[RKinner]

Get SIW from
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/siw.html

Download, Save and Run it.

Under Hardware look for Storage Devices and click on it. In the right pane you will see your hard drive. This will tell you who makes it and the model number. Go to the drive maker's website and almost always they will have a diagnostic program for you to download and run. (You may have to save it as an iso image and then burn it to a bootable cd then boot off it to run the program.) Usually they have a quick test and an Extended test. Make sure the extended test is non-destructive and run it. This will probably need to run overnight depending on the size of your drive. When if finally finishes (the last one I ran took 16 hours) it will tell you if it found any problems and if it did it will ask if you want it to try and fix them. Say Yes. But I expect you really should go shopping for a new drive.

SIW also usually has a Temperature reading in the drive section. Check to make sure it is not reading high. Mine reads about 33 C or 91 F. If high check your vents for dust or blockage and make sure your fans are working.
There is another temperature reading under Sensors which will show your CPU temp.

You should probably also run a RAM check.
http://oca.microsoft.../en/windiag.asp

Ron

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thank you. i shall run those and come back to post.
//it's not the shopping for, but the installing of a new hard drive that might prove tricky...

[korhinta]

thank you. i shall run those and come back to post.
//it's not the shopping for, but the installing of a new hard drive that might prove tricky...

[korhinta]

i ran siw and said "seagate"... i went to their website, found this:
http://www.seagate.c...000dd04090aRCRD
i got the "...for windows" and i got an error message.
then i got the "...for dos" version, and it's an iso as you said, but i want to make sure it's not destructive before i run it, if you could check that for me. (thanks for the millionth time.)

siw also said temp in drive section is 40 C / 104 F. is that ok? (it's a laptop, and i just switched on like half an hour ago...)

Edited by korhinta, 07 June 2010 - 02:00 AM.

[RKinner]

Your temps aren't bad for a laptop.

The test is safe.

Changing a drive is not as hard as you might think. The simple way to do it is to buy a USB adapter for your new hard drive then you can use the cd that comes with the drive to make the new drive a clone of the old one. Once you have done that it's just a little fumbling with screws to physically install it. The adapters are available on amazon.com for about $10 or less. You just have to know what type you need.

Ron

Edited by RKinner, 04 June 2010 - 07:13 PM.

[korhinta]

okies. will burn the cd, and if it boots from it i'll be back once it's done... thanks again.

[korhinta]

can't get it to boot from the cd...
i followed the instructions here:
http://seagate.custk...f...&NewLang=en
then looked here:
http://seagate.custk...f...&NewLang=en
i pressed f2 and got to the menu, went on "boot"... well, there's no floppy on my compu, so i just moved cdrom up to the first position, and... nothing.

if you can tell me where i got it wrong, i'd appreciate it, otherwise i'll just try again after i get some sleep. thanks anyway.

[RKinner]

I expect you didn't make the CD correctly. With most of the CD burners I'm familiar with you have to do a Disk Copy from Image. If you just burn the file to a CD you get a CD with a dot iso file on it which is not a bootable cd.

If you don't have anything but Windows you need to download one of these:
http://www.techmixer...-list-download/

Ron

[korhinta]

i have nti cd+dvd maker: http://www.nticorp.c...ome/default.asp? which came with the laptop...

i did data cd > file > create disc from iso disc image file. it just burned a 7 mb file on it.

hmm, i just noticed that there is a "bootable cd" box that i didn't see to tick. will burn another one, see if it's any different.

[korhinta]

hope this cd will work... will (try to) run it overnight.

on a sidenote, and to make sure, am i in the clear with regards to malware, etc.? (been waiting to re-connect external hd, ipod, etc, and to access sensitive websites)

[RKinner]

I think you are clean.

Ron

[korhinta]

bah, nada... can't get it to boot from the cd. i burned another one with nti, with "bootbale cd" box ticked, nothing. then i downloaded http://www.imgburn.c...hp?act=download from the freeware list you gave me (thanks again), still nothing...

will try to do the ram check, though this also requires iso burn, so i don't have high hopes...

anyway, since i'm malware free, where does that leave me (if i don't run the drive/ram checks)? am i going on with the shellexview "deductive" method (page 1, post 9)? shall i just look to replace the drive?
i don't want to be wasting your time.

Edited by korhinta, 05 June 2010 - 04:35 PM.

[RKinner]

You can try the shellexview method if you want. I sort of feel your drive is dying so maybe you should save stuff you don't want to lose to CDs.

Ron

[korhinta]

i'll do the shellexview, and keep trying to burn the iso cd(s) too...

[the rest of the post has nothing to do with malware anymore, so if i have to start a new thread for it, in another sub-forum, just tell me where...]

"dying" how fast? approximately, an educated guess perhaps...
my current drive is partitioned in two, one i keep for the system&software exclusively (more of which later), the other is files i'm working on atm, which i can copy to my external drive tomorrow if i have to.

i haven't shopped for it yet, but i think i could afford to replace the drive next month, if not this one.
my concerns are:

1.i don't have a cd for windows. it came with the laptop, and whenever i wanted to "format", i pushed a magic button instead, which returned the compu to just-out-of-factory mode. will i be able to "clone" this to the new drive? or otherwise...? (same goes for my software, most of it was pre-installed -the rest of it is mostly freeware/things i can re-install)

2.i have never in my life opened a computer (and tbh all these "do not remove cover -only authorized personnel" stickers terrify me). is the replacing of the drive so easy, or will i be able to find a foolproof guide somewhere on this forum?

many many thanks, once more.

[RKinner]

No idea how much time you have but I would not wait too long.

The magic button is a hidden partition on your hard drive. It should copy over if you do a drive clone.

What make and model do you have? Often there is a video to show you how to do it.

Ron

[korhinta]

good news about the hidden partition, thanks

it's an acer aspire 5633 wlmi... where do i look for the video?

Edited by korhinta, 06 June 2010 - 11:45 PM.