is my hard drive dying?!

closed

do it from windows again, see if the errors have gone

if the problem is still there, you could do it from a boot disc

could you elaborate, exactly which programs don't run, and exact symptoms for each?

merlin1

nope still there - all 5 of them....

ok,

if i go to control panel and click on change startup programs i get that clangy noise and a message saying c:\ could not be found. check the name and try again. (it really looks and sounds like a win98 error!)

the chkdsk probs are listed as before

if i try system restore it either doesnt load or it takes forever, when/if it does finally load and i choose a restore point it says windows has detected file system corruption on vistaOS (c: ) you must check the disk for errors before the system can be restored.

on reboot i sometimes get a pop up from the task bar telling me that a certain program is corrupted - but it hasnt started that caper yet!

Edit to get rid of a rogue smiley and to let you know i will be signing off for now, will check in first thing, thanks again for your help and input )

Hammyman

I would also test the RAM with Memtest. Windows caches hard drive reads and writes in memory and if they get corrupted, it'll write all kinds of random stuff to the HDD which Windows then interprets as an error.

paddyrg

I would be cautious that you have something deep deep that Malwarebytes didn't find. People put a lot of faith in AV products, yet I know a (academic) security research virus writer who has demonstrated to me how he tweaks and recompiles his work until none of the major engines recognise it either by pattern or heuristics. If he is doing that in a lab, you can bet it is being done for profit in the wild.

I would strongly suggest a flatten and rebuild of Windows. If you still have problems, blame a hardware fault, otherwise you will never know for sure if you are clean - it's like a cheating girlfriend, you lose the trust and things can never be quite the same again between you.

merlin1

Hammyman wrote: »

I would also test the RAM with Memtest. Windows caches hard drive reads and writes in memory and if they get corrupted, it'll write all kinds of random stuff to the HDD which Windows then interprets as an error.

thanks hammyman, memory test done - all is fine there....

paddyrg wrote: »

I would be cautious that you have something deep deep that Malwarebytes didn't find. People put a lot of faith in AV products, yet I know a (academic) security research virus writer who has demonstrated to me how he tweaks and recompiles his work until none of the major engines recognise it either by pattern or heuristics. If he is doing that in a lab, you can bet it is being done for profit in the wild.

I would strongly suggest a flatten and rebuild of Windows. If you still have problems, blame a hardware fault, otherwise you will never know for sure if you are clean - it's like a cheating girlfriend, you lose the trust and things can never be quite the same again between you.

thanks paddyrg, that is exactly how i feel about my laptop now - recover to factory settings too many times and it it still lets me down! what is a " flatten and rebuild"?

i wondered whether installing another operating system might help to decifer if its a software or hardware issue? if its a hardware issue the problem should rear its ugly head regardless of what OS is running?

OneADay

merlin1 wrote: »

thanks hammyman, memory test done - all is fine there....



thanks paddyrg, that is exactly how i feel about my laptop now - recover to factory settings too many times and it it still lets me down! what is a " flatten and rebuild"?

i wondered whether installing another operating system might help to decifer if its a software or hardware issue? if its a hardware issue the problem should rear its ugly head regardless of what OS is running?

If you can get a live linux cd and boot from that, the disk utility in linux can tell you if the hard disk is failing or not (disk has to have SMART capability though).

If its making clanging noises - probably a very good idea to get a new one even if you think you can fix it now.

And if a disk is dying, doing more scans like chkdsk, malwarebytes can quicken the pace of destruction.

Hammyman

TBH, hard drives are so cheap its not worth messing about.

Pikeyp

If you can get it out , jot down the part number and check on the manufacturers web-site support pages .. you'll hopefully find it's still under warranty! If it is send it back to them and get a replacement!

A friend of mine had similar problems with her lappie (Dell Inspiron 1525) ... the hard drive was a Samsung with a 3 year warranty .. still with a few months to go!

Of course if you go down that route you will need an operating system to install on the new one .. still it's an option worth considering.

merlin1

OneADay wrote: »

If you can get a live linux cd and boot from that, the disk utility in linux can tell you if the hard disk is failing or not (disk has to have SMART capability though).

If its making clanging noises - probably a very good idea to get a new one even if you think you can fix it now.

And if a disk is dying, doing more scans like chkdsk, malwarebytes can quicken the pace of destruction.

i have found a link to ubuntu - its creates a disc to try the OS, will that have the linux disk utility on it? i must say i quite like the look of debian...

it's not physically clanging, its just the error warning when the box pops up, i've turned off the sound now so it annoys me no more!:rotfl:

Hammyman wrote: »

TBH, hard drives are so cheap its not worth messing about.

very true hammyman! this is why i'm leaning towards a change in operating system to test the theory, i mean, if i'm going to end up buying a new hard drive anyway...

will i lose my f9 factory recovery if i install a new OS?

merlin1

right another plan - i've been to the hard drive manufacterers website - it's a seagate drive - and i'm going to create and and run a cd for their dos drive diagnostics tool, it says it should find and repair bad sectors.... fingers crossed