Boot Problem, please help!

[PzkfW]

I tried to overclock because I was curious how to do it. I have an ASUS board and used "Overclock 5%". Upon restart, the bios took longer than usual to load. I have GRUB and picked windows/Vista Longhorn loader. The computer worked but it then very slow and locked up. I did manage to get to my computer properties menu and check, it did list it as 2.31 GHZ (instead of 2.2).

I went back into the bios and set the board back to default, no overclock. The bios would not recognise a USB keyboard, but I plugged in a usb one and it worked.

Going back into GRUB, I entered vista/longhorn loader. It went to vista and then to xp (like it usually does) but then it gave me the dreaded "bootmgr" is corrupt message. I tried to boot into debian, it worked, but it didn't let me use my mouse (I am going to find another ps/2 mouse soon).

I have a puppy linux liveCD for this so I manged to get it to the boot menu. It hanged on "loading the kernel".

Finally I went to microsoft's site which told me to load my vista CD and run bootrec.exe.
However once It loaded it instantly BSOD'd with 0x0000009C , "Machine Check Exception".


I have a 550W psu and the stock heatsink on the processor, and I only set it to 5%.
Did I kill my processor? I only set the overclock to 5 percent, yet I've seen people online set theirs to %40 or more.

Should I reset the CMOS or try flashing the BIOS?

Thanks for the help, I am very worried.

[glc]

Full specs, please.

[PzkfW]

Originally Posted by glc Full specs, please.

Motherboard: ASUS P5N SLI
Processor: Dual Core e4500 (2.2 GHZ)
Ram: G.Skill 2GB
Hard drive : Sata 1TB + IDE 320 GB
Video Card: EVGA 9800GTX

[PzkfW]

I can tell you anything you ask.

I am running memtest right now, obviously the computer is under stress but it isn't dying?

[PzkfW]

glc,

I just booted into GPARTED and it listed a problem with the boot NTFS partition.

It reads...


/dev/sda1

Accounting Clusters....

Cluster accounting failed at 11466 (0x2cca): missing cluster in $Bitmap

It then lists 11 other messages of the same thing.

It ends with

Filesystem Check Failed! Totally 12 cluster accounting mismatches.
ERROR: NTFS is inconsistent. Run chdsk /f on Windows then reboot it TWICE!
Unable to read the contents of this file system.


Is that any help?


The other partitions, NTFS and ext3 are not listed as having problems.

[glc]

What brand and model PSU?

You better run hard drive diags - download them from the hard drive mfr.

[PzkfW]

Originally Posted by glc What brand and model PSU? You better run hard drive diags - download them from the hard drive mfr.

The brand is Antec, Neo Power 650 Blue.

I will go to seagate and see what they have to offer.

[glc]

Good PSU.

You want "SeaTools". Get the DOS .iso version and burn the CD, boot with it.

[PzkfW]

Originally Posted by glc What brand and model PSU? You better run hard drive diags - download them from the hard drive mfr.

I meant Western Digital, I have downloaded their diagnostic software and am running its test.

It says that it will take 4 hours to complete so I guess I'll get back to you, thanks for the help.

[glc]

If the drive tests good, then what probably happened is the overclock corrupted the file system. Rescue your data, zero fill the drive, and start over. I have no clue why a 5% OC would do that, unless you have some really shaky hardware.

I never have liked Nvidia chipsets for Intel processors, by the way.

[PzkfW]

Originally Posted by glc If the drive tests good, then what probably happened is the overclock corrupted the file system. Rescue your data, zero fill the drive, and start over. I have no clue why a 5% OC would do that, unless you have some really shaky hardware. I never have liked Nvidia chipsets for Intel processors, by the way.

Alright, the drive tests good according to their diag tool. Obviously part of the filesystem was mucked somehow, gparted reported some of the partitions having no start and end. I confirmed this by disconnecting the sata drive and trying to boot into puppy linux, it worked and I am able to access my ide drive.

Fortunately the very important data was on the ide drive. I can reinstall all the programs/games but there is one problem, one of my partitions on the sata drive has some recent data that I wouldn't exactly like to lose. I set partition 1 for XP, 2 for vista, and 3 for linux, 4 has the data.

Gparted reports this partition as having a start and an end (and having data occupying it) , but any time I connect the drive, even with a live CD (except for gparted) either I get a BSOD or a kernel panic.

I'm going to try to format/resize all of the corrupted partitions out, do you know of any programs that will ignore any corrupted partitions, just in case formatting the bad partitions doesn't work?

Thanks for your help.

[PzkfW]

Gparted either hangs on boot or doesn't recognise the mouse so I can't reformat the drive.
Are there any programs that will ignore the bad partitions and let me access the good ones? Any time I go into a linux distro it either ends up in kernel panic or the mouse doesn't respond.

I'm kind of familar with bash, is there a way to start up the terminal with no gui? Otherwise it looks like I'm going to have to zero out the drive with the WD diag tool.

[glc]

Try removing the drive and connecting it via USB for data recovery.

[PzkfW]

After zero writing the drive and repartitioning it I installed XP again. The computer ran for five hours but then it failed to boot again. Puppy linux ends in kernel panic, Xp fails to boot at all, and GPARTED boots but freezes when it tries to detect partitions.

Seeing as how comparatively the IDE drive has no problems I believe that I have experienced a hard drive failure. I am going to Best Buy tomorrow to pick up another drive.

Do you recommend Seagate or WD?

[glc]

Have you run a memory diagnostic yet? You also need to run hard drive diags again.

If the drive is bad, get warranty service. If you want to buy a drive, I recommend WD Caviar Black. Don't waste your money on a retail drive at Best Buy.

[PzkfW]

Originally Posted by glc Have you run a memory diagnostic yet? You also need to run hard drive diags again. If the drive is bad, get warranty service. If you want to buy a drive, I recommend WD Caviar Black. Don't waste your money on a retail drive at Best Buy.

I ran memtest86+ and it reported no problems with the memory.

Run hard drive diags again? The diagnostic from WD said the drive was ok even when puppy linux and gparted failed to boot with it connected. I am contacting WD to see if they will replace it, but I doubt this since I bought the drive around a year ago.

If Best Buy had a WD Caviar Black, wouldn't that be the same as buying it off of newegg? Best Buy overcharges, I admit, but their drives aren't that much overpriced than newegg.

[glc]

Unless the WD is a bottom of the line model, it should have a 3 year warranty.

BB only carries the 1TB Black.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1213047091732

$100, free shipping at Newegg, $128 plus tax at BB..............................

[PzkfW]

Originally Posted by glc Unless the WD is a bottom of the line model, it should have a 3 year warranty. BB only carries the 1TB Black. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1213047091732 $100, free shipping at Newegg, $128 plus tax at BB..............................

I'd just like to let you know:
After a second drive having it's table killed by windows I took the computer into a local shop. It turns out it was the motherboard.