[trexdad]

Oops - I mean Thursday morning.

[Advertisements]

No problem and Wednesday morning is fine for me. I am normally hear most of the day.
I will check for the response first thing in the morning. Here are the first steps to take.

Click HD diagnostic in my signature below. Choose the manufacturer of your hd. Download the tool. Running this will tell us if there is a problem with HD itself. If not then we will pursue other hardware or software possibilities


Let's check your memory and make sure there is no issue with it. Download memtest86 from the link in my signature below.


Get the file that is named Download - The one you want is "Download - Pre-compiled Bootable ISO (.zip). When it downloads, it will be labeled memtest86+2.11.iso.zip
Unzip the file once you download it. You should have a .iso file in the unzipped directory. It will look like a zip file in some cases but the file name will now be memtest86+2.11.iso

if you don't have a burning program that will burn .ISO files get burncdcc in my signature below.

NOTE...do not put a blank cd in until burncdcc opens the tray for you
1. Start BurnCDCC
2. Browse to the ISO file you want to burn on cd/dvd ....in this case its memtest86.iso
3. Select the ISO file
4. click on Start

Make sure the bios is set for the cd drive as the first boot device
Put the cd in the cd drive and then boot your computer.

Running the Diagnostic Program:

The basic diagnostic screen has five main sections of relevant information. Three at the top which are labeled, PASS %, TEST %, and TEST #. This will basically show you the total progress of the current test, the overall progress of the diagnostic test, and the test number is currently performing.

On the middle left hand side of the of the program interface there is a “Wall Time” section that will keep track of how long the diagnostic test has been running for. This just gives you an idea if you are not attending the testing process.

The main section to look for is the lower half of the screen which is usually blank. As long as the memory testing is going ok with no errors this section of the screen should remain blank. If the diagnostic program finds any serious faults in the memory you will see it display a memory dump of address’s in this section. This is similar to what is displayed on your screen when you encounter a blue screen of death.

You now have most everything you need to know about setting up and testing your memory with diagnostic programs. This guide should help you get to the source of any intermittent problems related to your memory.

Run memtest for at least 2 hours
If it starts showing any errors during that time then you will have to replace the memory
If there are no errors after 2 hours press Esc and that will end the tests
We will then try other options

[rshaffer61]

No problem and Wednesday morning is fine for me. I am normally hear most of the day.
I will check for the response first thing in the morning. Here are the first steps to take.

Click HD diagnostic in my signature below. Choose the manufacturer of your hd. Download the tool. Running this will tell us if there is a problem with HD itself. If not then we will pursue other hardware or software possibilities


Let's check your memory and make sure there is no issue with it. Download memtest86 from the link in my signature below.


Get the file that is named Download - The one you want is "Download - Pre-compiled Bootable ISO (.zip). When it downloads, it will be labeled memtest86+2.11.iso.zip
Unzip the file once you download it. You should have a .iso file in the unzipped directory. It will look like a zip file in some cases but the file name will now be memtest86+2.11.iso

if you don't have a burning program that will burn .ISO files get burncdcc in my signature below.

NOTE...do not put a blank cd in until burncdcc opens the tray for you
1. Start BurnCDCC
2. Browse to the ISO file you want to burn on cd/dvd ....in this case its memtest86.iso
3. Select the ISO file
4. click on Start

Make sure the bios is set for the cd drive as the first boot device
Put the cd in the cd drive and then boot your computer.

Running the Diagnostic Program:

The basic diagnostic screen has five main sections of relevant information. Three at the top which are labeled, PASS %, TEST %, and TEST #. This will basically show you the total progress of the current test, the overall progress of the diagnostic test, and the test number is currently performing.

On the middle left hand side of the of the program interface there is a “Wall Time” section that will keep track of how long the diagnostic test has been running for. This just gives you an idea if you are not attending the testing process.

The main section to look for is the lower half of the screen which is usually blank. As long as the memory testing is going ok with no errors this section of the screen should remain blank. If the diagnostic program finds any serious faults in the memory you will see it display a memory dump of address’s in this section. This is similar to what is displayed on your screen when you encounter a blue screen of death.

You now have most everything you need to know about setting up and testing your memory with diagnostic programs. This guide should help you get to the source of any intermittent problems related to your memory.

