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July 15, 2010 at 12:05 pm #2246664
is my hard drive dying?
Lockedby zack247 · about 13 years, 9 months ago
hi, i have a dell dimension 4500 with 1gb Ram, a p4cpu, and a seagate 40gb barracuda hard drive. the ram was installed recently, and they are different brands of 512mb ddr. my computers programs kept on having problems and needed to close. after searching for viruses, and turning up none,i reformatted the computer using the dell cd from my dimension 2400. the other non-dell windows xp install cd wouldn’t work on this computer, i dont know why. anyways, after reformatting, the problem persisted, and the programs still closed. parts of AVG were even “experiencing problems”. what is wrong here? is my hard drive dying? and why do i get a blue screen from my ati catalyst drivers?
help?
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July 15, 2010 at 12:05 pm #2857201
Clarifications
by zack247 · about 13 years, 9 months ago
In reply to is my hard drive dying?
Clarifications
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July 15, 2010 at 12:16 pm #2857196
Find up to date Drivers
by chillbilly · about 13 years, 9 months ago
In reply to is my hard drive dying?
Remember that although you may not be under warranty, Dell has if not the best then one of the better Customer Services around. Try using
http://support.dell.com/support/index.aspx?c=us&cs=RC968571&l=en&s=hea
Go to the Warranty link click it and see if your computer is Still under warranty.. Probably not if you have already added things to it or it is an older machine.
Second go to the same link listed above and click on the drivers link. Find the drivers for you machine. The reload for the 2400 is not the same for the 4500. Make sure you also install your NIC drivers as well as your chipset and bios drivers. These have a lot to do with your problem. If you do have another hard drive you can always slave out the current one you are suspecting of having problems.
AVG free has its problems too. Try Avast Free version and see if you can have the same results. You can find this by going to
http://www.Avast.com.As for your video drivers ensure you have received the correct drivers for the respected Operating system.
It is always easier to try the easy steps before resulting to destroying your hardware.
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July 15, 2010 at 1:53 pm #2857169
well, i got it used…
by zack247 · about 13 years, 9 months ago
In reply to Find up to date Drivers
so no discs came with it, just the computer itself. according to dell, the warranty ran out in ’05. i will try the right drivers, the reload you speak of, does that mean i have to reformat again?
nope, just the one hard drive, and avg never did this before…
im positive i got the right drivers, and amd isn’t helping much…
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July 15, 2010 at 12:23 pm #2857194
I’d say unlikely
by slayer_ · about 13 years, 9 months ago
In reply to is my hard drive dying?
But you can run a SMART test just to be sure.
SpeedFan can run smart tests, I believe there are some other tools out there as well that can.
http://www.almico.com/speedfan440.exeSounds more likely to me your processor or RAM. Something is dropping the ball. RAM might be losing information (Try running on one chip, swap around chips to see if the problem goes away) or it could be your processor.
I had a motherboard that did that as well, something went wrong on it and it wouldn’t give the CPU the correct voltages. Which would cause odd random errors in programs.
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July 15, 2010 at 12:48 pm #2857189
2nd this and…
by —tk— · about 13 years, 9 months ago
In reply to I’d say unlikely
I noticed in the original post, the user stated that he has different brands of RAM. Often times the symptoms you are getting are signs of conflicting RAM. The modules are technically good, which is why it passes POST, but they just do not play nice together.
So, either get matching RAM (make, speed, size), or use one module.
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July 15, 2010 at 1:40 pm #2857173
i kind of want to keep it at 1gb…
by zack247 · about 13 years, 9 months ago
In reply to 2nd this and…
i like playing some online games, so i guess i’ll have to buy some matching ram…
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July 16, 2010 at 12:48 pm #2856954
try running one chip for awhile to see if your problems go away
by slayer_ · about 13 years, 9 months ago
In reply to i kind of want to keep it at 1gb…
Even on one chip, you should be able to game, it will just be very slow to load up.
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July 15, 2010 at 1:42 pm #2857172
i guess i should have mentioned…
by zack247 · about 13 years, 9 months ago
In reply to I’d say unlikely
that my antec 350w psu i installed is making some whining noises… this may be the root of the problem? i’ll try to get a .wav file up here so you guys can tell me if its normal, ive never used any antec stuff before
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July 15, 2010 at 12:53 pm #2857187
yes, go buy a new one.
by cg it · about 13 years, 9 months ago
In reply to is my hard drive dying?
