[Matasovsky]

At the end of the night I set my computer to "Restart".

Woke up the next morning to see it still hadn't shut down.

Held the button 5 sec. to shut it off. Turned it back on and got the "Blue Screen of Death" with a message saying something about something being "Unmounted". Suggested removing any recently added Hardware or Software. Also suggested doing something with the BIOS if the first suggestion didn't work.

Got it up in Safe Mode on the third attempt.

Ran a spyware and picked up 6 things. Nothing seemed like it would cause the kind of problems I was having.

While running, the AntiSpyware software had the following two messages saying some files were currupt and unreadable.

Did a CHKDSK as suggested to find some things were unreadable....also had issues in the index....Said the Volume was dirty...

deleted the file wmpshell.dll, which was corrupted and unreadable.

I showed my IT guy the messages I was getting and he said it sounded like my hard drive was starting to fail and to start backing up while I've got the chance.

I'm looking for a second opinion (while I'm backing up).

Does this sound correct to everyone else? Or would someone like to read the messages I had before coming to a conclusion?

Thanks to any help one can provide.

Mark Matasovsky

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Please reboot in normal mode and write exactly what the message on BSOD was.

[The Skeptic]

Please reboot in normal mode and write exactly what the message on BSOD was.

[Matasovsky]

BSOD??

Before I re-boot, I'll find the paper with the messages I wrote down and post them.

I don't want to re-boot and it never come back.

[Matasovsky]

This showed up as “Pop-up” messages in the lower right corner as I was running the Spyware software.

SuperAntiSpyware.Exe: Corrupt File
The File or Directory
C:\Windows\System32\wmpshell.dll
Is corrupt and unreadable. Please run the CHKDSK Utility.

SuperAntiSpyware.Exe: Corrupt File
The File or Directory
C:\Programe Files\Grisoft\AVG Anti-Spyware 7.5\
Is corrupt and unreadable. Please run the CHKDSK Utility.

While running CHKDSK from the MS-Dos Prompt, I received these:

1. CHKDSK is verifying files (Stage 1 of 3):
39% Complete
File Record Segment 46900 is Unreadable
“ “ 46901 “ “
“ “ 46902 “ “
“ “ 46903 “ “
“ “ 46901 “ “
“ “ 84024 “ “

Can not continue in Read-Only.

Upon re-booting again in Normal Mode, Windows XP ran CHKDSK automatically before I even got to a desktop

1. CHKDSK is verifying files (Stage 1 of 3):
39% Complete
File Record Segment 46900 is Unreadable
“ “ 46901 “ “
“ “ 46902 “ “
“ “ 46903 “ “
“ “ 46901 “ “
2. CHKDSK is verifying Indexes (Stage 2 of 3):
Correcting Error in Index $I130 in file 90915

Sorting index $I30 in file 90915
Deleting index entry wmpshell.dll in index $I30 of file 2898.

Recovering Orphaned Files

[The Skeptic]

Could you tell us the make and model of this disk? I suggest that you download a a bootable diagnostic program from the manufacturer's site and run it. If you give me the details I can help you with a link.

[Matasovsky]

All I can tell you right now (I'm at work) is it is a Dell Dimension 2400. I don't have info on the mfr of the hard drive, itself. If that info is available through the manuals they provided when I bought it, I'll find it when I look them over tonight.

[Matasovsky]

Please explain a "bootable diagnostic".

[The Skeptic]

All disk manufacturers has diagnostic progerams that are much stronger then microsoft's check disk. Running these programs can give you a definitive answer about the disk condition. To make it independent of windows they create a bootable disk which the computer use for bootup, bypassing windows. This, in very simple words, what the bootable cd does.

I don't see any reason to think that the disk is failing. If you backed your data then you can reformat the disk and I am quite convinced that it will work well. If you take this step make sure that all data is backed up and you have the installation disks of your applications.

[Matasovsky]

I'll look through the manuals and see what it tells me on the Hard Drive. From there, I'll proceed with your instructions.

Something I forgot to mention, since this happened (yesterday), my Windows Media Player is not working and asked to be reinstalled. Asks if I want to do it from the Microsoft website (I assume it means download the latest version, since I have to reinstall).

Just another piece of the puzzle.

After running the diagnostic, I'll post the findings.

Prefer to NOT reformat.

I tried that with a Micron Computer when I was having trouble with Windows 98. Backed up our info and reformatted. Seemed like it was almost worse, afterward. Ended up getting the Dell to replace it.

[Matasovsky]

I don't have anything identifying the manufacturer of the hard drive. Under Device manager, listed under manufacturer for the Disk Drive is "Standard Disk Drives".

Any suggestions?

[The Skeptic]

Down load Everest from my link. Install it and go to Storage > Physical Drives. The top line will show "drive no. 1". Please quote exactly what is written there.

[Matasovsky]

Click the link, but all I see is a "Majorgeek.com" header. Everything below it is green, nothing to "Save Target as".

[The Skeptic]

Download from here.

[Matasovsky]

OK, I'm at work now and downloaded the 3.99 MB file in 30 seconds.

I'll run this at home and report back what it finds.

I've got a dial-up connection at home.

Anything else I should download while I'm at work and can take advantage of the faster connection?

[Matasovsky]

Drive #1 - ST340014A (37 GB) is what it says.

Incidentally, I recognized the same message I got on someone elses post.

It was "UNMOUNTABLE BOOT VOLUME".