BSOD and Error Messages

[Le Boule]

Win XP Pro SP-3, Dell 8400, Intel Pentium 4 Processor (3GHz), 1GB RAM, 160 GB NCQ Serial ATA Hard Drive, Avast, Win Defender, Spywareblaster.

Merry Christmas to me from the Computer Grinch when I booted up this morning.

Screen message said system recovered from error, it might be temporary or might be serious and to reboot and see if it happened again. I failed to hook up my external hard drive and "back up" last six months of data, pics, etc which was poor decision on my part. I rebooted and everything seemed fine. Read System Log which reported prior error was Service Control Error 7001 due to problem with Windows Media Player followed immediately by NTFS Error 55. Clicked on internet explorer icon, got a BSOD with internal stack error. Since then chkdsk tries to run with each start and it gets to 25% of file verification, flashes error at $130 file 11700 and then stops with following error: C0000218 Unknown Hard Error. Receive same error if I boot in safe mode. Only way to start/stop system is with power button.

I'm betting the hard drive is toast. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[SuperSparks]

I think you need to run a diagnostic utility on that hard drive. Download this and burn it to CD, it has all the hard drive diagnostic utilities plus many more besides. You don't need to boot into Windows to run them, just boot up with the CD in the drive, select the utility that you want and it will run:

Ultimate Boot CD

If you aren't sure of the make of drive that is installed use the Seagate Seatools, or Hitachi Drive Fitness Test utilities, as they will work with any make of drive. You may find these instructions helpful for burning the UBCD .iso file to disc:

How can I write (burn) ISO files to CD or DVD?

[Le Boule]

Thanks!

Followed your advice re Ultimate Boot CD, downloaded it to my old Dell 4550 (used Imgburn to burn the CD) and used Seagate Tools Text Version which determined the hard drive on the ailing Dell 8400 was in fact a Seagate. Short scan found nothing wrong, long scan found 24 errors that were obviously part of the operating system files so I told it to go ahead and repair the errors. Then when I started the computer (again a hard start cause I couldn’t see the desktop) I got stuck in endless time consuming loops with Chdsk starting and scanning on its own when computer was started (using F12) but each time it would find and correct errors and/or renumber many files. On the third time it booted into Windows after Chkdsk completed its “work” and eventually the desktop loaded, my mouse finally started working and I was able to connect my external hard drive and copy my data and pictures.

I'm guessing it's best to replace that hard drive...guess I should consider adding Memory to it as well. Think I'd still be better off financially than buying a new desktop.

Again, thank you for your assistance and I would welcome any other thoughts you might have on this matter.

[SpywareDr]

... hard drive ... Seagate. ... Short scan found nothing wrong, long scan found 24 errors ... I'm guessing it's best to replace that hard drive ...

Yep, if Seagate's Diagnostic found errors, the drive is failing and is no longer trustable.

...guess I should consider adding Memory to it as well. Think I'd still be better off financially than buying a new desktop.

If everything else appears fine, I agree. $70 for 4GB of RAM and another $70 for a 1TB HD and it should serve you well for a few more years.

(New "el'cheapo" Desktop's running Windows 7 start at about double that amount [$300]).

[SuperSparks]

It really depends on what you use the computer for. If you don't do much more than browsing the web and a bit of office work, then upgrading your rig would be the way to go. If you do, or want to do, more than that, then a new computer would be the way to go IMO. You will really notice the difference with a Core i5/i7 or Phenom II machine compared to your P4. And Win7 is much nicer, and vastly more secure, too