Chkdsk wont fix drive problem

[mgorbach]

Ok ... i started seeing some random issues with my xp install a few weeks ago. First an explorer crash when changing shortcut icons, the other crashes in other programs. I did some checking and ran memtest86 ... that didnt show any errors. Then i noticed that chkdsk was showing errors on my main xp drive. I did a chkdsk /f and told it to check the drive on restart. It checked, found errors and then repaired. The thing is ... when i restarted xp chkdsk detected errors again! I tried running chkdsk /r in the recovery console ... but still it detected errors again. I even tried doing that and a clean boot. The errors seem to be random .... sometimes cookie files, other times volume bitmap. They dont seem to be numerous. What is this problem? Is it a harddrive failure? I've run surface scans from the manufacturor of the drive (WD raptor 74gb SATA), and they said everything is ok. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[DelJo63]

Is the HD a replacement and/or did you overclock the machine?
This sounds like a mismatch of the Front Side Bus to the processor speed
which will cause unreliable I/O. The malformed cookies is an example ... this
is a 'should not occur' event and when the I/O was issued, everything was fine
(that is no i/o error reported). Later, the malformed data was discovered by chkdsk

 

[patio]

I would also try the manuf.'s disk checking utility...check their site.

patio.

 

[mgorbach]

i have tried the manufacturer's checking utility ... no errors reported.
This is a drive i bought along with all the other computers parts. I have 2 raptors in there actually. Previously they were in a RAID config, then i reformatted and un-raided them. The other drive checks out ok (no chkdsk errors at all, ever), so i know its not a configuration problem. The drivers are identical in fact. The only thing i can think of is that its a problem with connector cable ... could that be it?

 

[patio]

Absolutely a possibility...80 connector 40 pin is what you want for the newer Hdd's.
They have the small profile ones now that can help airflow inside your case.
Good Luck and let us know.
Also check for straight pins on the HDD; If you see a bent one bend it back slowly, a little at a time otherwise you will have a new paperweight.

patio.

 

[mgorbach]

actually its a SATA drive, so it uses a SATA connector.
Its kindof a crappy connector actually ... it moves alot sitting on the input and output.

 

[mgorbach]

I've tried replacing the cable now ... same problem.
No matter how many times i run chkdsk i cant get the drivep problems to dissapear.