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Hard drive issues

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I

Ipreferspam

Member
Apr 12, 2008
43
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0
Beginning about two weeks ago, my boot times have been very long for my install of Windows Vista x64 Ultimate.

My full computer specs at the time the problems started were:
Asus Rampage Formula
Q9450 (@425*8=3.4 ghz)
8 GBs of g.skill ddr2-1000 @ DDR2-850
X800GTO2
WD 640 GB WD6400AAKS SATA II HD
WD 500 GB RE2 SATA II HD
Pioneer SATA DVD burner
OCZ 520W Powerstream SLI

I normally leave my computer on 24/7 and just hit the sleep button on my keyboard at night. Before two weeks ago, the computer would resume instantly and everything would be fine. However, for the last few weeks it would take at least two minutes to return to the desktop from sleep mode. It also began taking 2-3 minutes to boot into Vista.

About the time I started noticing the problems, I replaced my X800GTO2 with a Radeon 4870. The system still booted slowly but other than that, I could play games for hours on end without a problem.

The problem got progressively worse, however, and I decided I'd had enough two days ago after a few 3 minute boots. I purchased a new OCZ Silencer 750W PSU (I plan on adding a 4870X2 once they are released) and a new WD 640 GB WD6400AAKS hard drive.

Please note that my BIOS did say it had an invalid checksum right before I left to make those purchases, so I loaded defaults and am no longer overclocking (even though I was 12+ hr prime stable with my overclock for 2+ months before the boot issues started).

After installing both new devices and unhooking the two old hard drives, I cannot get Windows to install. Vista takes 10 minutes to get to the prompt for clicking 'Install' and once it actually proceeds to decompressing files, it sits on 0% for about 45 mins before it moves to 3% and gives an error about being unable to read the files.

I then tried to install Vista on a RAID 0 array with the older 640gb and the brand new one, with the same problem. I tried replacing the SATA cables and installing them into a different SATA port. The problem continues regardless of if I use AHCI, RAID, or enhanced SATA mode on my motherboard.

Do you have any possible ideas of what the problem might be?



 
J

jaythespacehound

Member
Apr 30, 2006
90
0
0
I agree with SergeC, sounds like RAM.
While the slow load times are likely virii / malware the windows install dying would seem to rule that out.
 
I

Ipreferspam

Member
Apr 12, 2008
43
0
0
Thank you three for your replies.

I spent last night with memtest. I tested each stick individually in slot 1 and had one error occur each time I tested stick 3.

I then tested 2 and 4 in slots 1/3 and 2/4 to make sure there were no bad slots. The memtest on the pair ran fine in both slots, including 15 passes on slots 1/3.

I am now going to attempt a reinstall using only sticks 2 and 4 in slots 1/3.

(I agree with jaythespacehound that it is more than likely not malware or spyware due to the fact that the windows reinstall on a brand new hard drive is failing.)
 
I

Ipreferspam

Member
Apr 12, 2008
43
0
0
Same result... Windows Vista x64 Ultimate fails to install. I also tried replacing the SATA cable on the DVD drive and plugging it into a different SATA port. The installation still goes to 3% of decompressing files before I get a message which states:
Windows cannot install required files. Make sure all files required for installation are available, and restart the installation. Error code (0x8007045D).
 
I

Ipreferspam

Member
Apr 12, 2008
43
0
0
Well, before I replaced my SATA DVD+RW drive, I decided to re-download and burn Vista x64 Ultimate w/ SP1. This time, I burned it at 2x and verified the disc afterwards. After doing this, my computer is now rebooting into Vista to finalize installation.
 
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