[Denvon]

Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 (build 2600)
2.20 gigahertz Intel Pentium Dual
64 kilobyte primary memory cache
1024 kilobyte secondary memory cache
WDC WD1200BB-00FTA0 [Hard drive] (120.03 GB) -- drive 0, s/n WD-WMAET2099978, rev 15.05R15, SMART Status: Healthy


Hard drive #1:
Just a few weeks ago my hard drive started clicking and suddenly my system froze. The drive wasn't dropped, bumped, or anything like that. It was fairly new as well. I was having some issues accessing my files AND I couldn't access the internet through any browsers. I was connected, could play internet-using games, but got no reply from websites. I decided to reformat. Well, that didn't go so well. Reformatting did not fix the freezing issue nor did it fix the internet issue. I attempted to reformat the partition on C but it simply wouldn't let me.

Hard drive #2:
I pulled out a newish hard drive and formatted it, installed my applications and continued on my way. Everything was working great, until a day later when the hard drive AGAIN froze in the middle of a session and this time I couldn't even boot. I was getting a boot error that mentioned not receiving a boot file name. I went into the windows repair console and did a chkdsk which turned up a few errors (and attempted to recover them I assume). I could now boot, but random freezing would still take place now and then and EVERY DAY I have to access the repair console due to boot errors. Almost every other attempt to boot results in freezing before startup, not being able to access the boot file, or a blue screen of death. So I...

Hard drive #3:
Same things happening! I must have reformatted at least 4 times by now and I'm beginning to give strange looks at my motherboard. The computer seems to DECIDE when to work and not work. When it doesn't boot, the hard drive makes a constant clicking noise. This next part will sound bad; after getting boot errors all day I walked down stairs to find some new hardware. When I got back up, my cat had knocked the hard drive (which was disconnected and outside of the computer) onto the wooden floor. It's a 3 foot drop so I was getting worried, I plugged it in and tried to star; what do you know? Here I am. Now I'm certain it's only a matter of time before it freezes again. The thing is, freezing usually occurs when I'm running one or more programs at a time. The computer is going incredibly slow at the moment.

Is it a certain program that is messing up my registry, or would it be a problem with my motherboard?? :dontknow:

 

[Nofew]

Try installing another operating system onto the disk and seeing if that crashes as well. If it doesn't you probably have a bad Windows cd. I suggest trying Kubuntu, a version of Linux meant to look somewhat like Windows (You can click here to skip directly to the download page). Just remember to actually install the thing. Most Linux operating systems can be ran directly from the cd without any need to be installed onto a hard disk. There's usually a program on the desktop that will install the system for you. If it runs properly for a week or two, get a new Windows disk. If it crashes just as much as Windows did, get a new computer.

Also, how much RAM does your computer have? If it's very low (256-512 megs or less) it can sometimes cause these kinds of crashes too.

 

[Denvon]

Hi just a few updates on the issue, I recently was having more similar trouble but this time I wrote down some names of the errors and messeges I was getting.

These were displayed at difference instances, each time the computer would work again for 1-2 hours.

isapnp.sys is corrupt


kernel_stack_inpage_error


file \i386\halaacpi.dll could not be loaded
(while trying to enter windows setup for a chkdsk)

What in the world is going on with my computer?


@Nofew
My RAM doesn't seem to be the problem as it's always been sufficient, I don't know the exact amount at the moment but I'm 95% sure it's fine. I don't have any spare RAM to test (to check if it fixes it) so I'm out of luck there.
I'm guessing since you mentioned a bad windows CD then that could be it, as others have had trouble reading dll files with bad cds. It really doesn't seem scratched enough to not be readable, and it's worked the many times I've reformatted.