| I'm stuck... REALLY stuck... [message #250299] |
Sun, 18 March 2007 02:42  |
icedog90
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Registered: April 2003
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General (3 Stars) |
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My 200GB hard drive failed (at least, I think it's my hard drive), to the point where I can't even boot windows anymore. It first began by spontaneous BSODs that had no pattern whatsoever and were impossible to predict. Now I get a blue screen of death before Windows even finishes booting. So I tried installing windows XP on my old 80GB and it would just randomly freeze while copying the system files. It almost never went past drivers.cab and never made it over 80%. The CD-ROM would also stop spinning when the copying halted. At first I thought it was the CD, so I tried burning a new CD from the same image (yes, it is legit), and it still did the same thing. Then I tried isolating the problem by installing Windows on the same hard drive with the same CD-ROM, but in a different computer. It copied the system files fine, but it never made it to the actual Windows installation because it kept trying to boot from the CD... even though I made the hard disk the first boot device. I'm pretty sure that this is some random issue with the bios, but it still makes things iffy. I'm quite certain it's my processor though. I've heard [true] stories about Windows XP never being able to copy the files all the way because of a faulty processor. You'd think that once a processor is faulty, it just won't post, but that isn't necessarily true, even in my own experiences.
So, assuming it's my processor, I could get a new motherboard and processor to hold me out until the summer, when I would just build a whole new computer. Well, there is still a big problem. My processor is an Athlon XP, which makes my motherboard socket A. Socket A is completely wiped out, so I would have to get an Athlon 64. But, I still have an AGP video card and standard DDR, and it's almost impossible to find a 754 or 939 motherboard that supports AGP and DDR400 these days. So, this is where I'm REALLY stuck. I totally cannot afford new memory (DDR2) and a new video card (PCI Express).
Can anyone give me ANY advice at all?
Thanks.
edit: The first paragraph is lacking a lot of information because I already did endless hours of troubleshooting and have mostly figured out the issue. It's the second paragraph that is asking for advice. You can still suggest something for my computer's issue, but I just wanted to make what I was asking for clearer.
[Updated on: Sun, 18 March 2007 03:26] Report message to a moderator |
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| Re: I'm stuck... REALLY stuck... [message #250300 is a reply to message #250299] |
Sun, 18 March 2007 03:04  |
JPNOD
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Registered: April 2004
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Colonel |
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To much to read didn't get to much usefull info out of it.
Did you test your memmory? (Memtet86)
Did you test your hard disk? ( Seatools, WDDiag, ecta..
I doubt its the CPU, unless you had it overclocked or something.. usually a CPU works, or it doesnt work at all.
WOL nick: JPNOD
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| Re: I'm stuck... REALLY stuck... [message #250303 is a reply to message #250299] |
Sun, 18 March 2007 03:16 |
icedog90
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Registered: April 2003
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General (3 Stars) |
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If I gave more information it would have been too long. The whole story is even longer than that and I had to cram it a lot. I did a full hard disk scan with Ontrack and it found a few bad sectors. Also, I already just said that in this circumstance the processor can be the issue. I've had similar experiences and I've also heard this exact issue before. It is not overclocked. The temperature is perfectly normal.
The second paragraph is the one that really matters. The top one doesn't explain much because I've already spent days troubleshooting as much as possible. Meaning I already have it mostly figured out.
If you still need more information or if this is still confusing, it's probably because it's 3:30 AM and I'm really tired... I'll post in the morning/noon and I bet I'll end up finding out how horribly typed out this is.
[Updated on: Sun, 18 March 2007 03:34] Report message to a moderator |
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| Re: I'm stuck... REALLY stuck... [message #250343 is a reply to message #250312] |
Sun, 18 March 2007 07:56 |
JPNOD
Messages: 807
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| Ghostshaw wrote on Sun, 18 March 2007 07:13 |
Yeah Blazers is prolly right. A proc works or it doesn't, there is no such thing as a broken processor.
-Ghost-
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Do you even read?
Since your HDD is broke ( Bad sectors ) its game over.Later on See if you still have warranty on that disk.
And as I stated in my first post test your mem.
If you have the abbility over a other PC you could try it there, I really doubt it's the CPU.
Also on another note since it's a SocketA mobo, did you check the Condensators?
Make sure you make the PC only with the required components to make it boot.
WOL nick: JPNOD
[Updated on: Sun, 18 March 2007 07:58] Report message to a moderator |
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| Re: I'm stuck... REALLY stuck... [message #250362 is a reply to message #250299] |
Sun, 18 March 2007 10:48 |
icedog90
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Registered: April 2003
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Thanks everyone for the responses. I'll run memtest86 and see what I get. My HDD is IDE and so is my CD-ROM, but they're both on their own cables. The reason I concluded that the blue screens were caused by my hard drive is because I just recently dealt with a friend's computer that wouldn't boot into Windows because of bad sectors. It didn't go to the blue screen of death, it just said disk boot failure. So I told him he needed a new hard drive, he bought one, I installed Windows, everything was fine.
So anyways, I'll do that memtest. I could be totally wrong about my 200GB hard drive though.
| light wrote on Sun, 18 March 2007 03:45 |
Second hand Althlon XP processor seems like your easiest option to me. I'm sure you can find one.
