Bsod, hdd?

[regent1491]

Been having this problem for a few days now. The BSOD is recently new, only happening last night and today. It freezes irregularly and when windows vista crashes I often have to restore to a previous point. HDD does make loud noises, screeching sounds, ect.

I restored it to factory condition, still the same. I got a BSOD not too long ago as well. Does this sound like my HDD is failing or another component? I found the mindump, want that attached as well?

Addition Info:
-Boot-up problems mostly occur when I shut the PC off and then turn it back on after sometime. No problems usually on restart.
-HDD is a Seagate 320g model.
-Vista 32 bit.

 

[Route44]

Back up everything or importance NOW. You could be looking at a failed harddrive and data retrieval from a crashed drive is very expensive.

Go to Seagate's website and find their free harddrive utility called Seatools. Download it to your desktop, burn it to a CD, reboot, and the test will take over (you may have to place your CD/DVD drive as First Bootable in your BIOS to make this work).

The test will engage almost immediately. Run in this order: S.M.A.R.T., Short DST, and especially the Long DST. If you get any errors in any tests you have a failing harddrive.

 

[regent1491]

Sorry for the delayed reply. I ran the the tests, no errors came about. The S.M.A.R.T test wasn't a given option unless it's called something else. I ran memtest again to make sure and no errors from that either.

Haven't had any errors since I ran those tests again, It took a couple tries to boot up after I shut down the PC overnight which was already happening.
------
Spoke too soon. Got another BSOD. All I remember is something along the lines of 0x00007e upon another start up.

 

[Route44]

How to find and post your Minidump Files:

My Computer > C Drive > Windows Folder > Minidump Folder > Minidump Files.

It is these files that we need (not the folder). Attach to your next post the five most recent dumps. Notice the Manage Attachments button at the bottom when you go to post the next time. You can Zip up to five files per Zip; if you only have one or two you don’t need to zip them, just attach as is. Please do us a favor and don’t Zip each one individually.

 

[regent1491]

I could only find one dump. Not sure if it's correct since I didn't even have a folder for it. Found it through the CP on problem reports(bsod on the 3rd).

 

[Route44]

As per your minidump file your issue is with memory corruption. Therefore you’ll need to run memtest on your RAM.

See the link below and follow the instructions. There is a newer version than what is listed; use the newer. If you need to see what the Memtest screen looks like go to reply #21. The third screen is the Memtest screen.

Step1 - Let it run for a LONG time. The rule is a minimum of 7 Passes; the more Passes after 7 so much the better. The only exception is if you start getting errors before 7 Passes then you can skip to Step 2.

There are 8 individual tests per Pass. Many people will start this test before going to bed and check it the next day.

If you have errors you have corrupted memory and it needs to be replaced.

Step 2 – Because of errors you need to run this test per stick of RAM. Take out one and run the test. Then take that one out and put the other in and run the test. If you start getting errors before 7 Passes you know that stick is corrupted and you don’t need to run the test any further on that stick.


Link: https://www.techspot.com/vb/topic62524.html


* Get back to us with the results.

 

[regent1491]

I ran memtest, went through 9 passes. No errors. Should I run those tests again?

 

[Route44]

*** If Memtest shows no errors then find the voltage specs of your RAM and compare it to the voltage setting in your BIOS. Do they match?
How about timings?

 

[regent1491]

When I accessed the BIOS I was unable to access the timings to the ram. The area over the ram is gray and not selectable. I looked at the motherboard product page http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...cc=us&site=null&key=null&product=3548643#N532 . It has a clearing bios setting(then clear bios password), would the bios have that and prevent me from looking at the ram?

The bios brand is Phoenix Technologies if that helps.

 

[Route44]

Did you build your system or buy it like an HP, Dell, etc.?

 

[regent1491]

I bought it like an HP Computer at a retailer(best buy, ect) about 3-4 years ago.

I got another 0x00007e BSOD earlier. I still only get the bsod when I start up the PC. Not while I'm using it.

 

[regent1491]

Here's a dump I got from a BSOD today.Hope it helps.

 

[Route44]

How many Passes did you run memtest for? Memory corruption is again cited. Memtest is a very good test but it is known that on occasion bad RAM wil pass it.

Take out one stick of RAM and reboot and run it for a day or two unless BSODs occur. Then run it with the other stick.

 

[regent1491]

I ran the first memtest for about 9 passes. I ran another memtest for around the same time. Around 5-6 hrs each.

I'll try taking out a stick as you said and see if that works.

 

[regent1491]

Thought I'd give an update now. After taking a stick of ram out, I haven't gotten a bsod error when turning on my computer(3 times now) nor has it crashed. So far so good.