Is my hard drive failing?

By 2of3 on March 6, 2012 8:09:42 AM from

2of3

Join Date 10/2006

+626

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.

Quoting yrag,

reply 96

I'm sorry , but I pretty much think you're fucked.

Agreed.

Buy a new one. Get a Toshiba. Best value in laptops in my opinion. My PC shop guy agrees. My Toshiba has been trouble free for nearly 2 years.

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Quoting RedneckDude,

reply 101

Buy a new one. Get a Toshiba. Best value in laptops in my opinion. My PC shop guy agrees. My Toshiba has been trouble free for nearly 2 years.

This one's an option: http://www.mpx.no/k/ki.aspx?sku=645748#extra

Similiar specs to the ASUS I linked to earlier.

The ASUS does have 2 hybrid drives...... Toshiba, 1 hybrid and 1 regular.

ASUS can have up to 16 gig ram......Toshiba, max 8

Same processer and chipset.

And the Toshiba is fugly.......but more than 1,000 krowns cheeper

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Quoting 2of3,

reply 102

Quoting RedneckDude, reply 101Buy a new one. Get a Toshiba. Best value in laptops in my opinion. My PC shop guy agrees. My Toshiba has been trouble free for nearly 2 years.

This one's an option: http://www.mpx.no/k/ki.aspx?sku=645748#extra

Similiar specs to the ASUS I linked to earlier.

The ASUS does have 2 hybrid drives...... Toshiba, 1 hybrid and 1 regular.

ASUS can have up to 16 gig ram......Toshiba, max 8

Same processer and chipset.

And the Toshiba is fugly.......but more than 1,000 krowns cheeper

Three PC techs I know say that Toshiba is the best built laptop at this time. You can buy more powerful ones, but will they be as good?

ASUS is crap...lol...sorry.

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Anything I buy will be too expensive in my wife's eyes....ya know?

I just saw that the Toshiba has a lower screen res (1600x900 VS 1920x1080).....that's kinda a minus

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Why not try HP ? They make pretty robust laptops.

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I just found this one: Link

Strange. It has better specs, but it's cheeper

EDIT: ah...second HDD is 5400 rpm not 7200

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Hey 2of3 by any chance when you boot that laptop does it say loading express gate before the BIOS screen shows up?

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Quoting 2of3,

reply 106

I just found this one: Link

Strange. It has better specs, but it's cheeper

EDIT: ah...second HDD is 5400 rpm not 7200

Now you're talking.

You can always use the HDDs from your existing laptop. External enclosures are cheap!

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Quoting RedneckDude,

reply 103

Quoting 2of3, reply 102Quoting RedneckDude, reply 101Buy a new one. Get a Toshiba. Best value in laptops in my opinion. My PC shop guy agrees. My Toshiba has been trouble free for nearly 2 years.

This one's an option: http://www.mpx.no/k/ki.aspx?sku=645748#extra

Similiar specs to the ASUS I linked to earlier.

The ASUS does have 2 hybrid drives...... Toshiba, 1 hybrid and 1 regular.

ASUS can have up to 16 gig ram......Toshiba, max 8

Same processer and chipset.

And the Toshiba is fugly.......but more than 1,000 krowns cheeper

Three PC techs I know say that Toshiba is the best built laptop at this time. You can buy more powerful ones, but will they be as good?

ASUS is crap...lol...sorry.

Dis-a-gree

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Quoting Gammit10,

reply 109

Dis-a-gree

Agree...

my last 2 mobos have been ASUS ... [both still running fine] ...my Monitor is ASUS ...ditto ...and my most expensive single piece of PC hardware is too.... GTX590 ....

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All my stuff is ASUS as well....has been for a few years now. It takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin' , I'm a happy camper

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I have no experience with ASUS, I was only repeating what my local PC repair shop guys say.

And I didn't mean asus parts, I meant asus laptops.

But, I know not from personal experience. So I'll shut up, before the duck shows up and tells me to.

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I got myself a 15" Sony Vaio to replace my old 17" Toshiba. I hated the Toshiba because it was too heavy, but, at the time I bought it, I thought I needed a 17" because of the screen resolution (1440x900, IIRC).

As it happens I managed to find this 15" VAIO laptop with a 1920x1080 screen resolution. It was a relatively cheap model with an Intel i5, 4 GB of RAM, nVidia/Intel graphics combo and Windows 7 x64 Professional. I also bought a 160GB Intel 320 SSD, replaced the Vaio's hard disk with it, and I now have a little rocket.

Nothing like an SSD to make an el-cheapo laptop run better than their much more expensive, HDD based, counterparts.

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Quoting RedneckDude,

reply 101

Agreed.

Buy a new one. Get a Toshiba. Best value in laptops in my opinion. My PC shop guy agrees. My Toshiba has been trouble free for nearly 2 years.

Going to have to disagree. Acer makes better notebooks than Toshiba IMO. Good bang for your buck.

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I think we all can settle on personal preferences here. Each to their own.

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I'm not "married" to any brand really. My experience is just limited to ASUS and Acer.

Weight is really not an issue considering how I use the computer. It's more a desktop replacement than a laptop that I move around all the time. It sits in one place when I'm at home and on my desk in my cabin while out at sea so I move it about twice a month.

What is important is balls, so I won't settle for less than an i7 processor. I also do like a big screen (better for skinning) so I'm only looking at 17" units.

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I agree bigger screen is better for skinning I really could use a bigger monitor at home my 20" isn't quite big enough :/

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Why not go with an 15 processor?

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Wow Tim! Norway must have really high taxes or something. A laptop that would cost you a little over $2,400.00 US there only costs about $1,200 - $1,900 at top end.

http://us.toshiba.com/computers/laptops/qosmio/X770

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Quoting LightStar,

reply 119

Wow Tim! Norway must have really high taxes or something. A laptop that would cost you a little over $2,400.00 US there only costs about $1,200 - $1,900 at top end.

so true [e digicons]:'([/e]

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Quoting LightStar,

reply 119

http://us.toshiba.com/computers/laptops/qosmio/X770

and you can't buy directly from Toshiba Norway either

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Looks like the best option is to buy in Denmark. Sweden is even more expensive than Norway. I'm seeing PCs listed in Denmark for DKK 5,000 less than the same machine in Norway (ha....the Danish krown is almast the same as the Norwegian.....that's a first).

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Just be sure it includes VAT and any Import tax if applicable

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New candidate: http://www.elkjop.no/product/data/barbar-pc/AS7750G726716/acer-aspire-17-3-barbar-pc-as7750g-72671687mnkk

Minus points for this model:

Screen res is only 1600x900.

No bluetooth.

No blue ray.

The 750GB HDD is a 5400 RPM.

Plus points:

Extra 128GB SSD.

16GB ram preinstalled.

Second gen i7 processor.

And also very important......price

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The 5,400 rpm is irrelevant as you'll use this drive for storage mostly. The SD will be your OS drive and fast as hell. 16gb of ram will certainly be enough plus an i7 cpu. Good bang for buck i'd say. 1600x900 is still a pretty nice resolution. Since the resolution is only 1600x900 it wouldn't have blu-ray as that's HD anyway. Does bluetooth matter ?

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