WD Caviar Blue 320gb. Constant BSOD

Kroze

Diamond Member
Apr 9, 2001
4,052
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I don't know if the drive is damaged or what but I've reinstalled windows for like 10 times now it it didn't solve the problem. Each time I reinstall a fresh copy of windows, the of would run fine, for a day or two and then random BOSD.

Is there a way to scan the hard drive to see if a specific section of the hard drive is bad or not?
 

Elixer

Lifer
May 7, 2002
10,371
762
126
Did you check the SMART information from something like CrystalDiskInfo (free) ?
If all checks out there, then try a different cable.
If still does it, then run memtest86+ overnight, and make sure it has 0 errors.
 

Kroze

Diamond Member
Apr 9, 2001
4,052
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Thanks, I will try that software out tonight when I get back home
 

C1

Platinum Member
Feb 21, 2008
2,340
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This is one of my favorite drives. Got a bunch of them and never had an issue. They're certainly not performance drives, but I love them for their reliability, silence and low heat and power consumption.

It is possible that the BSOD is being caused by something else like memory, video or even a bad software driver.

Recommend to wipe the HDD then reformat. There are all kinds of free test tools available if you want to try those, but I would test it out by using it temporarily as a data drive (eg, watch movies from it while it is in an external enclosure).

If you have doubts, then you can pick up a new 320 blue at Frys Electronics now for a song ($39 on sale), but they WILL be AFT.
 

ZipSpeed

Golden Member
Aug 13, 2007
1,302
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If memtest86 doesn't catch any error, try HCI Memtest as well. HCI Memtest found errors on some RAM I had that memtest86 didn't catch. Also, what kind of power supply do you have and how old?
 

Ketchup

Elite Member
Sep 1, 2002
14,553
248
106
BSOD's can come from many components. At this point I would be questioning whether it is the hard drive.

Here is a program I always use or hard drives in question:

http://www.seagate.com/support/downloads/item/seatools-dos-master/

It is a Seagate app, but it will work on anything. Just burn the iso to a cd, boot off of it, and do a long test. If no errors, I would start testing other things, as the other posters have suggested.
 

Kroze

Diamond Member
Apr 9, 2001
4,052
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I'm pretty certain it's the HD that's causing it. I'm currently using a much older Western Digital 160GB HD and it's rock solid. The PC only give me BSOD with the WD 320gb and only after a day or two of usage from a fresh windows install.

It's as if a certain part of the hard drive is bad and once the head reaches it, it crashes.
 

Makaveli

Diamond Member
Feb 8, 2002
4,803
1,267
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is there any logs in the event viewer that actually shows your BSOD are I/O related?
 

Kroze

Diamond Member
Apr 9, 2001
4,052
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