On booting up the computer

[Vivienne]

Hi

Whenever I start the computer the following happens:

Chkdsk runs - correcting errors on drive C:

I don't know how to capture what is on the screen so I don't know if they are always the same errors.

The monitor is distorted for awhile:

The edges are shaggy and it is kind of wavy. This corrects itself eventually.

The icons are quickly shown on the screen and then disappear and come back. When they do, the Quick Launch icons are all wrong. This eventually corrects itself.

Do you have any ideas of what is going wrong? Do you need to know any hardware info? The computer is about 5 years old and I am using XP.

Thanks!!

Vivienne

[kelly]

I believe the hard drive is failing. Backup as soon as possible and get a new one.
- tony

[Vivienne]

Hi Tony
I believe the hard drive is failing. Backup as soon as possible and get a new one.
- tony

Which harddrive? The C: ? Would that cause *all* those problems?

Thanks!!

Vivienne

[rVidia]

I don't know how to capture what is on the screen...
On your keyboard, there should be a "Print Screen" key (http://www.umbc.edu/oit/images/printscreen-keyboard.jpg) that you can press (it may be abbreviated to PrtSc or something similar). When you press this key, it will capture what's on the screen, and you can view it by opening Paint (Start > Run > mspaint) and pasting it (Edit > Paste) into Paint.

Which harddrive? The C: ? Would that cause *all* those problems?
The hard drive is a component inside your computer that will eventually fail; it is a mechanical device and is subject to wear out. I suggest you read this (http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1583&page=1) PCStats guide on diagnosing a bad hard drive, and you may want to download a free hard drive diagnostic utility called DiskCheckup here (http://www.passmark.com/products/diskcheckup.htm). One thing you should keep in mind: when replacing a hard drive, you are not only replacing the actual hard drive but you may also have to re-install Windows, plus any programs you had installed on the drive.

[Seth]

Vivienne,

That's actually a very common problem.

Have a look here (http://reviews.cnet.com/5208-10149-0.html?forumID=7&threadID=113089&messageID=1284407).

[mylanta]

Are you running XP in Ntfs Viv? If so replace the drive....it's probably a Maxtor and getting 6 months out of them is pretty good so the more the better.

[Vivienne]

Hi all

Well, I'm certainly learning tons!! *And* as a bonus I think everything is fine now.

I suggest you read this (http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1583&page=1) PCStats guide on diagnosing a bad hard drive,

Thank you, that was interesting. After reading it, I went to Events viewer. The article said to go to Winlogon to see what errors chkdsk found but I could not find 'Win Logon'. I checked the 'system' events and found a few 'ntfs errors'. I checked under properties and "it said the file structure is corrupt and unusable - please run chkdsk utility for Drive C:. Then I went to Norton Systemworks Disk Doctor, an analysis found errors and so I followed the instruction for it to fix all errors. I booted it up and it really didn't look like it was doing anything. It was very quick and said "disk clean" and took me into Windows.

I have a Quantum fireball hard drive which had been taken over by Maxtor. I ran the diagnostics on it and it passed the full scan.

Now the only problem was the icons being wrong in Quick Launch. I went to the Microsoft site and they said to "Re-create the ShellIconCache file." It gave instructions which I followed. I did everything (which was to reset the 'colour quality' in settings) but I didn't change the registry as they said to do (because I didn't know how.) I rebooted the computer and everything worked perfectly!!!! I hope it stays like this.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

Seth - as it worked out, that was not the same problem I had but thanks for trying!!

Rich: Maybe Quantum is hopefully better than Maxtor. You know it is a funny thing about the Maxtor. About 3 years ago, the gurus of TSG helped me choose components for a computer and highly recommended Maxtor. Two years later none of them liked it anymore, preferring Western Digital and Seagate. Maybe Maxtors were good at *one* time and then the quality deteriorated?

Anyway, I'm real happy now. Thank you all very much!!

Vivienne

[mylanta]

Hi all

Well, I'm certainly learning tons!! *And* as a bonus I think everything is fine now.



Thank you, that was interesting. After reading it, I went to Events viewer. The article said to go to Winlogon to see what errors chkdsk found but I could not find 'Win Logon'. I checked the 'system' events and found a few 'ntfs errors'. I checked under properties and "it said the file structure is corrupt and unusable - please run chkdsk utility for Drive C:. Then I went to Norton Systemworks Disk Doctor, an analysis found errors and so I followed the instruction for it to fix all errors. I booted it up and it really didn't look like it was doing anything. It was very quick and said "disk clean" and took me into Windows.

I have a Quantum fireball hard drive which had been taken over by Maxtor. I ran the diagnostics on it and it passed the full scan.

