Is this hard drive dying?

[LuDaCriS66]

Working on a computer for someone. It's an eMachines T5016 with a P4 2.9ghz with a Hitachi 80GB sata drive.

She was complaining things weren't loading.
I checked around and the task manager loaded up in a way that only the Applications window was up but none of the other tabs (ie. Processes) were visible to click on.
I checked the device manager and nothing came up. Just a blank device manager window.
Network and audio adapters were missing or the drivers disappeared.

So I figured, it's probably just virus/malware. I can't download anything and my usb thumbdrive won't load either. I try to bootup in safe mode but it just tries to load endlessly with the hard drive sounding like it's working overdrive but not going anywhere. I reboot the computer and chkdsk tries to run but it gets no farther than step 2 and stays at 0% with the same problem as booting into safe mode.

Then I figure, screw this.. I popping in the XP CD but even that gets to the 12% mark of where it's trying to copy the XP files over and it does the hard drive loading thing again.

I pop in an ultimate boot cd and try several hard drive diagnostic tools and none of them give me any errors.

any ideas? tia

 

[charlie21]

Sounds like memory. Run Memtest86.

 

[LuDaCriS66]

Good call. Thank you. I'm an idiot. I don't know how I didn't even consider the memory.

I've been running memtest for the past 50 minutes or so and it's up to about 235 errors so far.

 

[charlie21]

Nah you're not an idiot, you just overlooked something. Happens to us all. As a rule of thumb, the second I see anything that just doesn't "feel right" I immediately Memtest / Drive Fitness Test the machine. Ideally I'd run those on every box depending on your timeframe.

 

[Hop]

Originally posted by: LuDaCriS66
Good call. Thank you. I'm an idiot. I don't know how I didn't even consider the memory.

I've been running memtest for the past 50 minutes or so and it's up to about 235 errors so far.

You're no idiot, and I'd like to think I'm not either, and I didn't know about memtest86+ until I came back here. I set it up on my 2gb flash drive so I can run it on any system in my house at will. Thank god my new hardware upgrades on our 7 computers has the ability to boot from a USB flash drive. I put other tools on there, including hard drive diagnostics for the various drives we use, and always looking for new diagnostic tools to include on that drive.

And I hope this thread grows a little and people post their favorite diagnostic tools they run from a dos prompt. It's nice to run those to eliminate some things before trying to narrow the issue down to something that might be software related.

Hop

 

[LuDaCriS66]

Now I'm not sure what to think. I popped in a couple of other sticks of RAM I had lying around, and these are coming up with a bunch of errors too.

 

[Hop]

Originally posted by: LuDaCriS66
Now I'm not sure what to think. I popped in a couple of other sticks of RAM I had lying around, and these are coming up with a bunch of errors too.

Just an UN-EXPERT suggestion...

Check your rails on your PSU to see if they are up to snuff, and then the timings and voltages for your memory in the bios.

Hop

EDIT: I had problems with my first C2D build, because the Ballistix Tracer memory I bought runs stock at 2.2v. The bios had it set at 1.8v, which is typical for PC 6400 memory I guess. Once I updated that, and manually set the timings, all my issues vanished.

 

[LuDaCriS66]

Unfortunately, it's an emachines so I can't even get those options in the BIOS

 

[Jiggz]

Try a Repair re-installation of Windows. This should keep your system and programs the same after the installation.

 

[LuDaCriS66]

Originally posted by: Jiggz
Try a Repair re-installation of Windows. This should keep your system and programs the same after the installation.

Thought about that. The repair option isn't even available when I try.

 

[Old Hippie]

I checked around and the task manager loaded up in a way that only the Applications window was up but none of the other tabs (ie. Processes) were visible to click on.
I checked the device manager and nothing came up. Just a blank device manager window.
Network and audio adapters were missing or the drivers disappeared.

I had the exact same symptoms, plus couldn't boot into safe mode.
The OS was so hosed, nothing but a complete new install after zeroing the drive, worked.


I can't remember what I did to cause the problem, but I definately did it right! :laugh:

 

[charlie21]

Well first off, you have to get some RAM modules in there that work. 1 error = fail. You cannot work around a hardware fault. You said you tried some RAM you had "laying around", are these known good modules or random spare parts in a drawer? If they test good in one machine and aren't working in the one you're trying to diagnose then you can rule that out. Assuming of course the memory is compatible with the mobo, as some are pickier than others. I have replaced a disproportionate number of eMachines motherboards relative to the other major OEMs, I wouldn't be surprised if that was the culprit here.

It is entirely possible that the Windows install is just completely FUBAR from running with bad memory and you're going to have to do a fresh install. I'd recommend that over a repair install since the programs and data are probably wrecked too. Pull the drive and get a data backup right now before you do any more work on the machine. Gotta fix the HW before you even bother with the OS.

 

[robmurphy]

I often use a knoppix bootable CD to test a system. I that gets through the initial boot its a sign that the basic hardware is sound. If it does not load, and it has before you know you have a few problems. Sometimes it does not load as its incompatible with the machine's hardware.

I've had similar problems to the OP and it was a dodgy disk. If you can get into the bios make sure you have the full POST running. This will run a basic memory check on power up.

Best bet if you can is remove the hard drive from the machine and mount it in another. That way you can recover any data on the disk. You can then test the drive.

If possible use another machine to test the memory. It may be that some of the memory slots are causing errors, again I've had that.

I've also noticed that both an emachines and an hp machine were really picky about which memory would work in them. That was on S370 machines so may not be the case with the P4.

The other thing to do is remove any cards and USB devices that are not needed. A few times now I've had both types cause problems.

Rob

 

[LuDaCriS66]

The other two sticks of RAM I used were a couple of Mushkin PC3200 sticks that I used in an older system before upgrading. I don't recall having a problem with them before. However, if Memtest says they have errors then I guess they're screwed up too. Is it possible the PSU or mobo are causing the errors on the RAM or are these errors dependent of the RAM?

I've just been reluctant to purchase a couple more sticks of RAM for this computer because, obviously being a P4, I'll need to get DDR and if these come up as a problem too then I'll be out $60 or so because I would have no other use for these.

I'll give these sticks a try in another computer and see what happens.

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: robmurphy
I often use a knoppix bootable CD to test a system. I that gets through the initial boot its a sign that the basic hardware is sound. If it does not load, and it has before you know you have a few problems. Sometimes it does not load as its incompatible with the machine's hardware.

I've had similar problems to the OP and it was a dodgy disk. If you can get into the bios make sure you have the full POST running. This will run a basic memory check on power up.

Best bet if you can is remove the hard drive from the machine and mount it in another. That way you can recover any data on the disk. You can then test the drive.

If possible use another machine to test the memory. It may be that some of the memory slots are causing errors, again I've had that.

I've also noticed that both an emachines and an hp machine were really picky about which memory would work in them. That was on S370 machines so may not be the case with the P4.

The other thing to do is remove any cards and USB devices that are not needed. A few times now I've had both types cause problems.

Rob

:thumbsup:

 

[LuDaCriS66]

Just to update this thread. I was finally able to wipe the drive clean and re-install windows.

The fix? All it took was a swap of the original RAM modules from the one set of RAM slots to the others. Unbelievable. Ran Memtest again and although I didn't run it for the entire test, I didn't get any errors in the short time it was run.

Thanks for everyones help