Low Level Format

Message

dxspip · #1 Post by **dxspip** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 10:29 pm

Hi there,

first of all thank you for the awesome product, that your still offering as freeware.

im having some issues with my laptop...
Compaq Presario 2100
AMD Athalon XP+
512mb Ram
40gb HD

i recently got this laptop and my dad had a problem where the Blue Screen of Death would come up. so he got sick of it, and got a new one, and i took the old one. Today i reinstall windows and everything is working fine for almost the whole day, end of the day the BSOD comes up for me...displaying something about a kernel stack error. so i restart it...it starts back up, running really really slowly. so i restart it again, works temporarily, and then it either completely locks up or BSOD comes up again and it turns off. and the last time i tried, the thing didnt even turn on.

i have antivirus, and i have spyware protection, also its a fresh install of windows and i havent visited any "hazardous sites" (i.e. porn)

my friend said to try rotating my ram from one slot to the others. and he also suggested a Low-Level Format, and said i could get it off the UBCD.

so i come asking for any possible ideas where the problem might lie and also where i would find the Low-Level Format on the UBCD?

thanx in advance guys

#2 Post by **Victor Chew** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 4:47 am

Sounds like bad hardware, most likely RAM or hard disk.

I would suggest running any of the RAM diagnostic tool + hard disk diagnostic tool on UBCD and see which is the problem.

Constance · #3 Post by **Constance** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 6:58 am

Yep, and I'd even say to do very long tests, if the problems seemed to happen only at the end of the day : that might be a problem with overheating stuff making RAM less reliable at that moment.

dxspip · #4 Post by **dxspip** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 10:33 am

what programs should i run off of the disk?

#5 Post by **Victor Chew** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 5:08 pm

For RAM test, try:

- MemTest86+ (under [Mainboard Tools 1/3]), or
- Windows Memory Diagnostic (ditto)

For HDD test, if you know the manufacturer of your hard disk, they are under [Hard Disk Tools 2/5] and [Hard Disk Tools 3/5].

Otherwise, try something generic such as "Salvation HDD Scan and Repair" (under [Hard Disk Tools 3/5]).

dxspip · #6 Post by **dxspip** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 1:49 pm

thanx for your help victor

currently i am running
Memtest86+ v3.2 and it has taken 18 hours...is it supposed to take this long? and if so how much longer can i expect?

Constance · #7 Post by **Constance** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 3:01 pm

dxspip wrote:[...] it has taken 18 hours...is it supposed to take this long?

Yup ^^

dxspip wrote:and if so how much longer can i expect?

Depends on your total quantity of RAM and its speed... anyway if I remember well it also depends on the tests you selected, for there has to be one which runs until you decide to stop it

baronvonfoxbat7734 · #8 Post by **baronvonfoxbat7734** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 5:30 pm

From my experience with th4e memtest programs in the disk, the default that it runs with is a continuous loop that keeps running and running until you say stop. On the screen you will see where it says how many passes it has done. If it is on the first pass after 18 hours on the rig you mentioned... There is something wrong. Your rig should have gone through the test in about 45 minutes or so. I have it run through 512 on a 800MHz machine in 15 minutes before. Yours should fly through it.

Double check how many passes. If no failures after approximately 36 passes... I would say that the memory subsystems are all working properly. I would also run the CPU burn in tests to see what they say as well. Might be a heat issue.

dxspip · #9 Post by **dxspip** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 8:59 pm

thanx again for the help guys...

i decided after 25 hours, to stop it...it has found 0 errors and has 49 passes, so it looks like the ram must be okay

now i am running the salvation HDD scan and repair...its been going about 30 seconds and it is showing 27 defects already, and it just keeps going up... could me HDD be the problem? will this program help me fix this or is it strictly hardware where i need a new HDD?

i will run the burn in CPU next
edit: okay..it got stuck at after 410634 and started beeping...by that time it had encountered 922 errors....is my hard drive FUBAR?

baronvonfoxbat7734 · #10 Post by **baronvonfoxbat7734** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 6:07 am

Definitely the HD is screwed. If you had not backed up your data, it might be to late. But I would have to say that it is new HD time.

dxspip · #11 Post by **dxspip** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 8:26 am

i had nothing important on there...it was just a fresh install of windows anyway... would i be able to install teh HD myself? or would i have to get a shop to do that for me?

ive installed many things on computers, but never actually opened a laptop up

baronvonfoxbat7734 · #12 Post by **baronvonfoxbat7734** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 6:14 pm

Shouldn't be to hard... If it is under warranty, they may even do on site repair for you. Otherwise they are simple to replace on most laptops. In fact Dell laptops for the most part are one screw and the assembly comes out and you simply place in the new assembly. Different makers all do things differently.

Hope this helps!! Good luck with your HD replacement.