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System crashes (hd failure??)

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  • System crashes (hd failure??)

    Okay. here is the issue. My computer is shutting off whenever I try to access pretty much anything. The HD turns off as well as the video, but all the fans are on.

    I am guessing that I have some bad sectors. I haven't been able to run Norton Utilities on it yet because I don't have a second computer on hand which will run DiskDoctor or WinDoctor (part of the N.U. bundle). I just want a second opinion if possible.

    Oh and just to let you all know, I have checked all the cables and such and I have a 350w PSU so I know my problem isn't anything obvious or extremely easy.

    If I do have bad sectors, I'm just going to send it back since it's still under warranty.

    Here's my specs..
    VIA KT266 K7V Dragon+
    512 MB PC2100 DDR
    AMD 1800+
    GeForce3 Ti-500 64 mb Vid Card
    IBM Deskstar 40 gb, 7200 RPM, 60GXP (2mb buffer)

    Thanks for any replies and opinions

    BioHazard17
    www.vectorgx.net

  • #2
    I saw in a magazine that ibm deskstar hd's are crap.

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    • #3
      Originally posted by 0R1()N
      I saw in a magazine that ibm deskstar hd's are crap.
      And most tech related websites as well. There was a lot of this type of discussion in this forum not so very long ago.

      Not knowing the complete details of this situation, I don't think it would be going out on a limb to say "those 60GXP's are junk".

      You could certainly send it in on that warranty and I would reccomend that you do so. But if you are going to get another one of those models in return, see if you can get your money instead of a replacement and go get yourself a decent dependable drive from another manufacturer. Western Digital and Maxtor would be good choices.
      The reason a diamond shines so brightly is because it has many facets which reflect light.

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      • #4
        okay, today I took my hd over to my work and ran DiskDoctor on it and the disk is fine. No problems found.
        So..I guess it has something to do with the AMD chip itself? is it fried?

        here are my points of reasoning:
        -all cables are plugged in
        -the motherboard is brand new with no problems
        -the HD tested good after I ran DiskDoctor on it
        -I have a 350watt PSU so there isn't a problem with power
        -the memory is good

        but here's my question.. If my processor is bad, wouldn't the computer not boot up? Or, did DiskDoctor not catch something, and the drive is actually bad?

        Any and all opinions and words of wisdom are greatly appreciated
        :)

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        • #5
          I wouldn't rule out any possibilities at this point.
          Sart with the simple stuff of course.
          Cables secure, RAM seated, mobo properly mounted with nothing causing a grounding situation. etc. etc. etc.

          But no, it it was the CPU it most likely would not boot. And we do know that at least some part of the HDD is good - the system boots. The same can be said of the IDE controller.

          All your mobo drivers are up to date?

          Doggone hard to just reach out and put a finger on the cause of this major problem. Do you have another HDD that you could try?

          I won't go so far as to say the HDD is the cause, but with the track record that those particular drives have, someday it will be the problem unless good fortune sits by your side and watches over you.
          (however, that is clearly not the case)

          Perhaps I am maligning the HDD and picking on it -- but then again, it's the track record of the HDD that makes me want to lean that way from the beginning.
          The proof is in the pudding, and that batch from IBM for the most part has clabbered.
          The reason a diamond shines so brightly is because it has many facets which reflect light.

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          • #6
            Ha I've seen 400W PSU's crumple under some systems. It's not the grand total wattage that is the concern but that of the combined 3.3v & 5v rails to which I recommend for Athlons at least 185w combined total of these two rails (200w+ is better though) and quality PSU's will display this figure (the PSU's that I use output 200w and 220w (350w and 430w max.'s). ;)
            <center>:cheers:</center>

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            • #7
              In addition to I would say that 12v rail should handle about 15A or more, if i remember correctly.

              Here is the best article i found on PSUs
              http://www6.tomshardware.com/howto/20021021/index.html

              It covers what you need to know along with a review.

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              • #8
                I had a similar problem 2 weeks ago, turned out to be a bad IDE cable. I ended up with a new system in the process of trying to figure that one out. All the cables were connected properly so it didn't even cross my mind that the cable itself would be bad.

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                • #9
                  Try to see this site: http://www.aumha.org/a/shtdwnxpz.htm
                  about windows xp SHUTDOWN & RESTART
                  TROUBLESHOOTING.

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