Is my hard drive failing?
Tuesday, March 6, 2012 by 2of3 | Discussion: Personal Computing
I've had a problem off and on with my laptop crashing/BSOD when playing flash based content (like youtube videos).
It's been good for about 6 months now so I was surprised when it again happened today. I restarted the computer and was confronted with another bluescreen. After several tries at rebooting and system repairs (failed......."windows could not repair"), I decided to reinstall the OS......clean slate, ya know.
All was fine after everything was installed (drivers, etc) but the computer crashed again when I tried to do the windows rating index (no bsod, just a sudden dump). I tried it twice to make sure it wasn't a fluke.
Did a windows update and the thing crapped out again after the reboot to install. I managed to get the lappy to start again and scheduled a chkdsk. Rebooted.
Waiting for CHKDSK to finish.....
Earlier, I have only had crashes when playing flash based video and I've read online about problems with adobe flash and ATI cards. But this seems different to me.
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Reply #43 Tuesday, March 6, 2012 2:07 PM
This happened to me once. I had to open the machine and manually pull out/air-blast the dust badgers (more aggressive than bunnies). After that, I couldn't tell if my fans were off because they were so quiet. 
Reply #44 Tuesday, March 6, 2012 2:09 PM
The WEI is a benchmark tool, it will run things under load. You will probably get the same results wth any other benchmark tool that loads up the CPU and GPU. Ditto for any software/game that requires any 'horsepower' to run.
Reply #45 Tuesday, March 6, 2012 2:32 PM
Translation....DO NOT DO THAT!
Do not run anything under load until this is fixed. I wouldn't run it AT ALL, PERIOD... until it's fixed.
Reply #48 Tuesday, March 6, 2012 6:41 PM
New enough to have an I7 CPU. Tim posted about an overheating problem with it a while back. A Google search found others with this same issue. The ones that didn't point to dust/dirt pointed to bad thermal mastic.
He cleaned the machine and it helped, but apparently the core problem remains.
Reply #49 Tuesday, March 6, 2012 7:36 PM
I'm not convinced it's the CPU or GPU. The CPU has overheat protection....it would simply shutdown. The graphic card on the other hand has no such protection, but as far as I can tell, there's no distortions, resolution fallbacks or blackouts. That leaves memory, drivers and voltage (the latter more likely than the 2 former).
What I really need to see is the BSOD info.....
http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.html
Download, install, run it and post the results.........
Reply #50 Tuesday, March 6, 2012 8:00 PM
Bookmarking for future reference..i have the same model laptop.
Reply #51 Wednesday, March 7, 2012 4:12 AM
What I really need to see is the BSOD info.....
http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.html
Download, install, run it and post the results.........
I'll do that, but it hasn't blue screened since I reinstalled the OS. The reason I reformatted was because after the first BSOD, I couldn't get the thing to boot up at all and the system repair couldn't fix it.
The only thing guaranteed to crash the system is running the WEI. The lappy shuts down, but if I choose "start windows normally" afterwords, it boots up fine.
One thing I could add: after a system crash, I'm unable to start the machine on the first try with the power button. I hit the button and the light comes on for a split second then goes out. I have to wait a couple of minutes and try again.
Reply #53 Wednesday, March 7, 2012 4:28 AM
Looks like there was one event listed there. What info is relevant?
Reply #54 Wednesday, March 7, 2012 6:51 AM
CMOS battery?
Just thinkin' ....leave it for yrag .... he'll know when it's time for it to be 'put down'...
Reply #55 Wednesday, March 7, 2012 7:25 AM
Yes, BSoD's are typically caused by bad drivers and faulty memory. Sometimes when a Windows installation corrupts also. But I think in this case it's pointing to a driver problem as the BSoD hasn't occured since you re-installed. Either way yrag will give you the advice you need. 
Reply #56 Wednesday, March 7, 2012 4:29 PM
It actually did once.
This happened after the first windows update. I rebooted to install the updates and it started installing them at the boot screen (not the welcome/login screen). After it was "finished", it didn't continue to the login screen, the system shut down. I don't think it rebooted by itself, I had to hit the power button. It blue screened after the boot and the system auto rebooted. I chose "start windows normally" from the list and it booted up and continued to install the updates (this time from the login screen).
Here's the report:
Reply #60 Thursday, March 8, 2012 4:38 AM
Since you have NirSoft's BlueScreenView, maybe you can show the latest ones? Or send them to yrag... Have you scanned your system for malware? Also, did you pick up any of the diagnostic software?
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Reply #41 Tuesday, March 6, 2012 1:54 PM
I AM using a coolpad!
Going to limit my use until I get the thermal compound