Run memtest for at least 2 hours
If it starts showing any errors during that time then you will have to replace the memory
If there are no errors after 2 hours press Esc and that will end the tests
We will then try other options

[trexdad]

Well, I knew I should have waited until the morning. I tried to pull the HD diagnostics for Samsung but it unzips the folder and shows text file instead of as ISO file. What to do next about this? I went directly onto Samsung site and tried from there with no luck either.

I am calling it a night now and will check in the morning.

[rshaffer61]

Not sure unless you have something like notepad associated to view it.
Do you have one of the following
Winzp
Winrar
Bitzipper

These are what you would use to open the zip file. What browser do you use?
Are you saving the file to your desktop or "opening it with"

[trexdad]

My browser is IE7. I am using the Miscrosft file extractor to unzip the files. It worked ok w/ the other files. I am saving the file to my computer.

[rshaffer61]

Try downloading the Seatools HD diagnostic. It seems to work with most of the HD now.
I'm not sure why you only have a text file after unzipping the zip file.
As I said the only reason I can think of is that for some reason your system has associated ISO files with Notepad

Have you tried the Memtest yet?

[trexdad]

I was able to unzip and get the other ISO files ok. I did a search and found Samsung has a couple of HDD downloads:

ES-Tool (The Drive Diagnostic Utility) v2.12a (03.12.2009)
ES Tool (The Drive Diagnostic Utility) is made with the aim of testing a Samsung hard disk drive while it is installed inside a PC, regardless of the status of user's operating system. In fact of the drives returned to Samsung, a large percentage are NTF("No Trouble Found") after testing. So it is strongly recommended to test the drive if it is truly defective by a few fundamental troubleshooting of ES Tool first, to avoid user's unnecessary effort and inconvenience of replacing a good drive.

- Download ES-Tool for FDD (Direct Link)
- Download ES-Tool Bootable CD ISO (Direct Link)
- View Additional Information


HUTIL (Diagnostic Utility for New Drives) v2.10 (10.08.2007)
Hutil (The Drive Diagnostic Utility) is made with the aim of testing a Samsung hard disk drive while it is installed inside a PC, regardless of the status of user’s operating system. In fact of the drives returned to Samsung, a large percentage are NTF(“No Trouble Found”) after testing. So it is strongly recommended to test the drive if it is truly defective by a few fundamental troubleshooting of Hutil first, to avoid user’s unnecessary effort and inconvenience of replacing a good drive.

- Download HUTIL for FDD (Direct Link)
- Download HUTIL Bootable CD ISO (Direct Link)
- View Additional Information

When I used your signature link, I was directed to the HUTIL. I'm just wondering if the ES-Tool would work.

I willrun the memtest now and will let you know the results later this morning.

Thanks again for the help.

[rshaffer61]

You can try the other ES-Tool and if that does not work then try the Seatools

[trexdad]

I was able to download & unzip to a ISO file ok with the ES-Tool. I will run this after I finish with the memtest.

Thanks.

[rshaffer61]

You are welcome and good job with the ES-Tool
I knew you could do it.

[trexdad]

Well, the memory test ran for 2 1/2 hours with no errors. However I then ran the HD Diagnostics and received the error attached.

Attached Files

•  error.pdf   128.81KB   138 downloads

[rshaffer61]

OK at this point stop everything.
You need to backup any important data now.
The best thing to do is try a linux live boot disk. Try this one and get all your data you need saved backed up.
Then we can proceed.

Get Puppy Linux Download this file:
puppy-2.16-seamonkey-fulldrivers.iso
and burn it to cd
..
if you don't have a burning program that will burn .ISO files get burncdcc from my signature below ..a small FAST no frills iso burning program...

NOTE...do not put a blank cd in until burncdcc opens the tray for you
1. Start BurnCDCC
2. Browse to the ISO file you want to burn on cd/dvd ....in this case its puppy-2.16-seamonkey-fulldrivers.iso
3. Select the ISO file
4. click on Start


make sure in the bios the cd drive is the first boot device....

put the cd in the cd drive..boot your computer....puppy will boot and run totally in ram...if your hardware is in good working order you will know...
after you get it running and your at the desktop...you take the puppy linux cd out and then you can use the burner to copy all yor data to cd/dvds
you can also use it to backup your data to a external usb harddrive..You must have it hooked to the computer when you boot up with puppy.

[trexdad]

All set w/ backing up/copying important files. Just an FYI - I don't have program disks because the programs were preloaded.

[rshaffer61]

OK is there a sticker on the side of the system with the registration number and what version of windows was originally loaded?

[trexdad]

yes