Blue Screen

[David]

Well, my kids computers has been hanging up on some programs and at least a couple times actually shut down. I thought that it might be heat related so I bought a new CPU fan, since the other did not seem to work. (It turned on sometimes but did not stay on).

Anyway, I thought that would fix the issue but I discovered that the computer went to the blue screen of death. I tuned it off and let it sit for some. I then turned it on and then did the Check Disk (long version) to see if there were issues. It had one bad file/sector but it was fixed.

I then thought that if memory was going out, that could cause the issues as well. I downloaded nd figured out how to burn a bootable cd (iso) for Memtest86. I then rebooted the computer so the memtest86 would run and right off the bat, over 500 errors. I removed 1 of 4 memory cards from the computer; I removed the memory card that was in slot 1 (taking a guess) and then rebooted. So far no errors as the tests continues..

I tried uploading the zip file for MemTest-86 v3.5, but I have the hardest time uploading files on this forum...

[Hermskii]

I'll help. Nothing fixes bad sectors. Your hard drive is bad. Replace it. What is the Operating System? When you ran CheckDisk or whatever it was called, how did you see the results? If it said it found any increment of 4kb in bad sectors you are screwed. I also have found it to be very very rare for ram to ever be bad. I have seen it but usually the problem is speed setting for the ram in the bios or the ram is not what came with the PC. Dell is the worst for trying to add after market ram to. The others are getting nearly as bad.

[David]

I the check disk is on windows (I have xp sp3). I think it stated that the file was corrupt or something to that effect. You select properties of the hard drive and go to tools tab and select both boxes then reboot and windows will check the hard drive.

The Memtest86 finished with flying colors once I removed that 1 memory stick. The computer has not acted up or froze up since.

The girl's computer is a Dell optiplex GX270. I did have 3 gig of ram but since I took out the one, which was 1 gig stick, I only now have 2 gigs. I have had the memory in there for some time. I have heard of and seen (especially dells) having issues with memory. The memory was named brand, it was Corsair. But so far so good.

[Hermskii]

X KB in Bad Sectors is the part you want to know. Go control panel administrative tools, event viewer, select application on left, sort source section by name, scroll down to "WINLOGIN" on date you did the scan. Double click it to open. Find the part that says X KB in Bad Sectors and if that number is anything more than zero, back up everything and get a new hard drive now!

[gopostal]

Word.

Once a hard drive gets flaky at all, replace. Nothing will ruin your day more than waking up to a frozen HD. Get the data off while you can.

[Battlestar555]

lol i have a program that is the death blue screen but it's a joke b/c its a screen saver. i could upload it here if you guys want to lol. Like i said i going it to prank my friend with the blue screen and it actually works.

[Hermskii]

I have that screen saver on right now but don't forget, it is only good if they have XP since that is what it keeps acting like it is booting up before it acts like it crashes to a blue screen.

[David]

Word.

Once a hard drive gets flaky at all, replace. Nothing will ruin your day more than waking up to a frozen HD. Get the data off while you can.

Well........... ......I used the Seagate "tool" later after Windows corrected the issue and Seagate Tools "fixed" the issue and I scanned the hard drive afterwords a couple times afterwords and got no errors. But, I am taking the good solid advise by Herm and Gopostal and replace the hard drive. I have placed Seagate SATA hard drives in the kids computer twice. And they both fail early. I am going to replace it with a Western Digital.

I took my family on vacation for little over a week and had my kids spend time with my wife's parents and my parents. My Dad gave me a "good" used Hitachi hard drive. He claimed it was good when he took it out. When I did installed it, the computer did not find any hard drive connected (and yes I did check the wiring several times). Anyways, that was nice of my Dad trying to help, but I just bought a new one on line. I will get it done pretty quick once I get the hard drive. Thanks..

[Fuzz_Ball]

I hope your computer problems have been solved, David and Herm & Gopo offered some great advice.

In my past jobs, I've replaced MANY (possibly 100's) GX270s due to blown capacitors on the motherboard. This was a known Dell problem and can cause all sorts of problems including trashing disk sectors as they are written.

Take a close look at your motherboard for ANY swollen capacitors on the main board. They are tiny upright cylinders and should be completely flat on their tops. Any sign of leakage is also a bad sign (might look like brown sugar on top).

I wish the best for you but if you have at least ONE bad capacitor, back everthing up and look for a replacement board. One place I like to shop at is pricewatch.com.

[David]

Well, I replaced my kids computer with a 120 gig western digital hard drive. I am in the finishing part of my installs of needed software/programs (UT is already installed )

I hope that this hard drive will do better than the last two seagates.