[Littleolady]

Hi phillpower2. Did you get my message about the results when I ran DiskBoss Pro??

Yes - I have run the memtest extensively and both sticks always checked out perfectly as did the hard drive test which also ran extensively.

The PSU is HP Switching (Model #DPS 220AB-2A,REV) with a maximum output of 220W. This is a small form factor computer.

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Hi Littleolady
Yes I got your PM but unfortunately there was nothing that shed any further light on the issue.

Yes - I have run the memtest extensively and both sticks always checked out perfectly

Yes but when tested one at a time I am asking.
Can you confirm that this is your HDD http://www.seagate.c...000f5ee0a0aRCRD

Just so you are aware Macboatmaster has been assisting with extensive research into your HDD and may have picked up on something so we await on whether the above HDD is the model you have or not, I got the details from your PCPitstop results, HDD is listed as DiskDrive ST3500418AS

[phillpower2]

Hi Littleolady
Yes I got your PM but unfortunately there was nothing that shed any further light on the issue.

Yes - I have run the memtest extensively and both sticks always checked out perfectly

Yes but when tested one at a time I am asking.
Can you confirm that this is your HDD http://www.seagate.c...000f5ee0a0aRCRD

Just so you are aware Macboatmaster has been assisting with extensive research into your HDD and may have picked up on something so we await on whether the above HDD is the model you have or not, I got the details from your PCPitstop results, HDD is listed as DiskDrive ST3500418AS

[Littleolady]

Thanks phillpower2.

Yes - when tested separately and yes - that is the hard drive....

[phillpower2]

Hi Littleolady

Yes - when tested separately

and yes - that is the hard drive....

Thank you for your update
Your MB is the IDE type but the HDD you appear to be having issues with is the SATA type and this may explain why !
You and we may only know this if you can enlighten us as to how the HDD is connected to the MB, is it by way of a SATA to IDE adapter perhaps ! Your present SATA HDD operates at a faster speed than the earlier IDE type but you may find a Seagate firmware update that will alleviate the problem @ http://seagate.custk...eyWord=firmware

[Littleolady]

Thank you phillpower2. The hard drive is attached directly to the motherboard with a red sata cable. I have attached a picture of the motherboard (not my actual one).

As to the website about updating the hard drive's firmware - were you able to find my exact hard drive which is ST3500418AS ?? I didn't see it.

Attached Thumbnails

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[phillpower2]

Did you enter all your relevant details there?
Many users there recommended the use of HDTune (free) http://www.hdtune.com/

[Macboatmaster]

phillpower2

I may be incorrect.
If I am I apologise.
From the details in Pitstop I cannot find that computer on the HP site.


However after a fair bit of searching I did find this

Hewlett-Packard s5713w Slimline.
As is it's running:

Single CPU Base Board
Manufacturer: PEGATRON CORPORATION
Product: 2A6C ------------------ and that is the motherboard that is listed in Pitstop but cannot verify version of this one but Littleolady`s is version 5
AMD Athlon™ II X2 240 Processor 2.8GHz
NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE nForce 430
Integrated RAMDAC
RAM: 256.0 MB
3gb DDR2
250watt psu

Here is yours from Pitstop
System MakeHewlett-Packard
System ModelSLIC-CPC
Main Board MakePEGATRON CORPORATION
Main Board Model2A6C
Main Board Version5.00


SLIC-CPC is not traceable.
I think the model of HP on the case may be of help.

Also and I am NOT certain this will prove relevant to the problem but - a 250 watt PSU.
What graphics original or an added card. - SEEN it NOW - apologies - it is the integrated graphics I think.

and as far as I can see that motherboard did NOT have sata3. The HDD drive is SATA3 and that is backwards compatible to SATA2 of course.
However do you see it as benefical to check on the HP site and update if available the SATA driver.


Hope it may help.

[Littleolady]

Thanks phillpower2. I have now run the Seagate tool for updating firmware on my hard drive - after running the test Seagate says there is no firmware update for that drive. As to HD tuneup program - I ran it but accomplished nothing.

Thanks Macboatmaster. As I mentioned in my earlier posts - this is a "refurbished" small form factor or what they refer to as an "HP Pavilion Slimline s5700 Desktop PC Series". I am not sure what they changed on it - but I believe that this model was originally packaged with the Windows 7 operating system. I believe they probably also changed out the CPU - not sure though. It came with no operating system and the warning that drivers would be difficult to find. I installed Windows XP Professional and was able to find all the necessary drivers. So when I went to the HP site to download all the updates as per the specs on this model - I was warned that those were for use on a Windows 7 system only.

I thought I was able to update some items - so to check I ran a quick chkdsk only with a command prompt and immediately got that same statement that the hard drive has too many files for it to check at full speed, etc. the same error message as before. I am now at a loss as to what to try - any other suggestions ?? Now keep in mind that the computer runs perfectly and quickly - so is that error even problem at all ??

[Macboatmaster]

1

Thanks Macboatmaster. As I mentioned in my earlier posts - this is a "refurbished" small form factor or what they refer to as an "HP Pavilion Slimline s5700 Desktop PC Series

It is really a matter of little importance - but if you did post the model - I cannot find where. If I missed it, please accept my apologies.

2.

Now keep in mind that the computer runs perfectly and quickly - so is that error even problem at all ??

While the system is running well- POSSIBLY NOT.
When for some reason you need to run chkdsk /f - to repair file errors, it could prove to be a considerable problem, if however long it takes, it WILL not run to completion - could it not?

3.

It came with no operating system

I installed Windows XP Professional and was able to find all the necessary drivers.

I was warned that those were for use on a Windows 7 system only.

