Strange freezing - CHKDSK says that MFT bitmap and Volume bitmap are courrupt

[Tezliov]

Try the new USB disk maker its very useful

Sorry for the late reply.
I only have an 8GB USB disk; is that big enough?

 

[Tezliov]

Replying to some posts I missed:

I'd download and run Hitachi's WinDFT software to test the hard drive for faults.

WinDFT detects no hard drive. Odd.

Also, as you indicate you had a previous BSOD, try downloading and installing the free version of Whocrashed to see if you can learn anything else about it. If Whocrashed can't find a system dump file, go in to the Advanced System Properties and make sure your system is set up to write dump files on crashes in case it happens again.

I did a fresh install when I replaced the motherboard, so the dump file is gone (if there was one)

I'll try running memtest86+ from my USB drive. I'll edit this post with results.

EDIT: Ran one pass of memtest86+, it found nothing. Now what?

 

[Tezliov]

Nobody?
I'm thinking of replacing the hard drive, because I think that's the issue. The hard drive LED stops blinking completely, but the disk drive still opens, etc.

I was thinking of getting a Crucial M500 120GB SSD and a Seagate Barracuda 1TB. Are there good choices?
Here are some links:
www.amazon.com/dp/B005T3GRNW/
www.amazon.com/dp/B00BQ4F9ZA/

Would it be worth it to spend the extra $20 or so to get a Crucial M550? Is it really that different?

 

[Steltek]

Nobody?
I'm thinking of replacing the hard drive, because I think that's the issue. The hard drive LED stops blinking completely, but the disk drive still opens, etc.

I was thinking of getting a Crucial M500 120GB SSD and a Seagate Barracuda 1TB. Are there good choices?
Here are some links:
www.amazon.com/dp/B005T3GRNW/
www.amazon.com/dp/B00BQ4F9ZA/

Would it be worth it to spend the extra $20 or so to get a Crucial M550? Is it really that different?

Sorry, been busy this weekend. The fact that the drive isn't being detected isn't good. At minimum you have a bad drive, worst case you have a bad motherboard. One thing you can try if you haven't done it is to swap out the SATA cable just to be sure you don't have a bad one.

There isn't anything wrong with the Barracuda - generally, a hard drive is a hard drive. And, as long as you have a good backup regimen in place (which you really should), you should be fine.

The M550 is generally a lot faster than the M500 on a SATA3 connection -- the $20 would be money well spent. You might also want to consider going with a 200+GB SSD if you can catch one on sale (TigerDirect has the Seagate Pro 600 series 240GB for $119 shipped -- see the Hot Deals forum for VirtualLarry's post there).

 

[Tezliov]

Sorry, been busy this weekend. The fact that the drive isn't being detected isn't good. At minimum you have a bad drive, worst case you have a bad motherboard. One thing you can try if you haven't done it is to swap out the SATA cable just to be sure you don't have a bad one.

I just replaced the motherboard and was having the freezing issue before that so it can't be the motherboard.

The M550 is generally a lot faster than the M500 on a SATA3 connection -- the $20 would be money well spent. You might also want to consider going with a 200+GB SSD if you can catch one on sale (TigerDirect has the Seagate Pro 600 series 240GB for $119 shipped -- see the Hot Deals forum for VirtualLarry's post there).

Do you think I'd be better off getting a 1TB hybrid drive?

 

[Steltek]

I just replaced the motherboard and was having the freezing issue before that so it can't be the motherboard.

Do you think I'd be better off getting a 1TB hybrid drive?

I can't answer that question as I've never messed with hybrid drives before. If I am going to go to the trouble of converting a system to an SSD, I want the most performance possible. A hybrid drive isn't going to be anywhere near as fast as an SSD, plus it has twice the possible failure points. However, it could be an option if the budget isn't there for both.

 

[Tezliov]

I can't answer that question as I've never messed with hybrid drives before. If I am going to go to the trouble of converting a system to an SSD, I want the most performance possible. A hybrid drive isn't going to be anywhere near as fast as an SSD, plus it has twice the possible failure points. However, it could be an option if the budget isn't there for both.

I can afford an SSD, I was just wondering if they're better for the price.

 

[Steltek]

I can afford an SSD, I was just wondering if they're better for the price.

In a hybrid drive, you are basically looking at a small, slow (by SSD standards) SSD coupled with a slower (~5400 RPM) hard drive. Stuff accessed from the SSD will be far faster than even a 7200RPM standard hard drive, while stuff coming off the hard drive component of the hybrid will be far slower. Most of them are advertised in terms of speed relative to a 5400 RPM drive for use in a laptop. While they might be fine in a laptop, I personally wouldn't put one in a desktop.

