Possible Hardware Failure - Suggestions Please

Discussion in 'hardware' started by TheKid7, Jan 28, 2013.

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  1. TheKid7

    TheKid7 Registered Member

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    Windows XP Pro 32 bit PC with Motherbard, CPU & RAM dated the 3rd quarter of 2006. My PC will boot, but Windows will not load fully after the login.

    At first I thought that my Crucial M4 128 GB SSD was failing. I ran a basic test with the hard drive diagnostics utility which comes with Parted Magic. I decided to go ahead and update the SSD's firmware to the latest which was successful. The original firmware version was already updated (from factory) with the firmware which fixed that famous problem a year or so ago. The same problem was there before and after the successful firmware update.

    I then decided to disconnect the SSD and restore a Windows System Partition Image to a 3.5" Internal 7200 rpm hard drive. The same problem was there after switching hard drives, but Windows managed to load a little further. My ESET NOD32 gets stuck in a Startup Scan and I cannot seem to stop it. This NOD32 startup scan also happened with the SSD drive before Windows stopped loading far enough for NOD32 to load.

    I ran MemTest86+ (Parted Magic) and no problems were found.

    Live Linux Distros seem to work fine.

    The S.M.A.R.T. shows no problems with all internal hard drives. Yes, I know that hard drive failure problems are detected well under 50% of the time with S.M.A.R.T. prior to their failure.

    Where do I go from here?

    Even though it may be a waste of time, I am now setting up to run a Full Scan of the Windows System Partition with the Kaspersky Rescue Disk 10.

    Thanks in Advance.
     
  2. TheKid7

    TheKid7 Registered Member

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    As Expected: No Malware detected.
     
  3. Noob

    Noob Registered Member

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    Save the image somewhere and install a fresh Windows copy. :rolleyes:
    If that doesn't works then it is probably a hardware failure but it's weird that your SSD, HDD and memory show no problems at all.
     
  4. Raza0007

    Raza0007 Registered Member

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    This looks like a windows problem and not a hardware problem. As suggested by Noob, install a fresh copy of windows and most likely your problem will be solved.
     
  5. TheKid7

    TheKid7 Registered Member

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    I used the ESET NOD32 uninstaller to remove NOD32 (It only worked in Safe Mode due to NOD32 refusing to Stop doing a Startup Scan.) Most everything seems to work OK after uninstalling NOD32 except that Windows will not Shutdown. Windows just hangs with nothing but the Wallpaper visible.

    I agree that it is beginning to look like a "wounded" Windows. However, it seems strange that a Restore of a Full Image that was made three weeks ago (when there was no detectable problem) does not work properly.

    When time permits I may attempt a repair install or just do a Format/Reinstall. Another option is to just upgrade to new hardware and install Windows 7 which I have already purchased some time ago.
     
  6. pandlouk

    pandlouk Registered Member

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