recurring HDD issues...

[YanSan]

for the last few months i've been plagued with hard drive problems. they start with various boot errors; some windows file is corrupt or missing. then they'll boot, then eventually they fail. for the first one i also had GPU issues and i found out my PSU was bad. so i bought a new one, things went better, until recently. another HDD started having problems and chkdsk reported unrepairable errors. i then installed to a new HDD and now it's given me bootmgr image corrupt, some other error, and a disk read error when i try to boot. i've started to think it's something to do with my mobo having an unsupported CPU on it, but i'm not sure. ideally i'd like to get a whole new system, since this one is getting old, but i have very little money, so if i'm going to have to spend money i want to make sure it's on the right thing. anyone have any ideas?

my system:

- MSI K9N2 SLI Platinum AM2+/AM2 mobo
- AMD Opteron 1352 Budapest 2.1GHz AM2 CPU
- MSI N250GTS TwinFrozr 1G OC GeForce GTS 250 1GB GPU
- Kingston HyperX T1 Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 RAM
- CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V PSU

 

[nboy22]

What about a MemTest86? I would run one of those. One time I had bad memory and it wouldn't even let me install windows on my drive because I had so many CRC errors.

 

[VirtualLarry]

i've started to think it's something to do with my mobo having an unsupported CPU on it, but i'm not sure.

If the motherboard BIOS doesn't have the right microcode update patch level for the CPU, yes, it can cause corruption and problems. Also if the CPU you are using takes more wattage than the mobo can provide.

Has your rig always had problems ever since the CPU was installed, or have things had problems only recently?

 

[YanSan]

nboy22 - i'm running memtest86 right now, i forgot to mention i tryed running xp pro with the 3gb switch. a 3d sculpting program i use is heavily dependent on RAM and 2gb wasn't enough for me to even open some of my files. i installed windows 7 x64 with my last new hard drive so i wouldn't have to use the switch to work, but thinking about it, the 3gb switch might have caused some problems. but i was running with the switch for quite awhile about a year ago and didn't seem to have problems.

VirtualLarry - i have probably been running the mobo with this cpu for about 1 -1.5 years without problems. i was reluctant to try them together but i saw a few others that seemed to be having no problems with the same setup. so the problems have been somewhat recent.

 

[YanSan]

well, after 4 passes with memtest there are no errors.

 

[YanSan]

so would this generally mean it's most likely a mobo/ cpu issue?

 

[RebateMonger]

so would this generally mean it's most likely a mobo/ cpu issue?

Could be a hard drive controller or a bad cable. Have you examined the Windows System Event Log for any disk-related error messages?

 

[YanSan]

i just took a look at the event log and under errors in the last 7 days i had these

kernel event tracing - 8
atapi - 33
disk - 5
sidebyside - 13
service control manager - 18

under critical

kernel power - 5

i'm not really sure what this means since my tech and troubleshooting knowledge is sort of limited.

 

[jiffylube1024]

You didn't specify which models of hard drives you're using and the interface (I'm assuming SATA)?. Please specify.

 

[YanSan]

well the first one i had that completely died before i replaced the PSU was a Western Digital WD2500KS 250gb, after that i used an old samsung IDE 20gb which i believe started to have trouble but i switched to a new samsung HD103sj 1tb which had problems then reported unrepairable arrors. the current one is a 500gb samsung i took out of one of my LaCie externals. all are sata except the old 20gb drive.

 

[YanSan]

is there any other tests i should do?

 

[SirWilliam]

That 1tb with unrepairable errors I would take to another computer and see if it still causes you grief and if so return it quick.
Have you messed with ANY of your bios settings?

 

[RebateMonger]

i just took a look at the event log and under errors in the last 7 days i had these

Please provide the specific Event ID and Source for the ATAPI and DISK events.

Or, go to http://eventid.net. Also go to the liked Microsoft web page accompanying each Event in the Event Log. Double-mouse-click on the event and click on the MS link it provides.