I've been looking at that Seagate 600 drive in Hot Deals today and am VERY tempted to pick one up myself -- $120 is an excellent price for a 240GB SSD with a 5 year warranty.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I just replaced the motherboard and was having the freezing issue before that so it can't be the motherboard.

Do you think I'd be better off getting a 1TB hybrid drive?

Depends. I went from a 120GB SATAII SSD, to a 2TB Seagate 7200RPM desktop hybrid (SSHD) drive, in this box. Partially, because I wanted more space, and partially, because this slimline PC only has two SATA ports, and one is taken up by the DVD-RW. So really, I couldn't go with the preferred SSD+HDD, and then DVD setup.

My experiences with the hybrid drive so far - it's kind of a gimmick. It's good for fast bootups (after about five cold boot cycles), but not much else. Windows Updates go kind of slowly, so do MalwareBytes scans. Slowly compared to a pure SSD. Probably about comparable to a modern 7200RPM HDD.

 

[Tezliov]

Depends. I went from a 120GB SATAII SSD, to a 2TB Seagate 7200RPM desktop hybrid (SSHD) drive, in this box. Partially, because I wanted more space, and partially, because this slimline PC only has two SATA ports, and one is taken up by the DVD-RW. So really, I couldn't go with the preferred SSD+HDD, and then DVD setup.

My experiences with the hybrid drive so far - it's kind of a gimmick. It's good for fast bootups (after about five cold boot cycles), but not much else. Windows Updates go kind of slowly, so do MalwareBytes scans. Slowly compared to a pure SSD. Probably about comparable to a modern 7200RPM HDD.

Alright, SSD + HDD it is.

 

[Tezliov]

So I noticed that every time I play BF4 about 5 minutes in the computer freezes. I don't get this with other games, just BF4.

Is there something else that would be causing this? Or does BF4 just put a lot of stress on the hard drive or something? I don't want to spend $120 on an SSD and HDD and move all my files over just to find it isn't the issue.

 

[Steltek]

So I noticed that every time I play BF4 about 5 minutes in the computer freezes. I don't get this with other games, just BF4.

Is there something else that would be causing this? Or does BF4 just put a lot of stress on the hard drive or something? I don't want to spend $120 on an SSD and HDD and move all my files over just to find it isn't the issue.

Unfortunately, you've reached an impass here. You won't be able to further troubleshoot without starting to swap stuff out.

Have you tried testing your video card for stability using something like FurMark?

 

[Tezliov]

Unfortunately, you've reached an impass here. You won't be able to further troubleshoot without starting to swap stuff out.

Have you tried testing your video card for stability using something like FurMark?

No, I have not, although I doubt that that would be causing courruption to files on my hard drive.
I guess I'll just go ahead and buy the drives, I'll bump this thread if the issue still exists then.

 

[Tezliov]

I installed the new drives today. Now I'm having strange issues with my optical drive.
When I go to the Computer tab, it doesn't detect an optical drive. In the Device Manager it does, and it says it's working fine. BIOS detects it also, but when I boot from it it boots to normal Windows. I've tried switching the SATA ports, but still the same. The optical drive is an HP OEM Blu-Ray drive, and it worked fine last time I booted the computer. What's wrong?
The drives I purchased are a Samsung 840 EVO and a 1TB Seagate Barracuda.

EDIT: The BIOS thinks the CD drive is E, but it's actually F. E is the old HP Backup and Recovery. Not sure if this is related.

EDIT: I fixed it. Windows is now on the SSD.

 

[Tezliov]

Sorry for the triple post, but now it isn't working again.
First I noticed Firefox stopped responding around every 5 minutes. I re-installed it, and that fixed that. A few minutes later, I got an error message saying "Microsoft Windows has stopped working". It came back around a minute later, and then suddenly it got the same old freeze. I tried rebooting but now the HDD activity light goes dead at the POST screen.
I'm sure that the old hard drive was dying; it showed a bunch of signs of it. But now something else is obviously wrong. Maybe it's because I used the Samsung cloning tool for Windows? (I know those things aren't very good, etc. but this HP license of Windows gives you tons of problems every time you re-install)

What should I do?

I am completely sure the hard drive was dying, also. it was constantly making clicking/buzzing noises (and made a different one when it froze).

 

[Tezliov]

And update:
I entered my windows disk and pressed repair. Now it boots, but programs keep freezing. CTRL+SHIFT+ESC does nothing, so I tried CTRL+ALT+DEL. It took me to the usual page, but told me "Preparing security options" for quite some time. Also sometimes when the programs crash it gets the classic freeze.
Guess I have to re-install windows.