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HDD problems snowballed

1K views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  dai 
#1 · (Edited)
I know, I know, this isn't the hardware section. It started with it but it ends in a bsod. A few actually.

First things first, it's a personal built box:
Core2 Duo CPU E7500, no OC
Corsair 4GB 1333MHz CL9 DHX TW3X4G1333C9DHX
Gigabyte EP31-DS3L motherboard
nVidia GTX-560Ti
1TB HDD Western Digital Caviar Green RS, WD10EARX

Running with 32bit Windows7 on HDD, Ubuntu through WUBI on the same HDD, and a fedora live USB. I'll explain these as we go.

Phase 1
The problem started in windows with a sudden message that a directory could not be written to due to no access. Seconds later a bsod happened and rebooted before I had time to read it.
After the POST: "A disk read error occurred, press CAD to restart". Digging a bit I've found my solution: Bad SATA cable.
Replaced that and managed to boot.

Phase 2
After logging in, windows stated it couldn't display (username)\Desktop because the directory is corrupt and could not be read. Immediately set checkdisk to scan C: for filesystem errors and rebooted.
After the check, another BSOD: 0x0074 Bad_system_config_info.
More digging lead to registry hive corruption, and NOT bad ram as microsoft's site initially suggested.

Booting from fedora usb, I went to system32\config and replaced the bad "system" file with a good one from a day old backup.
That got rid of that bsod.

Now a different problem arises, fedora's disk manager says the drive has 'a few bad sectors'. Nothing to worry about, I've solved that bsod so I'll just boot and have windows schedule a new check, this time attempting to fix the bad sectors.

Phase 3
And that I did, rebooting once more. But before chkdsk had a chance to kick in, a new bsod!
0x0006B Process1_initialization_failed.
Dug some more, the problem as many suggested was down to \system32\codeintegrity, a file named 'bootcat.cache'.
Booting ubuntu off the hdd, I went there and, as the fix said, deleted the file, but that did not do a thing.
Same blue screen.

Adding a complication to that, ubuntu's disk manager reports now the disk has 'A LOT of bad sectors'. Sure enough fedora reported the same after booting to it afterwards.

Closing thoughts
To sum up what I think happened:
-sata cable went bad, corrupted a block as the computer restarted itself;
-a reboot later windows reports it can't see my user's desktop folder so it may have been sitting on the bad block;
-another reboot (+checkdisk) extends sector damage and scraps my registry;
-a final reboot (+checkdisk) leads to the 'bootcat' file.

I'm stuck there. One thing I haven't tried yet is the Win7 repair disc. I'm actually afraid checking the drive for errors with it will total the system and hdd somehow.

Notes to consider:
-the disk managers mentioned both reported "Reallocated Sector Count" as Normalized 200, Worst 200, value 16 sectors
-the disk is brand new, not one week old. Replaced old Seagate drive with SMART reporting imminent failure.

I'm tired, stressed, and atm at work. I could really use some input before going back home. These are all the facts I could recall, sorry for making it a long story.

Thanks for reading and any ideas :smile:
 
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#4 ·
The drive is gone bad its just that simple. the Smart tells the story and the errors. Replace the drive and restore from a backup. You can run the WD Diagnostics on the drive to confirm but this will only stress the failing drive even further which if recovery is needed I would skip for now.
 
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