computer dying...heeeeeeeelp please urgent :(

[angelic9144]

about an hour ago i was using my pc, browsing the net w/ firefox when all the sudden firefox started using alllllllll my resources, like 180,000k and it kept climbing. this happened once before but i terminated it on time, this time my computer froze. then when i rebooted

-it rebooted to windoze xp but froze again, so i rebooted
-my computer did not detect the raid drive
-it would not detect a drive for about 5 boots.
-i checked to see if my sata cable came loose, changed it to another connection on my mobo, dismounted the hd and reconnected everything
-i got into windoze safe mode and backed things up, but the buffer level on nero kept fluctuating and it took 3-4x as long to burn the files. this makes me think something is wrong with my hd, along with the crashes.
-system restore will also not work (ive been installing some games and thought maybe starforce could be ruining me)

but the thing is, im using it now so im not sure if my hard drive is really bad or not.

whaty do you think? what tests should i run before i order me a new one on newegg?

THANKS!! any help would be appreciated

 

[imported_Tick]

I'd try running an antivirus and spyware checker.

 

[bX510]

I think its your ram.

 

[HannibalX]

Reload.

 

[angelic9144]

ok i scanned for viruses and spyware, nothing. its still acting flaky, sometimes it will recognize there is a raid drive and othertimes it wont and the dvd rom will turn into my primary drive.

whats going on here? the hard drive seems to be reading ok...so is it my motherboard or my ram? or neither???

please help, thanks

 

[Sniper82]

what kind of motherboard you got? You can download memtest86 I thinks the name and burn the image to CD and have your system run the CD at startup to test your memory. If you get a bunch of errors it's likely your memory. If not then the memory is fine.

 

[kungfoo]

Another good util for this situation is ultimate boot cd. You can get the basic version here: http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/download.html
Has a nifty little menu, and a ton of utilites that can help you diagnoise the problem. Run the hard disk and memory tools on there (theres a handful) That all relies on the fact you have another computer you can
burn the ISO with, however Good luck.

 

[angelic9144]

thanks kungfoo, but i didnt see any option to dl the iso file?

 

[stevem326]

I would also recommend the following:

• Run the Windows Check Disk Utility
  
  Defrag your hard drive
  
  Download the diagnostic tool from your hard drive's manufacturer and use that to scan for errors. Western Digital makes them available for free so I'm assuming most others do as well.

 

[kungfoo]

Originally posted by: angelic9144
thanks kungfoo, but i didnt see any option to dl the iso file?

It's a zip file of the ISO.

Try this: http://mirror1.wefixtech.co.uk/ubcd/3.4/ubcd34-basic.zip

The boot cd is free, which makes it great. All the previos posters suggestions for utilities this boot cd can do, and its nice when windows is totally hosed and wont boot on its own.

Cheers

 

[kungfoo]

Originally posted by: stevem326
I would also recommend the following:

• Run the Windows Check Disk Utility
  
  Defrag your hard drive
  
  Download the diagnostic tool from your hard drive's manufacturer and use that to scan for errors. Western Digital makes them available for free so I'm assuming most others do as well.

Good suggestion by this poster for something quick to do while you download the ISO.
If you can get into safe mode, open up a command prompt and do a "chkdsk /f" It may ask you to reboot, then it will do a full chkdsk.

 

[angelic9144]

ok i ran memtest32, memory checks out fine after passing 17 consecutive tests.

the hard drive failed using the seagate tool from their website. it said it had indexing problems or something. the seagate prog also said it tested my motherboard and showed it to be fine. my pc booted up again to windows (am using it now) but it took awhile to load which it never has done before.

what would you say is wrong with the HD that is causing it to have indexing problems and act this way ? can we now rule out the motherboard along with the memory?

 

[angelic9144]

x

 

[Oyeve]

Have you checked your Event Log? Your answers may be there regarding your HD.

 

[kungfoo]

Originally posted by: angelic9144
ok i ran memtest32, memory checks out fine after passing 17 consecutive tests.

the hard drive failed using the seagate tool from their website. it said it had indexing problems or something. the seagate prog also said it tested my motherboard and showed it to be fine. my pc booted up again to windows (am using it now) but it took awhile to load which it never has done before.

what would you say is wrong with the HD that is causing it to have indexing problems and act this way ? can we now rule out the motherboard along with the memory?

It sounds to me like your drive could be "on it's way out." I'd see if you can run some more of the disk tools on the ultimate boot cd and come to some sort of conclusion. The only other thing that could be the problem is your controller. There should be tests for that also.

 

[Bozo Galora]

if seagate said it failed - then it failed, right?
time to use your 5-year warranty
why are we still talking?

you could run freeware HDtach to see how fast its operating

you could also try spinrite V6.0