2 bad HDDS or what? - Help please.

B

Bisectors Fore

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 24, 2008
Messages
480
Yesterday I assembled my system, using the following components:

i7 920
Asus P6T Deluxe
EVGA GTX 280
6GB G.Skill DDR3
2x WD Caviar Black 640GB
PC P & C Silencer 750W
LG SATA DVD Burner
Thermalright Ultra Extreme 1366
Antec 1200

Everything went fine during the build, I powered on the machine in simple form with just the mobo, RAM, vidcard, and PSU, and everything worked fine, with POST BIOS, etc. I turned off the machine and installed it in the case, with the 2 HDDs and the DVD drive. I got everything hooked up and went to install Vista Ulitmate 64. Everything went fine for most of the install process, but towards the end it popped up an error message saying there was a problem with some file and it wanted to run checkdisk. I ran checkdisk and it said it fixed some problems, but when I tried to install windows again the same the same error happened. I tried installing on the other HDD, and got more errors. I wrote down 2 of the error messages:
"Windows cold not create a partition on disc O. The error occured while preparing the system volume. Error Code: 0x80042453"

Another error message that I got:
"Windows cannot install required files. Make sure all files required for installation are available, and restart the installation. Error Code: 0x8007045D"

I was able to install Vista once on the second HDD, but it did not seem to be stable (I tried to shut it down, and it just sat there saying "logging off" for a long time and never shut down) Also, in the BIOS it said that the status of the hard drive was "bad" and it should be replaced. And when I was selecting the hard drive to install windows on, it said that the drive was likely to fail and should be replaced. I have tried using different SATA ports on the mobo and different SATA and power cables, bot to no avail, errors persist. I have tried searching the web for the error messages I got, and I have found people having similar problems with WD drives, but not a solution. I tried formatting one of the drives in a different computer, and it seemed to work without a problem. I will now try installing XP on the drives, and see if that works. Any ideas, input, or advice would be welcome. Thanks.
 
Are you 100% positive that your RAM is good?
I'd try the XP install, but it's extremely doubtful that it's optical disc/drive related...

My other suggestion would be to try the HDs in another system, or at least one that is running so you can use the WD tools to run the short/long tests on it. See what those report back to you.
 
Try it on another system and check the drive for errors. Try HD tune or other HD checkers

Make sure system is stock when installing and check correct voltages.
 
I'm not positive that the RAM is good, but I don't know of any reason to suspect otherwise. My system is at stock speeds, as I have not changed any of those settings at all.

I tried Installing XP and it didn't work. I got to the formatting stage and then it just sat there at 0% forever, without progressing. I guess that means the problem is something HDD related. I did stick one of the HDDs in my brother's computer and format it, and run scandisk on it, both without problems. Do you think it makes any sense to try to stick that drive back in my machine and try to install Vista again, now that it is formatted?
 
If the drives work well on another system then they are not faulty. Try using other Hard drive checkers to see how they fare.

The best bet is trying each piece on another PC. Could be the disk, maybe the burner and from there you try and cehck bit by bit.

If the drive ran well and chkdsk found no problems it seems like it might be something else though...

Also make sure voltages are well
 
I've seen a lot of systems with problems installing the OS that had nothing to do with the hard drive. The majority of the problems were related to bad RAM with bad media/bad optical drives coming in second. Grab memtest and run that on your RAM. If you have even a single error, it's very likely your RAM is bad. Once stick of RAM could be bad or every stick.

 
[Testing the RAM]
Download Memtest+ v2.10 or whatever the latest version is, unzip it, burn the ISO file to a CD, and then boot from it, just like you would do with the XP install CD. Let Memtest+ run for at least three hours on each stick of RAM separately as well as test the RAM together. Go for a full 24 hours if you want to be completely sure that the RAM is not a problem. If you start seeing errors, than your RAM is defective or you have incorrect settings for the RAM.

[Testing the Hard drive]
Download the CD image of Hitachi Drive Fitness Test, burn the ISO file to a CD, and then boot from it, just like you would do with the XP/Vista install CD. Test the hard drive and see if any problems are found. DFT will run on most manufacturers' hard drives. Alternatively, you can use Seagate's SeaTools for DOS to test a Seagate or Maxtor drive. For a Western Digital drive, you could use Data Lifeguard Tools for DOS to test a Western Digital drive.
 
Bisectors Fore said:
I'm not positive that the RAM is good, but I don't know of any reason to suspect otherwise. My system is at stock speeds, as I have not changed any of those settings at all.

