corrupted sata 160 seagate

[thundherheart]

hello all

m2n-mx se
inno3d 7300 gt
sata 160 seagate
600 watts psu generic
xp sp2 prof.
amd am2
kingston 667 1 gig

i changed my sata drive 3 times, each one corrupted more than 2 times...
it install ok but after a few days it gets corrupted.. it chkdsk first den errors..den it wont boot anymore... cannot locate boot device.. waaaaaaa
etc (about boot not being present) but i know i can see sata on bios after corruption....
what could be wrong?
i did not do F6 on xp install..

could it be ac voltage present on the case because i fell slight ac voltage when i handle the hd (power off).

i have read here about F6 on xp install on xp home but is it the same as xp prof.?

hope someone could help...

[The Wise Monkey]

OK, you should always ground yourself before you handle any computer components anyway by touching an unpainted part of your case, or a radiator, or something else that is grounded. If you didn't do this before touching your HD then it could cause problems.

You don't need to install any additional drivers during any Windows setup as long as you don't intend to use RAID.

To be honest, you could just be really unlucky. Every single HD that gets made will have some imperfections due to the manufacturing process, and maybe you just got a particularly bad batch.

Try getting a refund and purchasing a different brand, or getting the same HD but from a different site. This should eliminate the possibility of getting another bad HD.

[thundherheart]

you have a point there.....i did get the first two sata's from the same store..the third one .. got some errors but still not that bad to be replaced...

could it really be that im that unlucky?...well

i was really browsing around the net googling alot... and they say to f6 to load sata drivers....

techspot
cpu solutions
asus site
mcrosoft
tomshardware
cruftbox


i dont know if im not understanding it right but i could say from the sites i have visited (forums) sata drivers are needed for sata (F6)..

and im really in need of someone i could really talk about this. and not just read past forums.. what a week this has been...

could you give me a guide to install xp sp2 on sata..if you could pls..


i had experience on xp sp2 on ide without any problems...but sata really takes me to the stone ages...

[The Wise Monkey]

Installing on SATA is the same as installing on IDE in my experience. I have never had to install extra drivers for any SATA drive. It could be that your motherboard doesn't come with the support readily available.

If you want though, try searching your motherboard manufacturer's website for SATA drivers for your motherboard and use those. :)

[thundherheart]

i forgot to mention i have an altec lansing subwoofer right next to the cpu their both under the computer table...


im i correct to suspect that magnetic field form the woofer is whats causing the corruption??

pls i need a second opinion...

tnx again

[The Wise Monkey]

Nah, it wouldn't do anything. I have an Altec Lansing 5.1 system with a woofer next to my computer, and its never caused any trouble. :)

When you installed XP, did you do a quick format or a full format?

[thundherheart]

i selected quick format wise monkey....

been doing it since i started xp install on ide or sata..

is there a difference?

this third sata only got reformatted twice and now is still ok...it wasnt corrupted like the first two drives....the pc only lost sound drivers and was reformatted

but is it ok to just F6 the next time i install sata ? just to clear my mind of that scenario..as i have said some forums say to F6 some say it does not matter...

i'll be going home this thurs to try and fix the pc...

so ill try these things
first to properly ground the pc then
1. F6
2. normal format on xp install..
3. re locate subwoofer

should i add anything else?

tnx for the time wise monkey i really need it... as you can see waaaaaa

[The Wise Monkey]

Its ok, I'm glad to help. :)

If your motherboard needs extra SATA drivers, then you should press F6 when installing XP.

Doing a full format will check the disk at the same time and will find and correct any small errors that are found. When you first install an OS on a new disk, it is always a good idea to do a full format.

You can move your subwoofer if you want to, but it won't make any difference. :)

[thundherheart]

hello wise monkey

i just remembered something..the first two sata drives they used an a4tech wireless keyboard mouse...

this third drive i told them to just use a wired mouse keyboard..

presently no corruption.


is there any possibility that it was the wireless keyboard mouse that was culprit?

[The Wise Monkey]

I wouldn't have thought so - the drivers are monitored by the OS, which would be affected by the disk, not the other way around.

Corruption is usually caused by bad sectors on a disk where there have been flaws in the manufacturing process, or the disk head reader has touched the disk somehow. Bad sectors are present in all HDs, which is why they have spare sectors built in to compensate. :)

[thundherheart]

hello wise monkey

just came back from my fathers house...

this is what i have discovered


there was ac voltage present on the cement floor (source unknown.but best guess is that one line could be without insulation...)

measured half of ac outlet and floor.. with dvm and got about 25 volts ac..which is really startling ....


just by touching the case and standing on the floor is enough to corrupt the drives... hope the mobo, cpu and ram,vcard are still ok..


well i just used a phone lines grounding post(3 feet deep) and the ac disappeared completely from the case with reference to avr, floor.

thanx for the time you gave in helping me on this ...


more power..

[The Wise Monkey]

:O

No wonder they were getting corrupted, thats more than enough to destroy some components...

[thundherheart]

wise monkey

after grounding the rig to a phone ground 3 feet deep it still got corrupted

after formating the drive...and installing almost all of the software as before..

i used memtest86 for 24 hours results no errors
den i used burnintest latest version ..no errors full load on ram cpu video disk

2hour test 3 times...no errors ..

i tested the hardware just tobe sure that corruption is not coming from the rig..
note the test were conducted at my internet shop.

is it possible that stray ac voltage jumps to dc output of the psu?
enough to get the drives corrupted..

or there is a problem with the ac frequency? here its supposed to be 50/60 hz.

still havent found the solution..but still open to suggestions

[The Wise Monkey]

What was the last piece of software that you installed?

[thundherheart]

the last ones i installed were games ...medal of honor airborne, solider of fortune payback nfs pro street .. i dont see any problems running these big games...

the corruption happened about 2 months after the proper ground was installed


the registry got corrupted .i was able to restore it but with errors i only salvaged important files on c:

i noticed that at the start without the ground wire the corruption was complete (no data on disk) now with the ground wire only the registry got fryed..

as i have said the pc is with me for a week with 24hour memtest no problems and 3 2 hour test using burnin test no probs as well...

tnx for the quick reply wise monkey

[The Wise Monkey]

I'm really not sure what the problem might be, to be honest with you - you've fixed everything that might be causing the drive to get corrupted...

My last advice would be to take the drive to a local computer shop - they would be able to test the drive with their own special tools to make sure that it is alright.

Sorry I can't be of more help. :)

[thundherheart]

its almost a year since that problem ahihi

well i could say it was just faulty electricity or something in the lines.. maybe difference frequencies or stray voltages ..i havent found the real reason

but i would say it was due to ac power..


i changed the avr of the said pc . and plugged it into a known working but old avr... then used the avr on my own pc..no problems encountered ...


my father replaced all the light switches at his home...
they had small lights on each switch...

after that everything seemed fine... till today i havent gone back to reformat or salvage files from a corrupted drive ahehe..

but one thing ...the old avr i gave is acting strangely when i tried to use it again on its orig pc..

it works on my fathers pc.. now it wont work on mine.. strange haha...

[The Wise Monkey]

Technology is strange sometimes. :D