this might enable you to save some files or settings.
This is likely to happen sooner or later to all HDDs, this is most likely if it's a partioned HDD (since they both died at the same time) and if they are old, which is possible since you had an old motherboard.
If your going to buy a new motherboard; you should be careful, it's easily done that you buy a motherboard that isn't compatible with all your hardware. That may force you to buy a new HDD, Memory/ies, processor, soundcard... well pretty much from no components to a new computer. Especially since you mentioned that it was quite old.
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angelito
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
proud father of a princess
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posted November 27, 2008 09:55 AM |
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Edited by angelito at 09:57, 27 Nov 2008.
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Quote:
2) HDD Malfunction
- because it said '4 bad sectors'
- the fact that the error got fixed with Windows seems somewhat fishy... I mean, it's kinda unlikely to have a disk error exactly at that spot (and not somewhere else); of course there is a possibility for this but for me it sounds fishy.
Do not underestimate your OS! It's not that big of a surprise Windows detects bad sectors on your hardrive and puts files which were placed there (and needed for windows to load properly) have been moved to a different part of your HD.
Have you ever used "defrag"? If not, start this programm and let windows bring your whole harddrive (all particions) in a new order again. This program will mark thos "bad sectors" as corrupt and won't write any new files there again.
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Better judged by 12 than carried by 6.
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doomnezeu
Supreme Hero
Miaumiaumiau
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posted November 27, 2008 10:02 AM |
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The blue screen with tons of text is most likely a RAM error.
MOST LIKELY, there are also other errors that go with it.
I say try reinstalling your OS, if windows does not work, try with a bootable Crapnux (linux lol) CD and see if it detects your hards fully.
EDIT: DON'T, in the name of all that is holly, use Ubuntu, especially if you are a linux noob, you will have issues detecting your SATA drives.
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william
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
LummoxLewis
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posted November 27, 2008 10:04 AM |
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Crapnux? There are many ways that Linux is a much better Operating System than Windows is. 
and Angelito, A defrag won't work. That only moves files around in order to make them easier to access. It doesn't really fix anything. All it does is improve speed in accessing files and in how fast things load. 
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~Ticking away the moments that
make up a dull day, Fritter and
waste the hours in an off-hand
way~
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angelito
Honorable
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proud father of a princess
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posted November 27, 2008 10:55 AM |
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I didn't say it fixes anything, but when it puts files together, it will leave out those corrupted sectors because they are marked by windowsd already. Especially all files needed for starting the OS will be put together again and chances are good it will start again properly.
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Better judged by 12 than carried by 6.
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del_diablo
Legendary Hero
Manifest
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posted November 27, 2008 12:07 PM |
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Here is what to do:
1. Find the CD for the OS
2. Boot it
3. Find the restore/fix options
4. Find commandline aka DOS
5. Hit chkdsk /r after entering it
If this does not fix it, its likely a fault on the PC. If it refuses to start the chkdsk /r, then your screwd over unless you got multiple CDs for the OS(its a difference on how much they are able to do, i got 2 XP CDs over here and only 1 of them detects enogh of the drive to run chkdsk).
Or when you really get tired, get and install Fedora, Debian, Ubuntu or Mint i guess.
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JoonasTo
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
What if Elvin was female?
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posted November 27, 2008 01:17 PM |
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Edited by JoonasTo at 13:24, 27 Nov 2008.
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@ASH:
Enable S.M.A.R.T. from bios to your HDs if not set already. Now it will get status from your HDs at PC startup.
You can start windows now, correct?
Set windows scanning your HD for errors and use full scan and repair errors. It will ask you to restart the PC in order to do so. This should tell you if it's your HD that's faulty and attempt to repair the errors.
If you can't get into windows do as del_diablo wrote.
Start the system by using a CD and go to repair. Then write "chkdsk /f /r" and let it's do it work. It might require restart. After that is done try the "fixboot" command. It attempts to repair damaged bootsector.
@Nikita:
You could try putting the laptop on something cold or something which allows air to get around it freely.
Also enable the energy saving options.
Then you could try underclocking your graphics card.
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Asheera
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Elite Assassin
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posted November 27, 2008 04:31 PM |
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Thanks everyone for the tips
I'm now scanning the Hard Drives using the chkdsk Windows function (scan for errors and attempt to repair bad sectors), maybe it will help.
But it takes a LOT - definitely more than I thought.
And I also plan to defragment and then scan for viruses after this using some online scanner since I don't have any Antivirus installed (I do have a Firewall though)
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mvassilev
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
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posted November 27, 2008 04:39 PM |
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Joonas:
By "Nikita", you mean "Mvass", right?
And I've already done the first two, and I have an integrated graphics card, so I can't really do the third, can I?
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Eccentric Opinion
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