I tried Installing XP and it didn't work. I got to the formatting stage and then it just sat there at 0% forever, without progressing. I guess that means the problem is something HDD related. I did stick one of the HDDs in my brother's computer and format it, and run scandisk on it, both without problems. Do you think it makes any sense to try to stick that drive back in my machine and try to install Vista again, now that it is formatted?
Click to expand...

Did you use the exact same SATA cable?

I ran into my first bad ATA-100 cable in 2005, that really stumped me. Memtest passed, the XP CD and drive worked in another computer, ruling out the disc, the ATA-33 cable I was using, and obviously the optical drive itself. The only thing left was the cable to the hard drive.
 
I did not use the same SATA cable in my brother's computer, but I have had errors using more than one SATA cable. I tried installing Vista on the HDD that my brother formatted in his computer. When I got to the stage where I was supposed to select what HDD to install onto, it said that that Windows could not be installed onto that HDD (partition?) because it contained dynamic volumes. The format option was grayed out. Any ideas about what that means?

I did Memtest and it completed with no errors. I just did whatever standard tests it does when you put the disc in, and it took about 50 minutes. If there is a way to scan the RAM sticks individually, or to scan for a longer amount of time, I don't know how to do that.
 
I've had similar issues installing Windows due to any of these

1) bad ram
2) bad motherboard (SATA interface or memory interface)
3) bad CD drive
4) bad cable in IDE days, no problem with SATA so far
 
Update: We hooked the HDDs up to my brother's computer, and ran HD Tune on them. One of them was defective, with failed health status and damaged blocks in HD Tune. The other one (the one my brother had formatted) showed up clean. We changed the volume setting from dynamic to basic (not entirely sure what that means, but the Vista installer had rejected it with dynamic), and I tried installing Vista again. This time it went without a hitch, and also much faster than when I was trying to install it on the defective drive. Vista is now up and running on my machine, and appears to be in working order.

There are a few things I was wondering about, though. First, when I go to set the wallpaper on my desktop, the thumbnail pictures are not shown, so I have to apply a wallpaper to see what it is. Also, some of the wallpapers look kind of weird, like they were zoomed in to double size and then only part of the picture was shown. For example, I chose one of the basic wallpapers when I was setting up my account the first time, and then when I went into the wallpaper menu to look at the other options, it wasn't there. There was one wallpaper that looked like it could be the same one and had been blown out of proportion, like I described above. I have tried using all of the size settings, i.e. Stretch, Center, and Tile, but to no avail. If anyone knows what's going on here, or it could just be that I'm a n00b with Vista, please let me know. Thanks.
 
Update to the Update: I figured out the issue with the wallpaper; that was just me being a doofus. The thumbnails still aren't displayed, but that's no big deal. One thing I was wondering about though, is there don't seem do be any drivers for my i7 CPU or P6T mobo chipset, at least not included with them. Is that normal, or do I need a driver for the CPU and chipset? On my laptop, there are drivers for both. Thanks.
 
Go to the ASUS website and download all the latest drivers, just get the latest chipset drivers and you should be fine.
 
Is that file under "Chipset" the one I want? I hit up the Intel site also, and they didn't seem to have any i7 drivers.

Edit: Sorry, that link did not work.
 
Yes the chipset driver is the one you want. In fact, just download all the latest drivers for your mobot to be on the safe side.
 
I'm on dialup, so no can do. :( If I just pop in my Asus support disc, and hit "Install All" will that take care of it?
 
They can't be that outdated. The motherboard was just released less than 2 months ago.

Also, am I correct in thinking that the software for my processor is included with my motherboard?

Quote for Intel site:

http://www.intel.com/support/processors/sb/CS-025633.htm

"Any Software needed for your processor would be included in your Motherboard's BIOS."

That doesn't say it applies to the i7 processor family, but is it still true?
 
Bisectors Fore said:
"Any Software needed for your processor would be included in your Motherboard's BIOS."

That doesn't say it applies to the i7 processor family, but is it still true?
Click to expand...

Still true. There's no software or drivers needed for the i7 CPU itself.

And considering that your mobo is based on a newly released chipset and, in fact, the flagship motherboard of that chipset for Asus, more than likely there have been a ton of new driver updates in the past two months for your motherboard.
 
Danny Bui said:
Still true. There's no software or drivers needed for the i7 CPU itself.

And considering that your mobo is based on a newly released chipset and, in fact, the flagship motherboard of that chipset for Asus, more than likely there have been a ton of new driver updates in the past two months for your motherboard.
Click to expand...

Ok, good to know about CPU drivers. I will get the mobo updates next time I have access to broadband. Thank you so much [H] for all your help, I literally couldn't have done it without you.
 
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