[SGrundy]

Don't know if I have the dexterity to be honest.

I hate to pay Staples another cent, because they should have tested the power supply when they ran the diagostics on it. They charge $69.00 and something an hour and it will probably be over a hundred with the cost of a new power supply.

If you are pretty sure that this is the problem I will have to make a decision?

Edited by SGrundy, 21 October 2012 - 01:03 PM.

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From my reply #13

Swapping in a known good power supply is the only thing that you can do now, can you borrow one for testing purposes.

As you are unable to do this I suggest that you look for a local tech store who can test the present PSU for you, many will do this for free so check out as many as you can and hopefully you will have one local who does.

Please note that I suggested borrowing a PSU for testing if you could so that you did not spend cash on a new PSU only to find that the issue was still present, all we have to go on are the results of the tests that you have run and they each point to a bad PSU, a free test of the present PSU and borrowing a PSU for testing purposes are the best two suggestions that I can make I`m afraid.

[phillpower2]

From my reply #13

Swapping in a known good power supply is the only thing that you can do now, can you borrow one for testing purposes.

As you are unable to do this I suggest that you look for a local tech store who can test the present PSU for you, many will do this for free so check out as many as you can and hopefully you will have one local who does.

Please note that I suggested borrowing a PSU for testing if you could so that you did not spend cash on a new PSU only to find that the issue was still present, all we have to go on are the results of the tests that you have run and they each point to a bad PSU, a free test of the present PSU and borrowing a PSU for testing purposes are the best two suggestions that I can make I`m afraid.

[SGrundy]

I have talked to a few local computer techs about my problems as you adviced and all of them say it's probably not the power supply. Most want me to get the computer bench analyzed or buy a new one from them. It gets so frustrating.

I have a quick question for you. I have run a chkdsk \r and it came up with 224 kb in bad sectors. I think it has been like this since I bought it. Now, I have heard that every hard drive has some bad sectors. These techs are telling no, and that this is probably my problem.

I know you feel it is my PSU, but before I end up buying more parts or paying for more tests I just want to be sure.

[phillpower2]

I for one do not wish you to spend anything without 100% concrete evidence it will resolve the issue.
The testing that you have done by request here has cost you nothing, we volunteer our time here for free so that if possible those in need of tech assistance do not get ripped off by one of the many unscrupulous traders out there.

There should not be any bad sectors on your HDD, can you do the following for us please;

First;

Go to Start then to Run/Search
Type in compmgmt.msc and click Enter
On left side click on Disk Management
On right side you will see your hard drive.
Now I need you to take a screenshot and attach it to your next reply.
Do the following to take a screenshot while the above is open and showing on your desktop.

To capture and post a screenshot;

Click on the ALT key + PRT SCR key..its on the top row..right hand side..now click on start...all programs...accessories...paint....left click in the white area ...press CTRL + V...click on file...click on save...save it to your desktop...name it something related to the screen your capturing... BE SURE TO SAVE IT AS A .JPG ...otherwise it may be to big to upload... then after typing in any response you have... click on browse...desktop...find the screenshot..select it and click on the upload button...then on the lower left...after it says upload successful...click on add reply like you normally would.

Attach the screenshot with your next reply and then do the test below;

Run the HDDs diagnostics tool;

Make sure you select the tool that is appropriate for the brand of your hard drive http://www.tacktech....ay.cfm?ttid=287
Depending on the program it'll create a bootable floppy or a bootable CD.
If the downloaded file is the .iso type use ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/ to burn the .iso file to a CD (select "Write image file to disc" option) and make the CD bootable.

Let us know the results of the test please.

[SGrundy]

You misunderstand if you think I am at anyway blaming you for anything. I appreciate any and all help you have given me. I just wanted to ask a question about hard drives, as mine has 24 kbs in bad sectors. Everyone I called will not give me any info without some kind of money being charged
which I suppose is understandable. But, telling me I need to buy a new computer doesn't make me feel like they are being totally honest about everything. That is why I asked you.

I attached the file you asked for. I am working on the rest.

