Windows 7 64 bit rather odd error

I came in this morning to get on my computer like usual. Windows was stuck,(it was running fine when I left it and I didn't shut it down) It was basically showing the desk top background but that's it. No icons or anything. I rebooted told it to start windows normally and windows booted to the desk top. But it was very sluggish and then froze up. I restarted but this time told to to go to safe mode. It behaves as though it's going to safe mode. Black background loading system files needed etc. But it stops. Never boots into safe mode. I tried telling it to boot normally again and it did. I tried to do system restore but got the error message saying the drive had errors and needed to be checked and fixed. So I scheduled it and restarted. Acts like it's going to do it. Says it's going to scan disc unless I push any key to stop it. I don't touch anything. Check disk pulls up but does nothing. It crashes after like 2 seconds so no check disk. It then boots into windows and the process starts all over. What could do this and how do I get out of it?

Would you consider trying to reinstall windows?

felixthemaster said:

Would you consider trying to reinstall windows?

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Yes if there's away to do it without losing anything. Otherwise I can access the drive via adapter in a USB port on another computer. Save what I need and start over. REALLY don't want to do it so last resort. It's funny the bios isn't seeing the hard drive correctly. I didn't write it down but it calls it a GR- something and says it has 0 GB. I plugged the drive into my laptop. It identified it fine but as a usb mass storage device. Might just be because it's plugged into usb. Why would it say 0 space and not properly identify it? I used my laptop to restore it to previous version. System restore points were found but that didn't work. I tried to scan the drive for errors and it got so far and hung. This isn't good.
It says that GCR-8483B is on channel 0 That is the dvd and it isn't plugged into channel 0 So I unplugged everything but the main HD It still showed the dvd as being on channel 0. The dvd isn't even plugged into the mother board! I'm trying to clear cmos again and reboot with just the 1 drive. I'll go into BIOS and see what it says. Looking like a bad mother board. perhaps if I flash the bios? Not sure how but you'd think clearing cmos would do it.

sometimes a fresh install of windows makwes the woprld of difference.. may i ask if your copy of windows is genuine?

Rigit, are you able to put this hard drive in another computer to check the SMART data? Going based on what you've tried so far, it sounds like the drive is failing or you have a bad cable.

felixthemaster said:

sometimes a fresh install of windows makwes the woprld of difference.. may i ask if your copy of windows is genuine?

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Yes I just did the windows genuine thing because it asked for it. Don't know why probably part of an update.

thideras said:

Rigit, are you able to put this hard drive in another computer to check the SMART data? Going based on what you've tried so far, it sounds like the drive is failing or you have a bad cable.

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I had smart disabled. Not intentional I guess that is the default. I did take the drive out. I have an adapter that supplies power to the drive and sets up a data link via usb. I plugged it into my laptop and everything seemed fine. Since I couldn't get system restore to work I had the laptop restore to earlier version. Didn't seem to help. But when I booted windows and it tried to do a check disk and failed I waited then it said installing update 42 of 42. Don't know why I didn't have that many updates and I have it set to download but not install. But after that windows booted and seems to be fine. It's the bios that's screwed. It says there is a dvd rom in it when I unplugged everything but the hard drive. How's it see a drive that isn't there? A bios flash did no good. I'm down to a windows reinstall and then reformat if that fails. But I can't see how anything would help. The problem seems to be the bios.

Can you post the SMART data that you saw, please? Have you tried another SATA port and cable? Have you reset your BIOS?

The check disk failing or locking up is a Very Bad Thing.

thideras said:

Can you post the SMART data that you saw, please? Have you tried another SATA port and cable? Have you reset your BIOS?

The check disk failing or locking up is a Very Bad Thing.

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OK This is it. Nothing I do in bios works. The system seems to have defaulted to fail safe settings and refuses to come out regardless of manual settings. I've cleared bios numerous times, flashed the bios with the latest version to no avail.I uninstalled and reinstalled the chip set drivers no help. Hard drive failure is extremely unlikely. I have 2 identical drives. One for storage the other the os. Doesn't matter which one is plugged into channel 0 I still get the cdrom as being on channel 0. It isn't even sata. It can't be on channel 0. I unplugged all drives except the C drive. The damn thing still says cdrom is channel 0 WTF? How can it do that when the drives are not even plugged in? So right now my cpu is running 800mhz and there's nothing i can do. I can't see windows reinstall fixing this but I'll try since I've nothing to lose. Problem is every time I put the dvd in and fire up the system it wants a full install. I've managed to try repair install once with no effect. Looks like I need a MB. as far as check disc failing, it only fails plugged into the MB in question. I plugged it into my laptop and check disc did fine. I'm out of ideas here. If anyone has anything else I'll listen so matter how unlikely it may be since there's nothing to lose. I've done a search to buy another board but it would seem it's no longer in production and is sold out pretty much every where. Now I've got to try to find a board with at least the same ability, although I'd prefer an AM3+. This one supports it but only half heartedly. It will take a AM3+ cpu but doesn't support DDR3 memory and a couple other things and a phenom IIx6 will not work at all. So I'm open to suggestion for a new MB. Price $100-$120 range.