Now the only problem was the icons being wrong in Quick Launch. I went to the Microsoft site and they said to "Re-create the ShellIconCache file." It gave instructions which I followed. I did everything (which was to reset the 'colour quality' in settings) but I didn't change the registry as they said to do (because I didn't know how.) I rebooted the computer and everything worked perfectly!!!! I hope it stays like this.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

Seth - as it worked out, that was not the same problem I had but thanks for trying!!

Rich: Maybe Quantum is hopefully better than Maxtor. You know it is a funny thing about the Maxtor. About 3 years ago, the gurus of TSG helped me choose components for a computer and highly recommended Maxtor. Two years later none of them liked it anymore, preferring Western Digital and Seagate. Maybe Maxtors were good at *one* time and then the quality deteriorated?

Anyway, I'm real happy now. Thank you all very much!!

Vivienne

Regrettably we believe that when maxtor bought out Quantum, the folks at Quantum taught Maxtor how to make an awful drive because from then on maxtor went down hill.

[Vivienne]

HI Rich:

Regrettably we believe that when maxtor bought out Quantum, the folks at Quantum taught Maxtor how to make an awful drive because from then on maxtor went down hill.

:-) Oh well, I was hoping! I guess I should be thankful for the five years! Maybe I got an exception. LOL!

Anyway, my fingers are crossed that maybe things will be good for a while but I'm taking your admonitions to heart and will be making regular backups.
And I will get Lawrence's 'disk regenerator' program and see if I can 'steal' even more time.

Vivienne

[rVidia]

I went to the Microsoft site and they said to "Re-create the ShellIconCache file." It gave instructions which I followed. I did everything (which was to reset the 'colour quality' in settings) but I didn't change the registry as they said to do (because I didn't know how.)
I'm glad everything is working now ;) but just for future reference...You can do this by opening the Registry Editor by going to Start > Run > regedit and then navigating to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Explorer (by double-clicking each key in the left pane). While in the Explorer folder, you would right-click white space in the right pane, select New, click String Value, name the new value Max Cached Icons as instructed, right-click the new value, select Modify, and enter 2000 as instructed. (Make sure you are on an administrator account, as you will not be able to add a new value when on a limited user account.) Make sure to back up the individual registry key (http://kickenhardware.net/forum/showthread.php?t=3133&highlight=individual) first, though!!
I rebooted the computer and everything worked perfectly!!!! I hope it stays like this.
Again, glad everything's working! But in the meantime, keep an eye on your hard drive.

[Vivienne]

rvidia:

I'm glad everything is working now ;) but just for future reference...You can do this by opening the Registry Editor

Thank you for this!!! Should I be doing that now or just wait to see if I have the problem again? Thanks so much for walking me through this!!!


Again, glad everything's working!


But in the meantime, keep an eye on your hard drive.

rvidia, do you not trust the tests or is it because it is old and a Quantum?

Thank you again so very very much!

Vivienne

[mylanta]

rvidia, do you not trust the tests or is it because it is old and a Quantum?

Thank you again so very very much!



Viv, back then hard drives were warrantied for 3 years...5 years for a good drive would be a good deal. 5 years for "crap" drive is like it owes you nothing. Now buy a new one and throw that one away is the recommended course of action. if you edo this now, you can clone the drive or copy drive to drive. If you wait for it to croak, you will install all your programs and files and how much do you value your time?

[Vivienne]

Hi Rich

Viv, back then hard drives were warrantied for 3 years...5 years for a good drive would be a good deal. 5 years for "crap" drive is like it owes you nothing. Now buy a new one and throw that one away is the recommended course of action. if you edo this now, you can clone the drive or copy drive to drive. If you wait for it to croak, you will install all your programs and files and how much do you value your time?

I guess you're right. I have it pretty well the way I want it and would hate to start all over again. I was going to replace it anyway at the first warning sign. Even though it tested okay, do you still consider the corrupt file structure to be an early warning sign or just something that happens every now and then?

What do I do with it after? I hate to get rid of something that is still working!

I have another no name drive as D: that came with a computer before Pentium was even known. If there is a third slot shall I put it in as another data drive? Or should I just replace them both?? I think I know your answer. :-) Is Western Digital okay? What does one do with old still working hard drives? :-(

Thanks, Rich!

Vivienne

[mylanta]

My best suggestion is pitch them...they are at best barely working.

[Vivienne]

Hi Rich

My best suggestion is pitch them...they are at best barely working.

Western Digital or Seagate okay? Do you have a preference?

Thanks!

Vivienne

[mylanta]

Western Digital the best...Seagates which have been # 2, not doing real weel with reliability for Sata drives....maybe buying Maxtor has now polished off Seagate>

[Vivienne]

Western Digital the best...Seagates which have been # 2, not doing real weel with reliability for Sata drives....maybe buying Maxtor has now polished off Seagate>

LOL!!!

Thanks, Rich. I will do that.

Vivienne