Thanks
Solomon

[phillpower2]

No misunderstanding as what I was pointing out was that you appear to have had the misfortune of dealing with unhelpful and mercenary traders who have dismissed a bad PSU as the cause without any good reason or indeed any testing of their own, I personally would not deal with such people.

Thanks for the screenshot which shows no issues

I will wait for the next test results before suggesting anything further.

[SGrundy]

I ran the test and got a 0x00 which I guess means no problems. It took awhile for it to dawn on me that a it was a bootable disk and not an auto play. Just wasn't thinking.

Edited by SGrundy, 31 October 2012 - 07:22 AM.

[phillpower2]

What is your brand of HDD please.

[The Skeptic]

Hi phillpower2.

I hope you don't mind me jumping in. I think that you are doing an excellent job in this thread. I fully agree with your diagnosis about faulty PS. This part of the system is absolutely crucial and many people (and technicians) fail to recognize this.

I just wanted to add that when you run chkdsk /r the program locate faulty sectors and mark them as such so that the CPU does not approach them any more. At the end of the test you get a report of how many bad sectors you had had, but now they are neutralized. I would recommend that SGrundy run chkdsk /r again and see what the results are.

Replacing the computer at this stage is absolutely premature and there is a lot to be done before reaching such a drastic conclusion.

I feel that SGrundy will have no choice but to shell out the money required for a new PSU. Actually they are not expensive (a decent one cost about 20$ where I live, excluding installation). Replacing a PSU is quite simple and can be accomplished in less then 30 minutes. I understand his reluctance to do that by himself so maybe he could find someone who could help him.

[phillpower2]

Thanks for your input The Skeptic

As pointed out by The Skeptic with chkdsk /r bad sectors are ignored in the future, unlike chkdsk /f which if possible and authorized will fix damaged files on the HDD, chkdsk /r can also take many hours to complete and once started it should not be interrupted.

[SGrundy]

It is a "Hitachi HDP725050GLA SCSI Disk Device"

[phillpower2]

Please see http://www.hgst.com/...r_Guide_415.pdf

[SGrundy]

I ran another chkdsk /r and here are the results.

Checking file system on C:
The type of the file system is NTFS.
Volume label is HP.

A disk check has been scheduled.
Windows will now check the disk.
259520 file records processed.

1058 large file records processed.

0 bad file records processed.

0 EA records processed.

92 reparse records processed.

333388 index entries processed.

0 unindexed files processed.

259520 security descriptors processed.

Cleaning up 281 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 281 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 281 unused security descriptors.
36935 data files processed.

CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
37090976 USN bytes processed.

Usn Journal verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying file data (stage 4 of 5)...
259504 files processed.

File data verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying free space (stage 5 of 5)...
49214901 free clusters processed.

Free space verification is complete.
CHKDSK discovered free space marked as allocated in the
master file table (MFT) bitmap.
Windows has made corrections to the file system.

479110112 KB total disk space.
281766460 KB in 214857 files.
95212 KB in 36936 indexes.
224 KB in bad sectors.
388612 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
196859604 KB available on disk.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
119777528 total allocation units on disk.
49214901 allocation units available on disk.

Edited by SGrundy, 30 October 2012 - 06:40 PM.

[The Skeptic]

Do you still have BSODS? If yes, Please run Hitachie's HD test. Run the long (or full test). If the HD pass the test then my opinion is that the next step must be PSU replacement. If you need any help with creating the bootable CD for the test then I am sure phillpower2 can help you.

When a computer is checked in the lab the technician connect another PSU temporarily and if that doesn't make any difference he puts back the original PSU. Usually we recommend to do the same even with a PSU taken from an old, or another working computer, just for test purposes. If that cannot be done then, Unfortunately, you will have to pay for the service.

phillpower2, I am out. Good luck to both of you.

[SGrundy]

I did run the test and I got the code 0x00 which means no errors according to the guide.

Thanks for all the help.
Solomon

Edited by SGrundy, 31 October 2012 - 07:24 AM.