Author Topic: Wonderful in XP, but Vista had problems... (Read 19010 times)

joezapp · « **on:** June 18, 2015, 09:23:01 pm »

Hi. I used the windows repair tool on my old XP, and it went wonderfully. It fixed the 9 pre-scan errors, I ran the repair tool, and the computer is running very nicely. I didn't have as good an experience on my Vista. The situations going into the repairs were 1) NO pre-scan errors, 2) 12kb bad sectors on the disk (nothing new), 3) sfc shows some irreparable items (nothing new). My experience after running the repair tool is that Vista booted up VERY fast, which was nice. The problem, though, is that immediately after boot-up, the computer would freeze. After many forced shutdowns and reboots, it became apparent that this wouldn't go away, so I had to resort to system restore. I had to try a few different restore points to get the computer to work properly again. For the record, my computer has been freezing about once a day for 6 months.

It was SO disappointing that the computer became non-functional after such a wonderfully fast boot-up, and after the repair tool worked so well on my XP. I'm afraid to try it again, but I thought I should post in case this is a familiar problem with an easy resolution. Many thanks...

Julian · « **Reply #1 on:** June 18, 2015, 11:00:06 pm »

Quote from: joezapp on June 18, 2015, 09:23:01 pm

2) 12kb bad sectors on the disk (nothing new),

That is a dying hard drive Joezapp. I would recommend in buying a new hard drive back up your old drive and clone it on the new drive.
If you need steps in doing this let me know I can help you out.

Boggin · « **Reply #2 on:** June 19, 2015, 02:53:43 am »

A chkdsk /r may get you some respite but in doing so, some data can be lost - so you should make a system image before running that - but you should do so in any case in preparation for complete HDD failure.

Event Viewer should tell you which applications are failing and the trial version of HD Sentinel can give you an estimation of life expectancy for the HDD.

http://www.hdsentinel.com/

joezapp · « **Reply #3 on:** June 21, 2015, 08:27:21 am »

Thanks, Julian. Yes, I saw the writing on the wall, so I have backed everything up and picked up another computer. I will be moving my files to the other computer. This one is still functional, though, so I can make some use of it 'til the HD dies.

Thanks, Boggin. I've used Event Viewer so far to view the files that have been deleted and recovered by chkdsk. These files are unrecognizable, but it seems to delete and recover the same files. I'd be very interested to know which applications are failing, as maybe I can delete them altogether. How exactly can I utilize Event Viewer to see the specific applications that are failing? Thanks so much...

Boggin · « **Reply #4 on:** June 21, 2015, 09:14:30 am »

For both Critical and Error - click on each as applicable then on Show All Instances of This Event in the lower right pane and clicking on each in the upper pane will give a brief description in the lower one with an Event ID.

If MS tech library has anything on it, it will display when you click on the blue online help link.

To post any of the Event IDs, click on each then on Copy/Copy details as text in the lower right pane then right click in the reply box and select Paste.

Not sure if Vista has Reliability history, but in Win 7 go Start - start to type reliability and View reliability history should be highlighted to press enter or click on.

That will list anything that hasn't been working when you click on a red cross and sometimes clicking on the tech info link can give some info, but it never has for IE has stopped working, so I wouldn't hold your breath on that but if it lists problem items then at least you will see what is problematic.

I don't know why chkdsk /r is continually repairing the same files unless it doesn't have anywhere to put the repaired files, but as you have run a sfc /scannow, copy & paste this command at an elevated command prompt and then you can post the CBS log - but as the HDD is on its way to being goosed, then that may just be an academic exercise.

findstr /c:"[SR]" %windir%\Logs\CBS\CBS.log >"%userprofile%\Desktop\sfcdetails.txt"

Did you try the trial version of HD Sentinel to see its prediction ?

joezapp · « **Reply #5 on:** June 22, 2015, 04:29:56 pm »

This was a very educational post, Boggin! I had a fun couple hours with these tools that I never knew anything about.

Since I realize that the HDD is on limited time, I'll pass on the academic exercise. I'm also skipping HD Sentinel since I'm prepared for HDD failure, but I will keep it in mind for the future.

In Event Viewer I had no Criticals. There were many Errors and I examined them.

The Reliability, Stability, and Failure history were most interesting. I examined each failure and type. Fortunately, many of the applications that failed I am already no longer using.

I believe that I have not lost any data in My Documents...specifically Notepad documents, Word documents, Excel documents, and pictures...as chkdsk has done it's thing. It seems these haven't been affected. But what do I look for to know for sure? What would be the Source code for any Error documents in Event Viewer? Or maybe that would qualify as Critical?

Thanks so much...

Boggin · « **Reply #6 on:** June 23, 2015, 12:52:00 am »

Sudden shutdowns are the usual listed Critical.

Can you post the out put of the chkdsk /r.

You can do this by when you are viewing it, click on Copy/Copy details as text in the lower right pane then right click in the reply box and select Paste.

For some reason that I don't understand it duplicates the report in the reply box, so perhaps you could edit that before posting.