You can have multiple channel 0's if they are different interfaces (PATA and SATA) because they are a different bus. This really isn't related, though.

If multiple drives are doing the same thing, you are right, it isn't likely the drives. I would check the RAM first. Everything else is process of elimination. I would check RAM->PSU->MB.

What power supply do you have? Exact make and model please.

thideras said:

You can have multiple channel 0's if they are different interfaces (PATA and SATA) because they are a different bus. This really isn't related, though.

If multiple drives are doing the same thing, you are right, it isn't likely the drives. I would check the RAM first. Everything else is process of elimination. I would check RAM->PSU->MB.

What power supply do you have? Exact make and model please.

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Coolmax modelV-500 475.5 watt sustainable. It's worked fine since I built this thing.

That does not sound like a quality power supply at all. Do you have another one to try with?

Just because it worked in the past, does not mean it works now. I had a Corsair HX650w for a year and I started getting instability problems. Replaced the power supply and it was fixed.

thideras said:

That does not sound like a quality power supply at all. Do you have another one to try with?

Just because it worked in the past, does not mean it works now. I had a Corsair HX650w for a year and I started getting instability problems. Replaced the power supply and it was fixed.

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No. If it were the psu BIOS issues wouldn't be the thing. It would cause repeated rebooting. I've had bad PSU in the past and the system itself wasn't effected. It would reboot at random. I suspected it and unplugged things and the system was then stable. I've unplugged virtually everything except c drive water pump and rad fans. That means 1 120mm fan, 1 hard drive a dvd drive and a cd drive are no longer pulling power. I have push/pull over the rad so I could unplug one of them but it wouldn't change anything.If the psu were weak all that additional power would stabalize things.
Problem now is windows won't reinstall because sp1 has been applied. It's viewed as a newer version and kills the reinstall. Only thing left is format and start from scratch.

Rigit said:

Coolmax modelV-500 475.5 watt sustainable. It's worked fine since I built this thing.

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I heard that PSU model is lucky to do 250W at max!

A failing power supply could cause a wide range of issues. There is no single "a failing power supply does x" situation that applies to every case. Changing the load on the unit only affects one aspect. If there was something failing that isn't related to how much it can output, removing devices won't tell you much. The only way to know for sure is to replace it with another power supply. Even if the other one isn't known to be working, the chances of two failed units doing the exact same thing are very low.

Simply dismissing a part because it has been working is not good form for troubleshooting. If you can't test a part to know whether it is working for sure, then you are invalidating your entire testing procedure and your results could be incorrect. The fact is, your computer was working and it isn't now. You need to systematically eliminate parts until you find what failed.

thideras said:

A failing power supply could cause a wide range of issues. There is no single "a failing power supply does x" situation that applies to every case. Changing the load on the unit only affects one aspect. If there was something failing that isn't related to how much it can output, removing devices won't tell you much. The only way to know for sure is to replace it with another power supply. Even if the other one isn't known to be working, the chances of two failed units doing the exact same thing are very low.

Simply dismissing a part because it has been working is not good form for troubleshooting. If you can't test a part to know whether it is working for sure, then you are invalidating your entire testing procedure and your results could be incorrect. The fact is, your computer was working and it isn't now. You need to systematically eliminate parts until you find what failed.

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Agreed. I had a failing Corsair HX750 that would kill windows during an overclock. I could O/C to a certain point, but anything beyond that would cause Windows to crash and cause a bunch of other issues. Changed PSU's, and same OC was fine. It was odd. But I never would have thought the PSU was the issue. Sent it back to Corsair and the found the problem and sent me a shiny new one for my troubles.

Rigit, I had ever found that case. Thx to win 7 repair mode(Sometime it works)

Firstly, try to run in repair windows> login> choose system restore ( maybe there could be more than one option date, when you system had been working well till to current date ) > restart

Now wait...