[laukejas]

Hello,

First of all, I may be posting this in wrong section, but since I do not know the origin of my problem, I don't know where to put this. If I am mistaken, please move my post to appropriate section.

I have a PC, 9 years old, which is suffering from files being corrupted. Usually they get corrupted when copying, downloading. In addition, in various installations, sometimes I get CRC error.

PC has 2 hard drives: the problem happens on both.

My thoughts: bad sectors on hard drives, or RAM error. I tested RAM with MemTest 3.5, but no errors were found. I haven't tested hard drives, since I don't know how.

Yesterday I formatted both hard drives, installed Windows XP SP3, and all drivers necessary. Problem remains.

Computer specifications (taken from Everest):


Computer Type ACPI Uniprocessor PC
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional
OS Service Pack Service Pack 3
Internet Explorer 8.0.6001.18702
DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)
Computer Name COMPUTER
User Name Joris
Logon Domain COMPUTER
Date / Time 2011-04-09 / 13:30

Motherboard
CPU Type AMD Athlon XP, 1300 MHz (13 x 100)
Motherboard Name Epox EP-8KRA2+/8KRA2I (6 PCI, 1 AGP, 3 DDR DIMM, Audio, LAN)
Motherboard Chipset VIA VT8377 Apollo KT600
System Memory 768 MB (DDR SDRAM)
BIOS Type Award (10/28/03)
Communication Port Communications Port (COM1)
Communication Port Communications Port (COM2)
Communication Port Printer Port (LPT1)

Display
Video Adapter RADEON 9200 LE Family (Microsoft Corporation) (128 MB)
Video Adapter RADEON 9200 LE Family (Microsoft Corporation) (128 MB)
3D Accelerator ATI Radeon 9200 (RV280)
Monitor Plug and Play Monitor [NoDB] (H9XQ403695)

Multimedia
Audio Adapter Realtek ALC655 @ VIA AC'97 Enhanced Audio Controller
Audio Adapter SigmaTel STAC9708/11 @ Creative SB Live! 5.1 Sound Card

Storage
IDE Controller VIA Bus Master IDE Controller
Floppy Drive Floppy disk drive
Disk Drive HDS722580VLAT20 (80 GB, 7200 RPM, Ultra-ATA/100)
Disk Drive SAMSUNG SP60A3H (60 GB, 7200 RPM, Ultra-ATA/100)
Optical Drive LITE-ON DVDRW LDW-451S (DVD+RW:4x/4x, DVD-RW:4x/2x, DVD-ROM:12x, CD:40x/24x/40x DVD+RW/DVD-RW)
SMART Hard Disks Status OK

Partitions
C: (NTFS) 58643 MB (52457 MB free)
D: (NTFS) 57270 MB (56784 MB free)
Total Size 113.2 GB (106.7 GB free)

Input
Keyboard Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
Mouse HID-compliant mouse

Network
Primary IP Address 192.168.1.3
Primary MAC Address 00-04-61-4B-97-2D
Network Adapter VIA Rhine II Fast Ethernet Adapter (192.168.1.3)

Peripherals
FireWire Controller VIA VT6307 Fire IIM IEEE1394 Host Controller (PHY: VIA VT6307)
USB1 Controller VIA VT8237 USB Universal Host Controller
USB1 Controller VIA VT8237 USB Universal Host Controller
USB1 Controller VIA VT8237 USB Universal Host Controller
USB1 Controller VIA VT8237 USB Universal Host Controller
USB2 Controller VIA VT8237 USB 2.0 Enhanced Host Controller
USB Device USB Human Interface Device

DMI
DMI BIOS Vendor Phoenix Technologies, LTD
DMI BIOS Version 6.00 PG
DMI System Manufacturer VIA Technologies, Inc.
DMI System Product KT600-8237
DMI System Version
DMI System Serial Number
DMI Motherboard Manufacturer
DMI Motherboard Product KT600-8237
DMI Motherboard Version
DMI Motherboard Serial Number
DMI Chassis Manufacturer
DMI Chassis Version
DMI Chassis Serial Number
DMI Chassis Asset Tag
DMI Chassis Type Desktop Case
DMI Total / Free Memory Sockets 3 / 1


I would appreciate any help and suggestions. Except for "buy a new computer", of course

 

[Zibit_Chris]

Have you tried FreeBSD?

 

[sobeit]

go to the hardrives manufacturers website, download their drive diagnostic utility and check your drives.

 

[laukejas]

i haven' tried FreeBSD, what's good of it?

I'm searching for hard drive diagnostic tools, I'm not sure which to use. Are there any that don't require burning to CD?

 

[laukejas]

I have downloaded and burned few diagnostic tools. They found bad sectors in hard drives. Since I had HDD Regenerator program, I used it to fix bad sectors. It found and recovered these sectors. But the problem remains. Files still get corrupted. Why?

 

[Rich-M]

Personally I would bet these hard drives are more than 7 years old, and they were never meant to last that long, why not replace them which can be done so inexpensively today and for sure that would handle this problem. The drives were warranted for 3 years.

 

[laukejas]

Well, it depends on what you call expensive. This computer will be replaced with new in near future, but for now, I have to make this one work.

 

[Rich-M]

Well, it depends on what you call expensive. This computer will be replaced with new in near future, but for now, I have to make this one work.

I would doubt that is a possibility without changing the drives and I sure hope you are doing frequent backups is anything on those drives is of importance to you.

 

[laukejas]

You mean, there is no way to isolate bad sectors?

 

[Rich-M]

Sure there is but you will keep having more.

 

[laukejas]

I understand. Are you sure this is the cause of the problem?

 

[Rich-M]

No I can't be sure without being there but it is the most likely.

 

[sobeit]

Well, it depends on what you call expensive. This computer will be replaced with new in near future, but for now, I have to make this one work.

personally I would not keep any irreplaceable file on that computer. Though you can fix bad sectors in some cases, once they start, Its like mold, will keep coming back.

as far as files you download - you may want to check your internet wiring and make sure all connections are solid. Open up the case make sure it is dust free and the cards are inserted properly.

 

[laukejas]

There are no important files to lose on that computer. Sad that I can't even keep it working for a bit... I'll take a look on the cables, but I doubt it. Thanks for help.

 

[JimE]

File corruption can be caused by numerous things. Bad RAM, motherboard, power supply, or the HDD's.

You can test the RAM using Memtest86.
You can test the HDD's using the drive manufacturers disk tools. Run the short and long tests. If either test fails or has errors, the drive should be replaced.

After that, it's time to start swapping parts. Which as you intend to replace it anyway, wouldn't seem to be worth the time and effort. Especially as after you identify the bad hardware, it would need to be replaced.