If all of your programs work and your files are intact, they may not have been in the bad sectors and the /r bit repairs any system files as required and moves them to undamaged areas of the disk.

If when you click on the blue online help link for each Error and that doesn't take you to the tech library, you will be prompted to enter the details into the search box which will take you onto some associated links which may fit your exact Event Viewer Error - else, a Google may produce more links.

As for applications you no longer use, if they are for programs that you have previously uninstalled, active remnants of them may remain in the registry to trigger those entries.

joezapp · « **Reply #7 on:** June 23, 2015, 03:14:37 pm »

Hi Boggin

I've had some sudden shutdowns, but they must not have been critical.

Yes, all programs work and all files do seem intact. I have no reason to believe, based on checking all the errors, that they are not intact. It does seem that chkdsk has only repaired system files, so that is good news. I'll go on the presumption that my backed-up document data is accurate. That is what is most important to me. Thanks so much for your help!

Boggin · « **Reply #8 on:** June 23, 2015, 03:44:32 pm »

Well, that should at least keep it going for a while longer, but I'd still install the free trial of HD Sentinel to keep an eye on things now and again.

On the odd occasion I install it from the Application.exe in my Downloads folder, I uninstall it until the next time so that the clock isn't ticking on it.

joezapp · « **Reply #9 on:** June 24, 2015, 03:48:58 pm »

Very interesting, Boggin. So there is a certain amount of time for the free trial, and the clock only runs when the program is in use/installed? And is the free trial IP address specific, or is it based on a userID and password? Thanks...

Boggin · « **Reply #10 on:** June 25, 2015, 01:10:05 am »

The trial is for 30 days and I assume it would have a built in clock.

I'm not sure if the number of times that I have reinstalled has accrued to 30 days yet, but you only need it installed long enough to see how the HDD is faring.

When you run it, a window pops up for you to enter your registration key which also has a Close box for you to continue.

I use IOBit Uninstaller so that no residue remains in the registry and it has reinstalled without any problems when I have decided to use it.

This is what it gives for mine, which I like because you don't need to know what all of the S.M.A.R.T. data means.

Shane · « **Reply #11 on:** June 25, 2015, 03:15:13 am »

As soon as bad sectors show up in the chkdsk the drive will only keep getting worse. The reason why is every drive has a set of spare sectors set aside, it is normally about 200 sectors. So when a sector goes bad it is remapped to a spare. The drive does this and Windows normally doesn't see it, you can see it by viewing the drives smart status.

So when Windows starts seeing bad sectors that means all the spare sectors are used, and if that many bad sectors are showing up then that means something is bad with the drive and more and more will keep coming till the drive is unreadable.

So when you ran the repairs a system file or even part of the registry could have ended up on a troubled sector and why things went bonkers after that, get your data as soon as you can if you havent already.

Shane

joezapp · « **Reply #12 on:** June 28, 2015, 02:02:03 pm »

Very interesting stuff, Boggin. Thanks for that. Glad to see that your HDD is in good shape!

Thanks, Shane, for the good explanation of what happened when I ran the repair tool. As far as the fact that more and more bad sectors will show up, ironically I have been stuck on 12 bad sectors for at least 6 months now. I first noticed the 12 bad sectors on 12/24. While the computer is not consistently stable, the majority of the time it is very functional, so I keep using it. Of course, my data is backed up.

It is probably rare that the 12 bad sectors prognosis has been maintained for such a long period, especially since I'm on the internet daily with the computer. I suppose I'm doing a good job at helping things not get any worse. For example, the computer has never picked up a virus or malware.

Shane · « **Reply #13 on:** June 29, 2015, 10:17:21 am »

The drive also has a thing called ECC which is built in error correction. Possible that is what has been keeping more bad sectors from showing up in scans.

Viewing the smart status of the drive would give you more details of how it is doing, but no matter what you may want to get a new drive soon

Shane

joezapp · « **Reply #14 on:** June 29, 2015, 04:10:31 pm »

Thanks for the info, Shane.

The idea of a S.M.A.R.T. scan made me think of something. I have HD Tune installed. The quick scan comes up all green and says my HDD is good. However, I can't perform a full scan. My computer freezes mid-scan. This is a familiar problem, as I can do a quick defrag but not a full defrag, and I can do a quick scan virus check but not a full scan. So I would anticipate that no matter what brand of utility that I were to use, the full scan would freeze my computer mid-scan.

Shane · « **Reply #15 on:** June 29, 2015, 04:22:07 pm »

That is most likely because once those scans hit a bad sector on the drive it comes to a screaming halt lol

Sometimes it isnt actually locked up, but instead waiting for the read or write command on that bad sector to finish, which depending how bad the sector is, can take a long time.

Shane

joezapp · « **Reply #16 on:** June 30, 2015, 03:11:36 pm »

I agree. That does seem to be what's happening.

I hate doing the hard reboot when it won't unlock on it's own. Has anybody ever had success using Ctrl+Alt+Delete to shut down softly? I've haven't had any success with it on any computer in many years...