HD or MoBo issue.

[SoldierOfTheCross]

I started up my computer one day and it froze up at the Windows XP Splash screen so I hit the reset button and it did the same thing so I let it go and about a minute later it finihsed booting up. After a few more incidents I noticed that while it was freezing up the HD LED was out and as soon as it started to go again it would start flashing. Now, I reformatted the HD to see if it was a possible software issue but now whenever I click on icons, right click on anything or try and open programs I get the hour glass on my mouse and can't open anything for 60 seconds. I can move the mouse and even click the start button and the menu will come up but I can't open anything. When it's "frozen" like that the HD LED goes out also. I was thinking this was a HD problem since it was a relatively cheap HD but maybe it could be the Motherboard instead? I've checked to make sure all cables are plugged in securely and it's not running hot at all, never over 41C even when gaming.

System Specs:

COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-WW Black/Silver Aluminum Bezel, SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego 2.2GHz Socket 939 Processor Model ADA3700BNBOX - Retail
Microsoft Windows XP Home Sp2b 1pk - OEM
ASUS A8N-E Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
EVGA 256-P2-N615-TX GeForce 7600GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model VS1GBKIT400 - Retail
Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 ST380811AS 80GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
LITE-ON 18X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write Black IDE Model LH-18A1P-186 - Retail

[Alaron]

Give SeaTools a run to see if the drive is dying: http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/sup...oads/seatools/ Luckily, if it is, it should still be under warranty.

[Cricket]

It sounds like your hard drive is developing bad clusters. Do the full test with SeaTools and see if the surface scans brings up anything.

Cricket

[SoldierOfTheCross]

SeaTools, I assume I'd get that from the Seagate website?

I'll try it out when I get home and let you know what I come up with. Thanks for the replies.

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by SoldierOfTheCross SeaTools, I assume I'd get that from the Seagate website?

Alaron provided a direct link to the SeaTools web page in his post.

Cricket

[SoldierOfTheCross]

Score 1 for being a moron. Thanks.

[SoldierOfTheCross]

Okay, I downloaded and ran SeaTools and here are my results:

Short Drive Self Test: FAIL
Long Drive Self Test: FAIL
Short Generic: PASS
Long Generic: PASS

I ran each test 2 or more times just to be sure and came up with the same results each time. I'm not sure if I did something wrong when doing the Self Tests or not, I checked the box and started it.

[LeftyAce]

Sounds like a dead drive. Do you have another computer that you can put the drive into as a slave, to copy your data off? Then you can contact Seagate about replacing the drive.

[SoldierOfTheCross]

It can't be dead if I'm still using it. Right? See, I'm still a noob when it comes to most of this stuff. I do have another computer but the HD is only a 40G and all my stuff wont fit. I could just back it up onto disk, there's not a whole lot of important stuff on here since I reformatted only a month and a half ago.

If you're all pretty sure it's the HD then I'll RMA it.

[minsonngo]

You can try "Zeroing" the hard drive with the Seatools utility you downloaded. This will wipe out everything on the HDD... then you can repartition... reformat... and reinstall the OS and see if your issues go away.

If not... you probably need to RMA the defective drive.

[Panama Red]

If the drive fails the tests, I wouldn't trust it. Just contact Seagate for a warranty replacement. That model should be covered under a 5 yr warranty. The more you keep using it, the more likely you are to experience a complete failure. Save any vital files NOW by slaving your hdd to another pc and copy what you can't afford to lose.

[SoldierOfTheCross]

I sent in an RMA app to newegg so as soon as that comes in I'll send in my hard drive for repair.

I've been thinking of upgrading to a larger hard drive anyway so what do you guys think of this one? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136074
I'll keep the repaired one for a backup.

[Alaron]

That looks good.

[SoldierOfTheCross]

Wasn't the Hard Drive. I just installed my new HD and and everything was working fine for the first day then today it started doing it again. It can't be the HD if it's the same problem can it?

[minsonngo]

Try another IDE or SATA cable.

Try leaving in only one stick of memory at a time. You can download memtest from memtest.org and run a diagnostic on the memory modules.

Do you have the newest drivers for the motherboard installed?


What is the brand and model of the PSU you have installed? Could be a faulty PSU.

[LeftyAce]

Can you try a different harddrive cable? If that doesn't solve it, other possibilities need to be explored :-)

edit: Oops, beaten to it.

[flanzig1]

Would run Memtest on the ram.
What brand of PSU you have? A bad or cheap PSU could be putting out dirty power which can affect any and all parts of a PC.
Try a different data cable to the HD.

EDIT: got double beaten to the post

[SoldierOfTheCross]

I used a different SATA cable for the HD.

Motherboard Drivers are up to date.

PSU is el cheapo. ULTRA V Series 500W. I wasn't thinking PSU problem but I guess it could be.

[minsonngo]

Yep... a faulty PSU can cause problems like what you are having.


Ultra PSUs are not recommended usually either. I would try another PSU and see if your issue goes away.

[LeftyAce]

List of recommended PSU Manufacturers: http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=131195

[SoldierOfTheCross]

Will do. Thanks guys. I'll update you when I get a new one installed.

Do you have any suggestions? I looked over the list in the link Lefty posted but there are so many out there I dunno which to get.

[LeftyAce]

Antec, Fortron (aka FSP), Sparkle, Corsair. Any of those brands on the list are fine, so pick one that's in stock near you, or order based on price on newegg.

[minsonngo]

Here are some good choices:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139001

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371007

[SoldierOfTheCross]

How about this?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817104934

I don't really want to spend over $100 unless it's absolutely necessary. The second one on your list looks good though.

[minsonngo]

The FSP one you picked out is good.

[SoldierOfTheCross]

I went with the second link in your post minsonngo. Unfortunately, the PSU was not the problem. The only other thing of significance would be the Motherboard I guess. CPU's don't die slowly do they? I'm getting really frustrated with it now.

[whubbard]

Well,
If the PSU is good
RAM is good
HDD is good

It seems like the Mobo would be the next in line.
Just before you go trough the hassle with the mobo i would 're-build' the system making sure you do everything just right. Maybe the mobo is shorting (but this doesn't sound like your problem).

Just put the bare components in, make sure the standoff are right, make sure the CPU is in correctly, and the Heatsink and Thermal Paste are on correctly. If the system still fails after the careful re-build, ...new mobo.


oh and by the way...it could have been the hard drive. Especially if you've got the same luck I do. (I've had 3!!!! bad raptors, but now I've got my 2 that work great)
Did you run the seatools on your new drive? hey...you can get a DOA drive.

[SoldierOfTheCross]

whubbard, I went with a Western Digital HDD instead of Seagate this time.

I can't see how I could have put it together wrong, it's worked without any problems for 5-6 months. I'll check the memory before I buy a new Mobo. I just take all but one out and run my computer with just one stick then take that one out and put another one in etc. and see if the problem persists right?

[whubbard]

Yes...well actually run Memtest86+ wil one stick in, then the other, then both.


(also you could have gotten one bad WD and one bad seagate...bad luck happens to the best of us )

[SoldierOfTheCross]

I'm not familiar with Memtest86+. I just googled it and looked through the site and from what I can gather I download an ISO file and put it on disc? There's not much info on the site.

Right now I'm not having the problem, everything is working fine...