Windows Installed Corrupted...AGAIN???

ninja_1980 · 31 Dec 2009 at 15:20

Hi
I’ve been building PCs for friends and family for the past few years. Recently I came a across a strange problem with my Dads machine I originally put together about 4 years ago. It 1st started with an “invalid system disk” error on booting. I took this opportunity to change the HD and perform a fresh install (I was getting a SMART error on the HD anyway). Now every couple of days the same thing happens. When I run the XP installation disk a new partition has been created (about 8Mb). I’ve ran both memory and HD diagnostics and these come up with no problems. Has anyone got any ideas????

wozencl · 31 Dec 2009 at 15:25

The 8mb is normal it's created by Windows setup and reserved.

As for the invalid system disk, is it definately trying to boot from the HDD? There are no other external HDD's or pen drives connected? The only reason I ask is sometimes people have their boot order in BIOS set to try these devices before trying a HDD.

alex24 · 31 Dec 2009 at 15:27

I'd test the hard drive again with the manufacturer software (DOS), the first problem could very well be a sign of it failing. Which SMART value was being tripped?

ninja_1980 · 31 Dec 2009 at 15:30

No pen drives or USB HDs are connected. The main HD is partitioned into two sections: BOOT and DATA. I would say the system fails after about 10-20 restarts everytime. I cant figure out what’s wrong with this one.

Thanks

alex24 · 31 Dec 2009 at 15:34

Could also be the cold weather. Is there an option to select a HDD boot delay in the BIOS? I would certainly find out the SMART values though and see which one was tripped.

wozencl · 31 Dec 2009 at 15:35

When you're re-installing, I'm guessing you've tried a few times, are the previous partitions still there or have they been deleted?

ninja_1980 · 31 Dec 2009 at 15:40

The BOOT partition was unreadable every time but the DATA section was fine.

I cant remember the exact SMART fault now. I only used a generic utility and it just gave me an overall failure indication (for the original drive). I’m going to test the new HD with the Samsung utility as soon as a have chance but the generic utility gave it thumbs up last time I ran it.

Jason1973 · 1 Jan 2010 at 11:55

Is the system being turned off correctly?

I had someone who would just flick the power socket switch to turn off the PC. Took me ages to figure it out aswell LOL.

atmax1 · 1 Jan 2010 at 12:34

I had a problem like that on a friend's pc, went threw the steps of trying a diffrent cd etc and then replaced the optical drive and it worked, so try that.