computer from hell, bad installs & more.

[bagellad]

Hi im working on a computer, ive tried a two different os cds and it says it cant find some files when its installing, I was wondering if that would be a Cd issue, hd issue or something else? It did manage to install windows xp by trying to install the files over and over.. but then it kept getting errors.

 

[Crgky127]

Probably bad RAM. Use Memtest86 to confirm (part of UBCD4Win or on its own).

Edit: Has anyone else noticed an increase in bad RAM cases the past month? Maybe it's the lightning storms.

 

[bagellad]

Actually when I try to boot up in UBCD4Win it only comes up to a blank screen with a mouse cursor. I got a bunch of bad sectors, its got 3 sticks on ram... how do i know which one is bad? Just take each one out and test? Thats weird the ram would go bad ive found it to be one of the more durable parts of a computer!

 

[14049752]

Thats weird the ram would go bad ive found it to be one of the more durable parts of a computer!

Do you run memtest often? Ram goes bad all the time.
But, yeah, to test which memory is bad, test all three sticks individually.

 

[bagellad]

No I dont run memtest often, what are some of the signs that ram is what is going bad?

 

[Blues]

No I dont run memtest often, what are some of the signs that ram is what is going bad?

I would say generally infrequent/iregular errors with no pattern outside of the fact RAM is in use. OS installs with errors about installing files is also a clear sign of bad RAM. I would try to run memtest on each stick of RAM to know which one(s) passes and which one(s) fails.

 

[iladelf]

I'm not sold on the bad RAM; very possible that the hard drive is throwing craps. That could even be if the drive tests OK in Quick Test for whichever manufacturer of hard drive yours may be.

I see weird, failed installs of XP oftentimes when the HDD is dying. Seems nowadays, no matter what manufacturer of drive, I'm seeing drives slowing to a crawl inside of the two year mark. And surprisingly, having nothing to do with the typical "Windows Rot". I know this because clean installs on the same drive will STILL show odd, slow-as-molasses behavior.

For now, I'm sticking with Seagate, but even theirs are showing failure rates inside what I would call an acceptable time frame (to me, the 3 year mark).

My opinion is this; should you have to replace a hard drive on a customer's computer, that frickin' thing should last them until it's time for them to buy a new machine. In the real world, this ain't happenin' anymore, but it used to.

 

[bagellad]

well it turned out the ram was clocked to fast, seems to be working normally now though. Thanks for the help! Ram problems seem hard to pick up because they seem to mimic hard drive problems, i also suspected it might have been the harddrive although it was new. anyway thanks for the help.