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Well, I did a bit of searching, and resellers that do actually still sell them are selling them for $100-$200, which is totally ridiculous. So, I checked ebay, and they are reasonably priced, but they're all used. I'm not sure if that would be alright.
http://cgi.ebay.com/AMD-ATHLON-XP-2600-Barton-Processor-FREE-SHIPPING_W0QQitemZ1 60096474054QQcategoryZ44935QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
[Updated on: Sun, 18 March 2007 11:01] Report message to a moderator |
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| Re: I'm stuck... REALLY stuck... [message #250380 is a reply to message #250357] |
Sun, 18 March 2007 12:53 |
JPNOD
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| Ghostshaw wrote on Sun, 18 March 2007 11:30 |
A few bad sectors don't break your HDD, and besides that, if it was a HDD problem you would get a proper boot error.
-Ghost-
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A few bad sectors give alot of errors even making Windows not boot or not being to able copy files and so on. Bad sectors can be repaired but are usally back after the repair. A faulty HDD does not always give a S.M.A.R.T error. ( especialy if S.M.A.R.T is not enabled in the BIOS. The only way to find out if the HDD is really broke is by checking it with the manufactures tool.
WOL nick: JPNOD
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| Re: I'm stuck... REALLY stuck... [message #250396 is a reply to message #250299] |
Sun, 18 March 2007 14:08 |
icedog90
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Registered: April 2003
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General (3 Stars) |
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I have SpinRite on a floppy disk, but the scan LITERALLY takes 60 hours. It's supposed to be able to continue where it left off, but I tried that and it just started all over again. If I could do that scan, then I would know for certain if my hard drive is failing or not. Memtest86 is still going, it's on pass 5 and so far zero errors. Anybody know how many passes it does?
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| Re: I'm stuck... REALLY stuck... [message #250464 is a reply to message #250396] |
Mon, 19 March 2007 01:54 |
JPNOD
Messages: 807
Registered: April 2004
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Colonel |
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| icedog90 wrote on Sun, 18 March 2007 16:08 |
I have SpinRite on a floppy disk, but the scan LITERALLY takes 60 hours. It's supposed to be able to continue where it left off, but I tried that and it just started all over again. If I could do that scan, then I would know for certain if my hard drive is failing or not. Memtest86 is still going, it's on pass 5 and so far zero errors. Anybody know how many passes it does?
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We usually do 2/3 passes gauranteed most known errors will come out. 5 Should be enough.
What brand hard disk(s) do you have that seem to be broke?
If the memmory is fine then the only thing left is mobo and cpu, assumin you replaced the hdd.
WOL nick: JPNOD
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| Re: I'm stuck... REALLY stuck... [message #250520 is a reply to message #250299] |
Mon, 19 March 2007 11:24 |
icedog90
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Registered: April 2003
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Okay, well, something I forgot to mention is that if I leave my computer off for a day or two, it will boot into windows just fine again. It will eventually start BSODing a lot though. Right now I'm on my computer, but that doesn't mean the problem is solved.
I'm starting to think it can't be the processor, because I even played four games of Supreme Commander with my friend yesterday (all of which I won), and it was fine. It seems to BSOD when I access files or visit certain websites. Only once did it do the blue screen of death in a game, which was Garry's Mod. If my processor is partially damaged, then I wouldn't be able to play games like these that take immense processing power. The memory test reported no errors, and I did 7 passes plus the 90 minute test.
My friend (the same one I played SupCom with) suggested that it could be my power supply... I don't know why I didn't think of that before. I remember that I swapped my older PSU with this one only like two months ago because mine had a really noisy fan. The next time I start getting a ton of BSODs again, I'll swap the power supplies and see if windows boots normally.
[Updated on: Mon, 19 March 2007 11:27] Report message to a moderator |
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| Re: I'm stuck... REALLY stuck... [message #250613 is a reply to message #250299] |
Mon, 19 March 2007 17:41 |
icedog90
Messages: 3483
Registered: April 2003
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General (3 Stars) |
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Yeah, it would be easier, but I don't have the money. I have a job, but money still doesn't grow on trees. I've already estimated that I'll have the money by this summer. I am also saving for a trip to Germany, so it's kind of rough. Also, I would like this computer to continue to work because my sister really needs a working one. Her computer died from a really bad power surge we had a few months back, I feel sorry for her.
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| Re: I'm stuck... REALLY stuck... [message #250776 is a reply to message #250299] |
Tue, 20 March 2007 15:08 |
icedog90
Messages: 3483
Registered: April 2003
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General (3 Stars) |
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I used to use an iCute one that came with my case, which is also an iCute. It is 350 watts and the +12 volt rail is at 15 amps. The one I'm using now is also 350 watts, but the +12V rail is at 16 amps. I know that it used to belong to a computer that totally died from a bad power surge we had, but I used a power supply tester and all the rails were good. Maybe I should test it again... but strangely enough, I haven't gotten one BSOD for nearly three days.
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| Re: I'm stuck... REALLY stuck... [message #252763 is a reply to message #250299] |
Tue, 03 April 2007 23:16 |
icedog90
Messages: 3483
Registered: April 2003
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General (3 Stars) |
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Okay, well, this doesn't make any sense at all, but my problems completely disappeared. I really don't know what that was all about, and I don't think I want to know. I just hope they don't come back.
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