does this sound like the hardrive problem? please read

[bernardschnitzel]

hey guys - for 3 months now i have this problem, its nothing to do with spyware or whatever as i did full checks, and all the software on my pc is things like skype/ steam .. i dont install junk or malware etc..
ive done two fresh installs too.

basically windows 7 runs fine at first, and after a few days it slows down, like when i open control panel it will hang with the circle for about 30 seconds, then it gets worse and restarting the pc takes like 10 minutes
to system restore takes an hour, and things like firefox even if i run it without addons, it wil freeze up and cause the whole pc to hang whilst it opens etc.. ive tried the pc without firefox and a fresh install... im still getting unbelievably frustrating freezes and hangs all the time.

like i say ive done a few fresh installs of windows and it goes kaput after a few days.

anyway ive run a hd tune test of my hard driver and it came up with 3 red blocks - aka bad sectors, whereas standard windows chkdsk didnt come up with anything

the bad sectors are near the begining too - what does that mean

does it sound like a ram fault? i havent had any blue screens, and the pc seems to run fast at first for a week from a fresh installation till it freezes again.. surely faulty ram would be a problem all the time right? so that would point to the HDD?

anyway replies would be great sorry if this is long winded

 

[lxgoldsmith]

failing hdd. is it western digital? those are more prone to failure

 

[bernardschnitzel]

in my heart im sure its not the ram - reason being in the pc shop they said most faults on ram, mean the system wont start or beeps at start.. and minor corruption on ram.. results usually in bsod and total crashes.. not the kind of inconsistent lagging and freezing that im getting after a week of a fresh install

would that make sense about what ive said about ram? thanks

 

[Chiisu]

Test the hard drive follow the link for software to do so. This is a S.M.A.R.T test.
(do not click the green button, rather, click the blue text download link)
http://www.howtogeek.com/134735/how-to-see-if-your-hard-drive-is-dying/

Also test the RAM with memtest?

Finally make sure you back up all your important data, if there is a S.M.A.R.T test failure I would not really chance just using the HDD. A HDD with a S.M.A.R.T test failure can last for days months or years, but you never know so...

 

[Chiisu]

Also if there is not a S.M.A.R.T test failure and RAM tests okay, then it is time to make sure you have all your windows updates and driver updates. BSOD is not necessarily something you will see but they could still have happened check for minidumps at 'c:/windows/minidump' or 'c:/windows/debug/minidump' can't remember which.

 

[davcon]

Test your hdd with proper utilities.
http://support.wd.com/product/download.asp?groupid=810&sid=3&lang=en
http://www.seagate.com/support/downloads/item/seatools-win-master/

 

[bernardschnitzel]

the hdd is dusty worn and i have had 3 bad sector errors from a full HDtune scan -- can you read my last post, does it not sound like a ram problem?

thanks

also is says under current pending secton - warning mode and then drive has 3 unstable sectors

 

[Chiisu]

It is a HDD problem. It is time to back-up your HDD and get a new one unless you old one is under warranty still.

 

[davcon]

the hdd is dusty worn and i have had 3 bad sector errors from a full HDtune scan -- can you read my last post, does it not sound like a ram problem?

thanks

also is says under current pending secton - warning mode and then drive has 3 unstable sectors

Are you referring to my post?
And no it doesn't sound like a ram problem.
If it were a ram problem you would have bsod's all the time.
It sounds like a faulty hdd.
And the utilities I linked will conclusively verify that.

 

[Chiisu]

Either way download and install a disk utility that can show S.M.A.R.T. test results and you will know for sure that the HDD is the problem.

 

[bernardschnitzel]

thanks..
the guy in the computer shop said what u said davcon that a faulty ram - wud either cause it to not start or frequent bsod


is what im having.. where my windows 7 will slow down to a ridiculous speed and take ages to open control panel and load firefox.. for no reason (even on a clean install of windows (standard vga driver etc) with nothing scanning or running in the background).. is that a common problem with a faulty hard drive?

a final response to what ive said would be wonderful..

then ill head off to the shop to get a new hdd tomorrow

 

[bernardschnitzel]

Either way download and install a disk utility that can show S.M.A.R.T. test results and you will know for sure that the HDD is the problem.

 

[Chiisu]

Yes that is that is a common problem with a faulty hard drive, I just recently repaired a laptop showing the same symptoms. A new HDD fixed the issue. To conclusively verify that that was the issue I used CrystalDiskInfo and it reported a bad sector, so I act accordingly. I hope you get your issue solved and glad that we could help

 

[davcon]

thanks..
the guy in the computer shop said what u said davcon that a faulty ram - wud either cause it to not start or frequent bsod


is what im having.. where my windows 7 will slow down to a ridiculous speed and take ages to open control panel and load firefox.. for no reason (even on a clean install of windows (standard vga driver etc) with nothing scanning or running in the background).. is that a common problem with a faulty hard drive?

a final response to what ive said would be wonderful..

then ill head off to the shop to get a new hdd tomorrow

Yep! a new hdd is your best bet!
Good luck and let us know the result!

 

[bernardschnitzel]

thanks..
the guy in the computer shop said what u said davcon that a faulty ram - wud either cause it to not start or frequent bsod


is what im having.. where my windows 7 will slow down to a ridiculous speed and take ages to open control panel and load firefox.. for no reason (even on a clean install of windows (standard vga driver etc) with nothing scanning or running in the background).. is that a common problem with a faulty hard drive?

a final response to what ive said would be wonderful..

then ill head off to the shop to get a new hdd tomorrow

Yep! a new hdd is your best bet!
Good luck and let us know the result!

i will thanks.. ps look at the screenshots above would you too say the HDD looks unstable.. especially with the errors being so near the start too

 

[bernardschnitzel]

well, so far so good - took it to the shop, he refitted a brand new hard drive, with a new cable.. did maintenence ie got rid of loads of dust from the processor etc, lent me a usb drive to back the 100mb or so of songs and documents i needed. and then installed windows for me and put my backed up songs and documents onto the new hardrive/ operating system all for 50 pounds.

the whole thing was done in front of me while i was there.

the installing of windows pro 64 bit took exactly 20 minutes thats it - now with the old hard drive it would take over an hour.

now.. this is the wait and see bit, because the old hard drive whenever i reinstalled windows it would be great and fast for a day or two, sometimes even a week or two.. and then it would slow down, chunk out and within a couple of days of that, be unbearablely slow...

i know its early moments but the new HDD feels much more smoother.. so if it is like this in a few weeks.. ie smooth and stable, then i know this worked

ps the HDD ive got is new seagate 3.5" sata 500gb (ps not that bothered about capacity)

what do you think