In the light of the above quote in red. I presume you did not install them.

In broad terms, for any drivers, albeit they may install and the device may apparently function correctly, without any warning in device manager,
It is vital that the chipset drivers for the motherboard are installed first - after the operating system.
These drivers commission the chipset which is in itself responsible for the control of many aspects of the motherboard.

Without becoming more technical than is necessary
Please see this image - as to what is routed via the chipsets.



Perhaps you may now see that the issue is not quite as simple as it may seem.

Windows XP is fairly good at installing generic drivers and in some cases the actual correct driver.
Microsoft spent serious money in liaison with the various manufacturers to incorporate drivers into the XP install database

Vista and especially Windows7 have an even greater capability to recognise and install the correct chipset drivers.

HOWEVER that does not mean that you should NOT do so, either in the first instance from the CD/DVD provided with the motherboard AND of course then from the latest available for that operating system from the motherboard manufacturers site.

There are without doubt, many people who NEVER do this. Their system runs without any apparent problems.

There are also of course many people who install a generic graphics driver, instead of the driver offered by either the computer manufacturer - Dell, HP etc, in the case of a branded computer
OR the motherboard manufacturer, if it is an onboard graphics chip. AND the system may function perfectly.

There are also many people who install the latest Nvidia driver for the Graphics Processor on for instance an EVGA or Zotec graphics card, or a graphics card in a branded computer, again Dell etc, rather than the one offered on the card manufacturers site or the Dell site. HOWEVER the latest driver on the Nvidia site is NOT always the right driver for the EVGA etc card.

Finally it seems to me that you should address what I have previously outlined and that is:-
To which SATA port on the motherboard is the hard drive connected. - many motherboards of that age AND I DO NOT KNOW that one - had SATA and SATA2 connections.
Your hard drive is SATA3 - I have already explained that it will be backwards compatible
Nevertheless you should ensure it is connected to the SATA2 if available. (OR of course SATA3 but I doubt if it has that)

In the light of your last post and DEPENDING on where you found your XP drivers AND depending on which IF ANY chipset driver you installed (OR simply relied on the XP installation) AND depending on the result of your enquiries into the SATA connection - this problem MAY not ever be resolved.

I hope you will find the information useful
I apologise if you find it too technical - but there really was no way of simplifying the explanation - without losing the meaning.

NB
I commenced one of my previous posts with an apology to my colleague phillpower2 for the interjection. Unless your reply raises any issues relating DIRECTLY to this post, I will leave you with Phillpower2.

[Littleolady]

Thanks Macboatmaster !!

That was quite a post - I've been spending quite awhile just trying to digest all the information and/or understand it....

You talked about the chipset and various drivers - I reviewed and ran more tests and I believe I do have the current and correct chipset and drivers for this motherboard. The motherboard chipset is nForce 520LE; graphics driver is nForce 430 with video 6150SE and audio is Realtek High Definition Audio with the most current driver.

Now what I was not aware of is that they had to be installed in a certain order - I may not have done that.....I don't know. Oh and there was no CD/DVD provided with this computer for those - I had to search them down on-line.

The other item you mentioned was the SATA port connection. This particular motherboard appears to come in a variety of configurations for those connections - but none show the SATA connections like mine. Mine has four SATA connections - white, blue, yellow and black. They have numbers beside each of them starting with 0, 1, 2, & 3. The hard drive was originally connected to 0 - I changed it to 3 - but I have no idea if that means it is a SATA 3 connection, probably not.

Thank you very much for all your hard work and research - this is all the information I have to give you and don't know what else to do at this point. Do you think I should reformat the hard drive and reinstall the operating system and then be very careful to install the chipset and drivers in their proper order? Everything seems to be just fine on it otherwise.

There is obviously way too many files on the hard drive for some reason. (DiskBoss Pro stopped analyzing the hard drive at five million files) I have hardly put anything on it other than the operating system and a Microsoft Suite. It is now down to 85% available - in the past when I have done the exact same thing on different computers the available hard drive space was substantially higher on a 500 gig hard drive. If it is having trouble now with the available space - what is going to happen when I start to actually install programs ??

[phillpower2]

Thanks once again Macboatmaster for your continued assistance and support
Hi Littleolady

Do you think I should reformat the hard drive and reinstall the operating system

This is always one of the last things that we would suggest, however as this is a recent installation I do not feel that it would do any harm, do you have any data on the HDD that you wish to back up?
If you do decide to do a fresh install I suggest that you obtain and save either to disk or a thumb drive all of the drivers that you will need, you should also subscribe to Hp to get drivers and any other future available updates https://h30046.www3..../en/subhub.aspx also try http://www.innovativ....com/drivermax/ you can only download two drivers a day for free there though and finally before you do the fresh install wipe the HDD totally clean with http://www.dban.org/ as ever we will be on hand if you need us.

[Littleolady]

Thanks to both of you phillpower2 and Macboatmaster!

If we were not going to be able to figure out the problem (which is extremely obscure) then I always thought I would simply reformat and try it again. In answer to your question about information on the HDD - no I don't have anything important on it yet and except for all the time spent in installing and updating it - I don't have a problem with starting over on it. Yes I will save all the appropriate chipset and driver information before I do that and appreciate the websites you provided for that purpose.

Unfortunately I will not have an opportunity start this new operation until after Christmas. After I have fully completed the re-installation - I will post back with the results - it may take awhile so be aware of that.

Until then - thank you both so much - I doubt I could have figured this all out without your help!

[phillpower2]

Thank you for the update Littleolady
We will be here should you need us when you do the format and fresh install, meanwhile enjoy the festive season.