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July 15, 2010 at 1:54 pm #2857166
are you sure?
by zack247 · about 13 years, 9 months ago
In reply to yes, go buy a new one.
everyone else says otherwise, they say it might be drivers or ram, i think i might buy the cheaper stuff before i spend too much on a hard drive.
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July 15, 2010 at 2:00 pm #2857164
No not sure
by cg it · about 13 years, 9 months ago
In reply to are you sure?
but then if you have to ask if your drive is failing, I’m gonna say go buy a new one if you think that. Eliminate hardware problems first.
So if it’s your drive that’s failing go get a new one.
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July 15, 2010 at 8:18 pm #2857079
This sounds like a Timing Issue between the Different RAM Installed
by oh smeg · about 13 years, 9 months ago
In reply to is my hard drive dying?
There is no easy way to test this but you can start off with Mem Tester and test the RAM if it all passes remove 1 module and retest.
Then remove the fitted Module and replace it with the first one you removed. Test again.
Then if that passes replace the other Module in the second Socket and runt he system again.
If it falls over again remove 1 RAM Module and see if the system works correctly.
If it works correctly with 1 Module Fitted but not 2 you have Mismatched RAM that is experiencing a Timing Issue and causing the problem.
You can also try the newest drivers which should be available here for this system
Download Memtest 86 from here for free but you’ll have to scroll down the page a bit.
Or go the whole Hog and get yourself a copy of the Ultimate Boot CD available free here
http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/download.html
Burn the CD from the ISO File that is located on this Web Page and boot your computer off the Ultimate Boot CD and run a full set of Diagnostics including at least one of the Memory Testers included with the Disc.
All of the above Downloads are free so if you get asked to buy something you have clicked on the wrong link. 😉
As for the Antec PS it should be quite so if it’s new and noisy I would be contacting either the place that you bought it from or Antec Directly for a Warranty Claim.
As for testing your HDD there are HDD Makers Testing Utilities on the Ultimate Boot CD so you can use Seatools to test your HDD. If it fails that test remove it from this computer fit it as a Slave to another with a different Data Lead and retest. If it still fails the test it’s on it’s way to [b]Silicon Heaven[/b] but if it passes the second test either the M’Board, Data Lead or Power Supply is faulty.
You can test these by fitting them one at a time to the second computer and retesting. Well all except the M’Board as if both the PS and Data Lead show as OK then it has to be the M’Board that is faulty. 😉
Col
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July 15, 2010 at 9:35 pm #2857074
thanks oh smeg
by zack247 · about 13 years, 9 months ago
In reply to This sounds like a Timing Issue between the Different RAM Installed
i will see if i can find a cd to burn the ultimate boot cd to, and maybe this will help more if i mention that the computer just gave me the blue screen blaming win32k?
i think a new hdd is in order, should i just try my luck, try the cd, or should i ditch the dell and get myself a nice asus mobo to build a pc with?
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July 16, 2010 at 12:57 am #2857060
RE: [i]or should i ditch
by oh smeg · about 13 years, 9 months ago
In reply to thanks oh smeg
That’s your choice and depends on what you want to do and how much money you have available.
Though personally if I was looking at a new M’Board I would be looking at Gigabyte Boards I’ve had great success with them and other than a Dual Processor P2 board dieing a year or so ago running XP Pro with 2 850 MHZ P3’s on it I’ve never had one fail. Even that one was well past it’s use buy date but it was just as fast as the Dual Core Intel that replaced it. And I still think that, that Gigabyte M’Board was better than the new one that I bought even if it didn’t have PCI Video and in excess of 16 GIG of RAM Capacity it was a brilliant board.
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/main.aspx?s=42
I would however test the HDD before doing anything else as if it’s working and you want a new system you can always bung it into a External Caddy and have a Backup Drive if it’s working. 😉
Col
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July 16, 2010 at 11:03 am #2856972
well actually…
by zack247 · about 13 years, 9 months ago
In reply to RE: [i]or should i ditch
i just so happen to have a gigabyte board in a box somewhere. its a 2 ram slot version, but i think i might go with the asus i have so i can put in 4 256mb sticks so i can still have a gig of ram, if the timing is different on the 512 sticks. once i have had a taste of the speed i get with a p4 and a gig of ram, i dont think i’ll ever be going back. i just need a case and maybe a power supply, i think i’ll start building a new pc this aft.
hopefully the hdd isnt dying, but i think the dell is having a sort of hissy fit because of the new ram and video card. or perhaps it is time to move on, the only 2 brands i have ever used have been packard bell and dell, and packard bells arent even made anymore
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